A $9.9 billion fund established by the federal government to help borrowers avoid foreclosure is seeing growing use. Some $1.2 billion in funds from the Homeowner Assistance Fund were distributed in the first quarter.

MISMO is helping to facilitate collaboration between servicers and federal regulators to improve the servicing transfer process. The CFPB is also keeping a close eye on complaints tied to servicing transfers.

UBS exiting TBA trading business; Ginnie to increase servicing disclosures; Ellington to acquire Arlington.

Texas-based Colonial Savings, which has been offering home loans since its founding in 1952, will stop originating mortgages at the end of July.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has asked the CFPB to expedite changes to loss-mitigation requirements, noting that regulatory standards haven’t evolved to take into account changes in servicing practices.

The nonbank plans to use artificial intelligence in an effort to sharply reduce expenses from its call center operations.

The earlier-than-expected end of the COVID national emergency has brought additional regulatory pressure on mortgage servicers.

Second-level GSE MBS issuance involving excess spread from servicing increased in 2022. Private-equity firms and real estate investment trusts are among the investors buying excess servicing.

Building a portfolio of home loans through branch offices is about as old-school as business gets.

Among a group of 20 prominent nonprime servicers, portfolio balances increased by 0.3% during the fourth quarter of 2022. Prepayment rates on non-QMs are low and delinquencies are rising.