Servicing

Relaxing regulatory parameters for "qualified residential mortgages" could significantly increase the percentage of loans that are exempt from risk retention, according to a new comment letter from Amherst Securities Group.

As part of its acquisition of the 16 Ohio branches of Liberty Savings Bank, First Financial Bancorp, Cincinnati, is buying a $143 million in-market performing loan portfolio. The portfolio is made up of 38% residential mortgages, 37% commercial real estate/multifamily loans and 20% home equity loans.

Ocwen Financial is one of at least three investors recently invited in by Goldman Sachs to make a final round of bids on Litton Loan Servicing, the Wall Street firm’s specialty servicing division, according to investment bankers and others close to the situation.

Freddie Mac on Friday began making adjustable-rate mortgages eligible for securitization into its K certificate multifamily mortgage-backed securities.

The market share gap between Fidelity National Financial and First American continues to shrink, even as both companies are losing business to smaller national and regional competitors, according to first quarter data compiled by the American Land Title Association.

For less than $200 up front, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley might have saved themselves a combined $22 million, and a whole lot of embarrassment.

An offering book on Arch Bay Capital, Irvine, Calif., one of the largest investors in nonperforming mortgages, is making the rounds, according to investors and traders familiar with the matter.

In the “pre-crash” days of the mortgage industry two facts were unmovable: that the average nationwide home price would never fall and that servicing rights would never decline.

Shellpoint Partners LLC, a joint venture between company management and Ranieri Partners, has purchased New Penn Financial, an originator of FHA/VA and conforming loans, based in Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

It has been a mixed bag for mortgage-related stocks on Thursday morning, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid another 85 points, on top of a decline of 280 points on Wednesday.