“Ocwen Buying Genworth, May Not Bode Well for the Future of Reverse Mortgages”
Genworth is presently the third largest providers of reverse mortgages and many have already left the business.
We have been doing reverse mortgages for many years, there used to be dozens of providers, but no more. You know how it goes, when there is less competition…cost for the elderly consumer will surely go up.
Ocwen is one of the largest mortgage servicers in this country. Their service are presently in India and Ecuador, which means they are certainly not adding jobs in this country. They presently have over 2,000 complaints against them, how do you think they will be working with the elderly?
The majority stock holder of Ocwen is Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
Ocwen Acquires Genworth Reverse Mortgage Division for $22 Million (Update)
By John Yedinak
Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE:OCN) announced it has entered into an agreement on October 26th to acquire Genworth Financial Home Equity Access (GFHEA) for $22 million in cash.
As part of the transaction, GFHEA will change its name to Liberty Home Equity Solutions and the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013. Genworth originally entered the reverse mortgage industry when it acquired Liberty Reverse Mortgage in 2007 for $50 million in cash.
Genworth has retail, wholesale and correspondent operations and is the 3rd largest originator of reverse mortgages in the country according to data from Reverse Market Insight.
Ocwen is one of the largest mortgage servicers, with a $128 billion portfolio of loans as of the second quarter of 2012. The company is also approved as a Ginnie Mae HMBS issuer, which should help to provide additional liquidity to the industry.
It’s the second acquisition in the reverse mortgage space in the last two months. In September, Walter Investment Management Corporation (NYSE AMEX:WAC) announced it was acquiring Reverse Mortgage Solutions for $122 million.
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