Last week, Lawsky noted that Nationstar’s portfolio more than doubled between the end of 2012 and the end of 2013. He asked the nonbank servicer to provide the number of full timers in each unit as well as the number of loans per employee.

Will investors think twice about buying mortgage servicing rights because of the sabre rattling from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?

Observers note that Barclays Bank is in the process of settling on a recent large NPL auction as well.

By itself, BofA accounted for 79.3 percent of the $606.3 billion shrinkage in commercial bank MSR portfolios during 2013. Where did all that servicing go to?

Springleaf is no longer making new real estate-backed loans, but it continues to shed legacy mortgages.

“Cheap is the goal now,” said Chuck Klein, a managing partner at Mortgage Banking Solutions, Austin, TX. “I’m seeing many mortgage-banking firms that want to buy, and they’re looking at either smaller firms or branches.”

In a new report, Compass Point Research & Trading asks: “Are the special servicers bad actors?” CPR&T concludes the answer is no, but notes “there is some merit” to concerns about the rapid portfolio growth at certain firms…

Company executive Doug Reilly, commenting on the mortgage M&A market, had this to say: “It seems we need to take 20 girls to the alter just to marry one”…

Investors at private equity firms told IMFnews that they believe Lawsky is using the DFS as a “bully pulpit,” paving the way for a possible run for public office.

The InterLinc executive said there’s a great deal of interest from potential acquisition targets, but he cautions that, “Not everyone wants to make the move.”