MSR

First-quarter year-over-year results declined at a pair of mortgage bankers active in the acquisitions market as well as at the provider of the most used servicing technology.

In a long-term attempt to stabilize its earnings from the cyclical nature of home loans, HomeStreet took a loss in the opening quarter of 2019.

Even after integrating the 52 Wells Fargo branches acquired in December as part of its efforts to diversify beyond home lending, Flagstar Bancorp's first-quarter earnings were driven by increased mortgage revenue.

Consumers increasing their online shopping for homes and loans is a reason why mortgage servicers' retention rates haven't improved much since the downturn, according to a marketing technology firm executive.

Surging loan production expenses and low revenue killed profits in 2018 for loans originated by independent mortgage bankers and subsidiaries of chartered banks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Citigroup's first quarter mortgage-related revenue increased compared with the fourth quarter — although down slightly from the same period last year — as its lending operations continued to contract.

Freddie Mac's latest nonperforming mortgage auction will include one pool targeted to smaller investors like nonprofit organizations.

Caliber Home Loans settled a grievance with the Massachusetts attorney general over allegations of providing distressed borrowers with unaffordable loan modifications.

HomeStreet Bank could receive nearly $190 million in total for selling $14 billion in mortgage servicing rights to New Residential and PennyMac, and selling its home loan centers to Homebridge.

Now that Ocwen settled the servicing practices lawsuit brought by the Massachusetts attorney general, just two outstanding complaints remain from the 30 filed nearly two years ago.

Freddie Mac exchanged existing bonds from its portfolio for mirror certificates for the first time, completing a key test that is central to the creation of a uniform mortgage-backed security.

Independent mortgage bankers lost the largest amount for originating a loan in the fourth quarter since this data has been tracked, as costs rose and volume dropped, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Ohio has become the latest state to start including mortgage servicing rights holders in its increased regulation of nonbank servicers.

Two Harbors Investment Corp., which grew its servicing portfolio by 22% in the fourth quarter, priced a common stock offering to raise funds to buy more rights as well as mortgage-backed securities.

Impac Mortgage Holdings saw its shift to predominantly originate non-qualified mortgage loans reduce its fourth-quarter GAAP net loss along with increasing its gain-on-sale margins.

Mr. Cooper Group took a net loss of $136 million in the fourth quarter after lower rates hurt the mark-to-market value of its larger mortgage servicing rights portfolio harder than its peers.

American Mortgage Consultants has acquired title search outsourcer String Real Estate Information Services as part of ongoing efforts to support all the services secondary-market clients need to conduct trades.

Altisource Portfolio Solutions recorded multimillion-dollar net losses in the fourth quarter and the full year for 2018, due to the reduction of the Ocwen Financial servicing portfolio and other repositioning activities.

Policymakers could improve independent mortgage banks' financial stability by giving these companies improved access to liquidity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

BSI Financial Services received a capital infusion for the subservicer to acquire mortgage servicing rights for its own account in order to offer its clients more liquidity for this asset.