Bank of America, which took heat for how it treated customers in the mortgage crisis a decade ago, has emerged as a champion of elderly borrowers in Ditech's second trip through bankruptcy.
The bank is siding with a growing list of groups, including the U.S. trustee, attorneys general from several states and consumers, who object to Ditech's plan to sell its reverse mortgage business.
BofA, for its part, has warned that the sale could leave thousands of BofA's elderly borrowers without promised services on their loans, according to a court filing.
The reverse mortgages are held by people with an average age of 81, and for many of them, the loan is their primary source of income, court documents show. Some of the loans date from before the financial crisis, according a person familiar with the situation.
"They rely on this income to fund their basic living expenses," the bank said in the filing. "Any interruption in the servicing of these reverse mortgage loans could have severe consequences for these borrowers."
The loans are owned by BofA and serviced by Ditech's Reverse Mortgage Solutions Inc., which the company plans to sell to Mortgage Assets Management LLC. The latter company is affiliated with Waterfall Asset Management LLC, according to court papers filed in the case. New York-based Waterfall focuses on investing in asset-backed securities, loans and private equity, according to its website.
The objection from BofA comes on top of separate complaints and objections from borrowers who oppose the bankruptcy plan; they say Ditech is trying to sell its business to a new owner free-and-clear of their claims against the company for mishandling their mortgages. The U.S. Trustee this week voiced similar concerns.
Representatives for BofA, based in Charlotte, N.C., and Ditech, based in Fort Washington, Pa., declined to comment. Waterfall Asset Management and lawyers representing Mortgage Assets Management didn't respond to messages.
Role reversal
BofA wound up paying more than $50 billion by 2014 to settle claims related to shoddy mortgages, most tied to its 2008 purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp. The recovery led by current Chief Executive Brian Moynihan included selling off most of its mortgage servicing assets by 2013.
One of the buyers was Ditech's predecessor, Walter Investment Management Corp., which in 2013 bought servicing rights for a BofA portfolio of more than 650,000 loans.
By 2017, Walter Investment Management had collapsed into bankruptcy. It emerged in February 2018 with Ditech as its new name and quickly appointed Tom Marano, the former head of mortgage-backed securities at Bear Stearns & Co., as the new CEO — only to fall back into bankruptcy almost exactly one year later.
Ditech and BofA also recently settled a dispute over expenses related to the 2013 sale of mortgage servicing rights, with the bank agreeing to pay Ditech $7.6 million.
Earlier this year, as Ditech tried to reach agreements to sell its businesses, complaints from borrowers and consumer groups began to pile up. Some homeowners sued the company, claiming that Ditech's failures put them in financial peril and cast doubt on the value of the servicing rights Ditech was trying to sell. Attorneys general from Colorado, Washington, Nevada, Iowa, Oregon and New York have joined with the consumer creditor committee in objecting to Ditech's bankruptcy plan and the sale of its businesses.
Now comes Bank of America, adding the weight of the second-biggest U.S. bank by assets to the fray.
Critical funds
BofA's filing shows that servicing a reverse mortgage for the elderly is more of a high-touch business than a conventional home loan. It involves handling borrower requests for money that they may need for basic living expenses. For some, it's their primary source of income, and RMS has been their only point of contact on the mortgage for years, the filing shows. The process also involves paying taxes and insurance and communicating with heirs when a borrower dies.
BofA said it tried to bargain without success for terms to ensure those services are maintained. Without a new contract, elderly borrowers may wind up with loans that aren't serviced properly or funded in a timely way, according to BofA.
Ditech, it said, "should not be allowed to walk away from this protected class of borrowers."
The bank wants the federal judge overseeing Ditech's bankruptcy to make sure servicing arrangements are made for the reverse mortgages.
When Ditech filed for Chapter 11 protection in February, Marano said in a statement that the company remains "firmly committed to our mission of serving customers through the homeownership journey."
A confirmation hearing on the bankruptcy plan is slated for Aug. 7.
BofA also wants to avoid negative headlines and the possibility that poor servicing of the reverse mortgages could show up in the media, said Christopher Whalen, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors LLC. "They are still sensitive to any potential liability that could come back at them," he said.
