Freedom acquires Seneca Mortgage Servicing

Freedom Mortgage is expanding with a deal to acquire Seneca Mortgage Servicing. 

Parent company Freedom Superior signed an agreement to buy the firm and its related entities from asset manager EJF Capital, it announced Monday. It's yet another move by one of the industry's biggest players to add servicing assets, in more consolidation following last year's megadeals. 

In buying Seneca, Freedom said it intends to build out the company's platform to grow its business. 

"We believe that combining Seneca with our premier mortgage operations will create great synergies and deliver exceptional results for Freedom's investors," said Greg Middleman, managing director of Freedom, in a press release. 

Financial terms were undisclosed, and the deal is pending regulatory approvals. Piper Sandler was financial advisor to EJF Capital. A representative for Seneca and EJF didn't respond to an immediate request for comment Monday morning. 

Seneca, a government-sponsored enterprise-approved servicer based in Newtown, Connecticut, reported servicing 5,351 mortgages with an unpaid balance of $1.18 billion, according to a 2024 annual report by EJF. Freedom meanwhile serviced loans for over 2.5 million homeowners in 2024, according to one of the more recent descriptions by the private giant. 

In 2017, Seneca completed a larger deal to offload around $51 billion in mortgage servicing rights to Wells Fargo. 

IMBs still hungry for servicing

In weighing the industry's merger and acquisition pace, a Freedom executive speaking at the MBA servicing conference last month hinted at his company's strategy. 

"We think we're extremely well positioned," said David Sheeler, senior executive vice president at Freedom. "If something comes up that fits our wheelhouse and fits the way our organization works, of course, we're going to look at it."

The executive also then speculated that more M&A could be driven by greater delinquency, default and forbearance activity in mortgage this year. 

While last year featured industry-rattling deals from Rocket's purchase of Mr. Cooper to Bayview Asset Management's acquisition of Guild Holdings, other leading lenders have responded. Pennymac last month agreed to buy Cenlar's subservicing business, while United Wholesale Mortgage moved to acquire the publicly traded Two Harbors Investment.