Home lending fell at PHH Mortgage. In addition, the size of the servicing portfolio was reduced, and earnings swung to a loss.
Residential loan originations during the period from Oct. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2014, were 23,533 loans funded for $9.398 billion.
Parent PHH Corp. outlined the performance measures in its fourth-quarter earnings report.
Business was down from the previous period, when 25,633 home loans were closed for $9.885 billion.
Volume totaled 27,506 loans for $9.506 billion in the fourth-quarter 2013.
Retail originations accounted for $9.067 billion of fourth-quarter volume, and wholesale/correspondent made up $0.331 billion.
Fee-based closings accounted for 68 percent of the latest activity.
Full-year 2014 production tumbled to 94,176 loans for $35.961 billion from 161,461 loans for $52.367 billion in 2013.
Although new applications fell to $10.9 billion in the fourth quarter from $11.4 billion three months earlier,
PHH noted that applications last month jumped 62 percent
from January 2014.
While retail private-label services applications were down 1 percent between the third and fourth quarters, and retail real estate applications declined 15 percent — applications for wholesale and correspondent business were up 4 percent.
Another indication of upcoming business, interest rate lock commitments, fell to $1.6 billion from $1.8 billion at the end of the third quarter.
The
Mt. Laurel, N.J.-based company said it wrapped up, or nearly completed, contract negotiations with clients that represent half of its private label services.
PHH said it closed on the sale of mortgage servicing rights on $3 billion in “highly delinquent” loans. That left its third-party servicing portfolio at 712,643 loans for $113.849 billion as of Dec. 31, 2014.
The servicing portfolio fell from 756,090 units for $120.868 billion at the end of
September and sank compared to 824,992 loans serviced for $130.494 billion at the close of 2013.
In addition, PHH sub-serviced 446,381 loans for $113.423 billion as of the end of last year.
The 30-day delinquency rate
was reduced by 10 basis points from Oct. 31, ending December at 3.01 percent. Delinquency finished 2013 at 3.34 percent.
The report indicated that an administrative law judge recommended that PHH be ordered to pay more than $6 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in connection with past reinsurance activities. PHH and the CFPB’s enforcement division are both appealing the decision to CFPB Director Richard Cordray.
Losses from mortgage production were cut to $26 million from $28 million three months earlier but worsened from $22 million a year earlier.
The servicing
business’ losses were slashed to $13 million from the third quarter’s $71 million and the fourth-quarter 2013’s $100 million.
Across the entire company, the company swung to a $41 million loss from continuing operations before income taxes from a $36 million third-quarter profit. The deterioration reflected the sale of the fleet business.
