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Some newcomers to mortgage servicing did not hedge because hedging would have increased costs. Had rates moved up, the strategy would have paid off handsomely. Instead, it worked against them.
March 4 -
Foreclosures and delinquencies may seem like problems from the past, but servicers are still struggling with a massive backlog of distressed loans and a return to normalcy is at least two years away, if not longer.
February 18
Investors punished Nationstar Mortgage, sending shares down more than 10% Wednesday, down $3.15 a share to $27.96 a share, after the nonbank servicer announced a capital raise of roughly $500 million that will dilute existing shareholders.
Nationstar, of Lewisville, Texas, said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday that underwriters Citigroup, Barclays and JPMorgan Chase have a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 2.625 million shares.
Ocwen said it planned to use the proceeds from the sale of 17.5 million shares for "future acquisitions, transfers of servicing portfolios, funding of advances and repaying of obligations, including corporate indebtedness," according to the SEC filing.
The acquisitions of mortgage servicing rights include $60 billion in unpaid principal in MSRs that are "in process or under letters of intent," pending regulatory approval.
In the past month, Nationstar has agreed to buy $35 billion in servicing rights alone from Ocwen Financial. On Tuesday, Ocwen said it was selling a $25 billion portfolio to Nationstar. In February, Nationstar agreed to buy a $9.8 billion portfolio of performing loans from Ocwen that are backed by Freddie Mac.
