Daily Dose

The NAR’s latest look at existing-home sales shows that while sales nationally were 3.2 percent higher this January than last, single-family transactions were down almost 5 percent to 4.82 million. This is the lowest since last April’s 4.75 million.

New Residential Investment Corp. and Home Loan Servicing Solutions Ltd. announced a definitive merger agreement on Sunday. The merger agreement sets for New Residential to acquire all of the outstanding shares of HLSS for $18.25 per share in cash, totaling approximately $1.3 billion. The purchase price represents a 9 percent premium to HLSS' closing price of $16.76 on February 20.

Real estate auction company Hudson & Marshall announced today that it would be embarking on a joint venture with Genesis Auctions to create a “technology driven auction powerhouse.” The new company plans to grow by providing clients with a full suite of online, ballroom, and onsite auction solutions.

Ocwen Loan Servicing, a subsidiary of Ocwen Financial Corporation, intends to sell the mortgage servicing rights (MSR) on a portfolio of performing loans owned by Freddie Mac with a total principal balance of about $9.8 billion to Nationstar Mortgage, a subsidiary of Nationstar Mortgage Holdings, according to an announcement from Ocwen Financial on Monday morning. There are approximately 81,000 loans in the portfolio involved in the transaction, according to Ocwen's announcement.

Manufacturing growth slowed from December to January, according to an early February report from the Institute for Supply Management. Meanwhile, permits for future home construction dropped 0.7 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.05 million, the Commerce Department said.

The second in a series of hearings to examine the financial health of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will take place next week in Washington, D.C., according to an announcement on Friday from the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).

Based on its net worth—about $3.7 billion—Fannie Mae said it will pay $1.9 billion in dividends to Treasury, per the terms of the GSEs' amended bailout agreement. As of March, the company will have paid a total of $136.4 billion to taxpayers on the $116.1 billion it drew as a result of the financial meltdown.

Counsel's Corner is an ongoing series in which DS News talks with default servicing attorneys around the country about the most pressing issues facing the default servicing industry. This installment features Marcy Ford, Managing Partner at Detroit-based Trott Law, P.C.

New York-based private investment firm BlueMountain Capital, a purported holder of notes issued by HLSS Servicer Advance Receivables Trust (HSART) wrote a letter last month accusing Ocwen of breach of contract and default on certain notes serviced by HLSS. Ocwen subsequently issued a statement vowing to "vigorously defend itself" against BlueMountain's accusations.

New household formation in the United States has recovered from the widespread job losses that came with the recession, according to a new study from the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California.