Three special servicers, Nationstar, Ocwen, and Walter Investment Corporation, each released fourth quarter and year-end earnings reports. Each reported increased and increasingly active originations sectors. A big bump in the company's revenue came from refinances and loan modifications, aided in large part by the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP. Nationstar alone originated about 62,000 refinance loans through the federal program.
Nationstar reported a net income of $217 million, up 6% from the previous year. Walter Investment Corporation reported their net income was $253.5 million, while Ocwen reported a net income of $294 million. While these special servicers continue to profit from temporary government programs like HARP, the dwindling availability of refinances and loan modifications suggest their future is anything but uncertain.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a new bill aimed at bringing more accountability to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. H. R. 3 1 9 3, according to the bill's sponsor Wisconsin Representative Sean Duffy, would bring more accountability, transparency, and oversight to the CFPB by replacing the director with a senate approved committee of 5. If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would separate the CFPB into a stand-alone agency, as well as prohibit the CFPB from using a consumer's financial information without their consent.