Servicing

Lower litigation costs helped Bank of America's mortgage unit curb its losses, while Citi's fourth quarter origination volume dropped 18% from a year ago.

Bank of America's expenses still far exceed those of JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, so analysts were clearly disappointed Thursday when CEO Brian Moynihan failed to outline any specific plans for further lowering overhead.

Facing the prospect of losing its license in California, Ocwen would be wise to settle its probe by state regulators in a timely manner, observers said. If it doesn't, the mortgage servicer could lose significant revenue and might even face a cash crunch.

Foreclosure filings on U.S. properties fell 18% in 2014 compared to a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac.

While put-backs and litigation risk are widely recognized as factors that have contributed to tight credit conditions, another factor — high servicing costs for nonperforming loans — is being overlooked.

Invitation Homes is sticking to the same large loan model of past single-family rental securitizations in its first deal of 2015.

Blackstone Group is offering the first securities of 2015 tied to rental homes, the start of what Morgan Stanley analysts predict may be a more than doubling of issuance this year in the nascent market for such debt.

The number of homes in some stage of foreclosure dropped 36% in November compared to the previous year, according to a report Wednesday from CoreLogic.

The unpaid principal balance of delinquent commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquencies fell by 23% as of Dec. 31 compared with the same day one year prior in 2013, according to Fitch Ratings.

The U.S. Supreme Court gave homeowners more ability to cancel their mortgages if lenders don't provide the required disclosures, in a setback for the banking industry.