Servicing

Ocwen Financial raised less than underwriters expected by selling bonds tied to fees from managing government-backed loans as the mortgage servicer’s shares fell to the lowest since December 2012.

The giant servicer wants third-party property sellers to use its online auction portal.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is trying "to get the regulators to just be aware of where one rule conflicts with another," says the trade group's president, David Stevens.

Lower volumes and increased regulation are leading more lenders to consider outsourcing. But the savings and compliance improvements must outweigh increased liability for contractors and a rise in offshore prices.

Once written off as an endangered species, nonbank home lenders are making a comeback in the third-party origination businesses abandoned by banks since the financial crisis.

The rate of new foreclosures dropped to the lowest level in eight years as rising property prices erased negative equity and allowed more delinquent homeowners to sell without losing money.

The rapid growth and increasing regulatory scrutiny of nonbank mortgage servicers could "severely" affect the whole industry, Mortgage Bankers Association Chairman-Elect Bill Cosgrove says.

The volume of complaints lodged by distressed borrowers to four of the largest U.S. banks has stabilized, the monitor for the national mortgage settlement says.

"Servicers now face compensatory fees, not for mistakes or unreasonable delays, but simply as the cost of doing business," Mortgage Bankers Association President David Stevens says.

Steven Antonakes, the CFPB's deputy director, gave a speech which indicated the agency has shifted to a hard-line stance regarding compliance with a new mortgage servicing rule that went into effect last month. 'Business as usual has ended in the mortgage servicing industry,' he said.