Bankrupt Ditech looks to sell most of its mortgage business

The bankrupt nonbank lender Ditech Holding Corp. is looking to sell much of its mortgage business.

New York-based New Residential Investment Corp. made a bid in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to buy all of the forward assets of Ditech Financial, while Washington, D.C.-based Mortgage Assets Management made a bid to buy all of the assets and stock of the company’s reverse mortgage business.

Port Washington, Pennsylvania-based Ditech has been in serious financial trouble since 2017 when the company, then known as Walter Investment Management, filed for bankruptcy. It was able to emerge from bankruptcy — only to file for bankruptcy again in April.

New Residential is looking to purchase Ditech Financial’s forward Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae and non-agency mortgage servicing rights. In total, the mortgages have an unpaid principal balance of about $63 billion as of March 31, according to a release.

Both of the bids are stalking horse bids, meaning that other companies have until July 8 to submit higher bids to the bankruptcy court to buy the assets.

The price of New Residential Investment Corp.’s offer has not yet been determined, according to the company. The final purchase price will be determined at the close of the deal, based on the tangible book value of the related assets, according to the release.

New Residential said if the bid goes through, it has agreed to take over Ditech’s office space and plans to make employment offers to a number of Ditech employees. Mortgage Assets Management has not disclosed what it plans to do with Ditech’s reverse mortgage business.