Mr. Cooper Group Inc. is acquiring servicing rights on $24 billion in mortgages, a subservicing contract for an additional $24 billion in loans and the Seterus mortgage servicing platform from IBM. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

“We are excited to welcome more than 300,000 customers and the Seterus team to the Mr. Cooper Group family. We are confident our new team will be energized by our people-first culture, and our new customers will benefit from our user-friendly mobile and online tools designed to help them manage their home finances,” said Jay Bray, chairman and CEO of Mr. Cooper Group Inc. “This transaction is consistent with our outlook for profitability targets and portfolio growth.”

Mr. Cooper expects to fund the acquisition with financing on the mortgage servicing rights and cash. Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is targeted to close in the first quarter 2019.

“IBM acquired Seterus in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to help a client manage a portfolio of distressed loans. We were successful in this mortgage servicing work and the portfolio is now much more stable,” said Jay Bellissimo, general manager for cognitive process transformation at IBM Global Business Services. “The time is now right to divest this business, which is no longer core to IBM’s portfolio, to a mortgage servicing specialist whose domain expertise and scale can further advance this business.”

NBKC Invests in MortTech Organization

Nbkc Bank has invested in ProPair, which employs artificial intelligence to optimize the distribution and prioritization of mortgage leads to individual loan officers, rather than a distribution based on seniority or other factors.

As the first customer of ProPair, Nbkc piloted the software in the bank’s home loan division. “We have tremendous confidence and respect for ProPair’s founders and experienced first-hand how its smart pairing improves customer experience and loan officers’ success,” said Eric Garretson, CFO & fintech strategy leader at Nbkc.

“Having NBKC as our first customer enabled us to develop and test our product before launching at scale” said Devon Johnson, co-founder and chief data officer of ProPair.

Sixteen organizations that represent the interests of the appraisal industry have sent a letter to the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency requesting that the agencies hold a public meeting as part of the process to determine whether to increase the residential appraisal threshold from $250,000 to $400,000.

In the letter, the organizations point to the recently concluded Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act process's findings that no increase in the threshold was merited, driven in part by broad stakeholder opposition to such an increase.

Also, the organizations emphasize that rate increases and subsequent action by Congress has only reduced pressure on the demand for appraisal services, and that a public hearing would be useful for all parties to better understand the current rationale for the proposed increase.

"The impact of this proposal on homebuyers and the housing market is too great not to hear from a broad range of stakeholders across multiple forums,” said Robert Morrison, international president for the American Society of Appraisers, one of the trade groups that signed the letter. “We feel strongly that a hearing is not only appropriate but necessary for the agencies to have as complete a record as possible upon which to base their decision on regarding this proposal."

The following organizations were signatories to the letter:
American Society of Appraisers
American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers
MBREA |The Association for Valuation Professionals
American Guild of Appraisers, OPEIU, AFL-CIO
Appraisers' Coalition of Washington
California Coalition of Appraisal Professionals
Illinois Coalition of Appraisal Professionals
Louisiana Real Estate Appraiser Coalition
North Carolina Real Estate Appraiser Association
Northern Colorado Association of Real Estate Appraisers
North Dakota Appraiser Association
Ohio Coalition of Appraisal Professionals
RICS

Appraisal Institute
South Carolina Professional Appraisers Coalition
Tennessee Appraiser Coalition
Utah Coalition of Appraisal Professionals

First Command Financial Services, Inc. will extend direct deposit pay to Coast Guard clients and other financial support to ensure they avoid potential financial hardships during the government shutdown.

“The latest news reports on the government shutdown indicate that about 42,000 Coast Guard members won’t see their next paycheck until mid-January, and First Command is committed to doing all we can to ensure that our Coast Guard clients are not financially harmed by government actions or inactions that are beyond their control,” said Scott Spiker, chairman and CEO of First Command. “As we face another government shutdown, we again commit to help our clients and ensure their family finances are squared away.”

First Command will be offering assistance to all clients who the shutdown affects—but the situation is particularly hard on members of the Coast Guard—who earn modest salaries and spend weeks away on deployment.

“The Coast Guard is a military service of the United States at all times,” Bowen said. “However, since the Coast Guard is not a part of the Department of Defense, and it resides as a military service in the Department of Homeland Security, members of the Coast Guard will not be paid during the government shutdown,” said Charles “Skip” Bowen III, a member of the First Command Military Advisory Board. “This is not right. Just like the rest of the military, Coast Guard personnel deploy for long periods of time including overseas with thousands away from home at sea on Coast Guard cutters right now.

First Command is ready to address the possible financial difficulties that might arise during the government shutdown, including the following:

* Zero-interest payroll advances. The program is designed to ensure that payroll advances will be transparent to clients, who will see the usual direct deposit amount credited to their account.

* Loan assistance. The bank is prepared to work with clients on any loan payments.

* Penalty-free early certificate of deposit withdrawals. The bank will waive any early withdrawal penalties for clients who need to redeem a First Command Bank certificate of deposit prior to its maturity.

* Secured Lines of Credit. The bank will help clients use their non-tax qualified mutual fund as collateral for a low interest rate line of credit.

* Special handling of credit card accounts. The bank’s Visa cardholders will be offered priority processing for increases to credit limits and deferments of monthly payments. The bank will also waive cash advance fees during the shutdown.

“You only need to glance at the military pay tables to see that these Coast guardsmen do not make a great deal of money and many live paycheck to paycheck. Bottom line, Coast Guard families cannot go for long without pay,” said Bowen, who served as a 10th Master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard. “Many banks and financial services firms connected with the military such as First Command are trying to help. In addition, most of the military service organizations are taking a strong stand politically on behalf of Coast Guard members. I hope and pray that a resolution is found quickly. Our Coast Guard families deserve it.”