Servicing

In an opinion released Monday, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman didn't present substantial evidence that Wells Fargo—one of five major servicers that originally entered into the deal with 49 state attorneys general—neglected its servicing obligations under the terms of the settlement.

The proposed requirements include minimums for net worth, capital ratio, and liquidity criteria that must be met by servicers and sellers to do business with the GSEs.

In a review of its November survey of senior mortgage executives, Li-Ning Huang, Fannie Mae found that though respondents are concerned about compliance issues and weak borrower demand, most are still optimistic about the year ahead, particularly when it comes to their growth plans.

Ocwen's response called the investors' claims "ill-conceived" and state that "[w]hile knee-jerk foreclosures may redound to the special economic interests of your clients, they are not in the best interests of the trusts as a whole, not consistent with industry practice, and therefore prohibited under the servicing agreements."

Citing an unnamed source, Reuters reported Friday afternoon that a number of major investors, including BlackRock, MetLife, and Pimco, filed a formal notice to Ocwen accusing the servicer of failing to properly collect payments on $82 billion of home loans.

Shares of Altisource Portfolio Solutions picked up on Friday as the company's leadership assured shareholders about its near-term future after a year of setbacks.

California's Department of Business Oversight is moving to halt Ocwen's operations in the state after the company failed to provide documentation about its compliance with California's Homeowner Bill of Rights. With the latest news, Ocwen is off to a less than promising start to 2015 after concluding what was a rocky 2014.

The new year brought with it a new mortgage servicing rights (MSR) opportunity for interested buyers: a GSE portfolio valued at $4.2 billion in aggregate unpaid principal balance. According to MountainView Servicing Group, the portfolio is entirely made up of fixed-rate and first-lien product and features low delinquencies.

From the start of QM to the end of quantitative easing, the past year saw plenty of big news in the mortgage and financial markets. As the new year rolls in, MReport is taking a look at some of the biggest servicing headlines of 2014.

A day after Ocwen Financial Corp. announced a multi-million dollar agreement to resolve investigations by New York's top regulator, investors and market watchers remain skeptical that the company's problems are settled.