Cendant Takes Servicing Hit -- Again

The refi boom is continuing to cause problems for Cendant Mortgage, Mt. Laurel, N.J. In the first quarter, the nondepository's parent reported that it took a $196 million servicing impairment charge.In the same quarter a year ago, the company took a $124 million impairment charge. But even with the charge, Cendant reported strong revenue growth in its mortgage division (up 86%) compared with the level recorded in the same quarter last year. With $115 billion in servicing rights on its books, Cendant is the ninth-largest residential servicer in the United States, according to figures compiled by the Quarterly Data Report, a MortgageWire affiliate. Like most major servicers, Cendant has had to contend with servicing "runoff," a byproduct of the never-ending refinancing boom. Cendant officials could not be reached for comment by MW's deadline. (See the April 28 issue of National Mortgage News for more details.)