Walter Investment Management Corp., the parent company of two reverse mortgage originators and holder of billions of dollars worth of reverse mortgage servicing rights, is facing more scrutiny among regulators this week, the company disclosed.
The questions among regulators stem from Walter’s Green Tree mortgage servicing business; an arm of the company that services forward mortgages nationwide, Inside Mortgage Finance first reported Wednesday.
It’s not the first time regulators have looked into Green Tree; earlier this year, Walter disclosed that it had met with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission and that those agencies were considering an enforcement action against Green Tree.
In May, Walter failed several servicing compliance tests under the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight.
And now, the company says in an SEC filing that it has met with a working group of state attorneys general, among other regulators, again over Green Tree. According to the filing, Walter says it anticipates a civil investigative demand to take place in the near future. The company said it expects to accrue $17 million in connection with litigation and regulatory matters stemming from the investigation.
“As various federal and state regulators continue to investigate perceived causes and consequences of the financial crisis, the Company expects that it may receive general information requests from other agencies,” it writes in the filing.
Walter is among several non-bank mortgage servicers that have come under the scrutiny of state and federal regulators in the wake of the financial crisis. Benjamin Lawsky, the superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, has launched probes into Nationstar Mortgage and Ocwen that have taken place throughout this year.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
