Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Servicing Activities

v3.20.1
Servicing Activities
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Disclosures Pertaining to Servicing Assets and Servicing Liabilities [Abstract]  
Servicing Activities Servicing Activities
Mortgage Servicing Rights, at Fair Value
One of the Company’s wholly owned subsidiaries has approvals from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to own and manage MSR, which represent the right to control the servicing of mortgage loans. The Company and its subsidiaries do not originate or directly service mortgage loans, and instead contract with appropriately licensed subservicers to handle substantially all servicing functions in the name of the subservicer for the loans underlying the Company’s MSR.
The following table summarizes activity related to MSR for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019.
 
Three Months Ended
 
March 31,
(in thousands)
2020
 
2019
Balance at beginning of period
$
1,909,444

 
$
1,993,440

Purchases of mortgage servicing rights
183,783

 
220,812

Sales of mortgage servicing rights
1,433

 
—

Changes in fair value due to:
 
 
 
Changes in valuation inputs or assumptions used in the valuation model
(500,763
)
 
(151,614
)
Other changes in fair value (1)
(85,902
)
 
(37,649
)
Other changes (2)
(2,832
)
 
(10,619
)
Balance at end of period
$
1,505,163

 
$
2,014,370

____________________
(1)
Other changes in fair value primarily represents changes due to the realization of expected cash flows.
(2)
Other changes includes purchase price adjustments, contractual prepayment protection, and changes due to the Company’s purchase of the underlying collateral.

At March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the Company pledged MSR with a carrying value of $1.3 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively, as collateral for repurchase agreements, revolving credit facilities and term notes payable. See Note 11 - Repurchase Agreements, Note 13 - Revolving Credit Facilities and Note 14 - Term Notes Payable.
As of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the key economic assumptions and sensitivity of the fair value of MSR to immediate 10% and 20% adverse changes in these assumptions were as follows:
(dollars in thousands, except per loan data)
March 31,
2020
 
December 31,
2019
Weighted average prepayment speed:
18.1
%
 
14.8
%
Impact on fair value of 10% adverse change
$
(96,004
)
 
(88,459
)
Impact on fair value of 20% adverse change
$
(217,491
)
 
(188,209
)
Weighted average delinquency:
0.8
%
 
0.9
%
Impact on fair value of 10% adverse change
$
(1,553
)
 
(7,470
)
Impact on fair value of 20% adverse change
$
(3,735
)
 
(15,020
)
Weighted average discount rate:
6.0
%
 
7.2
%
Impact on fair value of 10% adverse change
$
(29,420
)
 
(49,274
)
Impact on fair value of 20% adverse change
$
(57,603
)
 
(95,963
)
Weighted average per loan annual cost to service:
$
68.56

 
$
66.62

Impact on fair value of 10% adverse change
$
(15,960
)
 
$
(23,932
)
Impact on fair value of 20% adverse change
$
(31,558
)
 
$
(48,054
)


These assumptions and sensitivities are hypothetical and should be considered with caution. Changes in fair value based on 10% and 20% variations in assumptions generally cannot be extrapolated because the relationship of the change in assumptions to the change in fair value may not be linear. Also, the effect of a variation in a particular assumption on the fair value of MSR is calculated without changing any other assumptions. In reality, changes in one factor may result in changes in another (e.g., increased market interest rates may result in lower prepayments and increased credit losses) that could magnify or counteract the sensitivities. Further, these sensitivities show only the change in the asset balances and do not show any expected change in the fair value of the instruments used to manage the interest rates and prepayment risks associated with these assets.
Risk Mitigation Activities
The primary risk associated with the Company’s MSR is interest rate risk and the resulting impact on prepayments. A significant decline in interest rates could lead to higher-than-expected prepayments that could reduce the value of the MSR. The Company economically hedges the impact of these risks with its Agency RMBS portfolio.
Mortgage Servicing Income
The following table presents the components of servicing income recorded on the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive (loss) income for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019:
 
Three Months Ended
 
March 31,
(in thousands)
2020
 
2019
Servicing fee income
$
117,891

 
$
105,936

Ancillary and other fee income
521

 
310

Float income
12,385

 
10,702

Total
$
130,797

 
$
116,948



Mortgage Servicing Advances
As the servicer of record for the MSR assets, the Company may be required to advance principal and interest payments to security holders, and intermittent tax and insurance payments to local authorities and insurance companies on mortgage loans that are in forbearance, delinquency or default. The Company is responsible for funding these advances, potentially for an extended period of time, before receiving reimbursement from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Servicing advances are priority cash flows in the event of a loan principal reduction or foreclosure and ultimate liquidation of the real estate-owned property, thus making their collection reasonably assured. These servicing advances totaled $34.1 million and $45.6 million and were included in other assets on the condensed consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively.
Serviced Mortgage Assets
The Company’s total serviced mortgage assets consist of residential mortgage loans underlying MSR, residential mortgage loans owned by other entities that are serviced by the Company and other assets. The following table presents the number of loans and unpaid principal balance of the mortgage assets for which the Company manages the servicing as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019:
 
March 31, 2020
 
December 31, 2019
(dollars in thousands)
Number of Loans
 
Unpaid Principal Balance
 
Number of Loans
 
Unpaid Principal Balance
Mortgage servicing rights
807,975

 
$
179,714,087

 
793,470

 
$
175,882,142

Residential mortgage loans (1)
3,040

 
1,911,591

 
3,157

 
2,033,951

Other assets
1

 
11

 
71

 
12,511

Total serviced mortgage assets
811,016

 
$
181,625,689

 
796,698

 
$
177,928,604

____________________
(1)
Off-balance sheet residential mortgage loans owned by other entities but serviced by the Company.