Green Tree Servicing, a unit of Walter Investment Management Corp., will begin servicing about 4,000 Bank of America mortgages this month as part of the bank's mandate to hire delinquent-loan specialists under a widely watched investor settlement.
In October Green Tree was one of nine specialty servicers named to tackle the estimated 300,000 mortgages identified under the $8.5 billion faulty-loan settlement between B of A and big mortgage investors including BlackRock and Pacific Investment Management Co.
The arrangement is moving ahead despite legal challenges to the monetary settlement.
Green Tree is the fourth specialty servicer to receive an installment of loans under the settlement.
MBS investors hope that loans in their securities will be treated by specialists sooner, avoiding delays that often result in higher costs and lower returns on the bonds.
Having B of A give up some responsibility for the most delinquent loans was a key part of the settlement for the investors, who have trouble obtaining information and enforcing trustees to act when they see their bonds mishandled by primary servicers.
