Benzinga | May 24, 2021 04:15PM EDT

Ocwen Financial Announces Agreement With AmeriHome To Purchase $48B In Bulk Mortgage Servicing Rights

Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE:OCN) ("Ocwen" or the "Company"), a leading non-bank mortgage servicer and originator, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, PHH Mortgage Corporation ("PHH"), has entered into an agreement with AmeriHome Mortgage Company, LLC ("AmeriHome") to purchase, in bulk, mortgage servicing rights ("MSRs") with a total unpaid principal balance of approximately $48 billion.



The bulk MSR portfolio is comprised of approximately 178,000 mortgage loans sold to or securitized by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. As of March 31, 2021, PHH serviced approximately 1.1 million loans and this transaction is expected to grow its total servicing portfolio by approximately 16%. The transaction is expected to close late in the second quarter of 2021, subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and finalizing an agreement between PHH and Western Alliance Bank to finance the MSR acquisition. The loans underlying the MSR portfolio are expected to transfer to PHH in September of 2021.

Glen A. Messina, President and CEO of Ocwen, said, "We are excited to announce the MSR purchase agreement with AmeriHome. Overall, we are delivering very strong performance in adding new servicing across our originations channels and this agreement is a significant milestone in achieving our growth objective of adding up to $150 billion in new servicing in 2021. We believe the execution of a bulk MSR transaction of this magnitude reflects the strength, quality and scalability of our servicing platform, and we look forward to welcoming our new customers to the Ocwen family."

During Ocwen's first quarter 2021 earnings update, the Company disclosed it had entered into letters of intent for the bulk purchase of MSRs with a total unpaid principal balance of approximately $68 billion, which included the approximately $48 billion bulk MSR portfolio with AmeriHome.