Ocwen Financial and Fortress Investment Group have emerged as the leading bidders in an auction for bankrupt Residential Capital’s $200 billion mortgage servicing portfolio scheduled for today, the New York Post reported. ResCap, which is owned by Ally Financial, filed for bankruptcy protection in May, saying it would sell most of its assets to Fortress.
But Ocwen has taken steps to ensure it is a more attractive bidder after Fannie Mae – which owns 15 percent of the ResCap portfolio – expressed concerns about the company’s mortgage representatives being located overseas, the Post reported. Ocwen has joined with Walter Investment Management to acquire the rights to service the Fannie-owned portion of the ResCap portfolio, sources told the Post.
Ocwen and Fortress Investment Group-owned NationStar are the nation’s largest non-bank mortgage servicers, collectively servicing about $200 billion in loans – about the size of the ResCap portfolio.
Special servicers have gained a larger share of the mortgage servicing market, as banks have struggled to cope with the increase in foreclosures and delinquent loans in the wake of the housing crisis.
Ocwen did not return the Post’s calls for comment, and Fannie declined to comment. [NYP] — Leigh Kamping-Carder