Walter Investment Management Corporation has announced a definitive agreement to acquire the residential mortgage servicing platform, including certain servicing related technology assets, of MetLife Bank NA located in Irving, Texas. The assets to be acquired do not include any mortgage loans or mortgage servicing rights. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Walter Investment Management anticipates that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Green Tree Credit Solutions, will employ approximately 300 of MetLife Bank's servicing employees and anticipates it will continue to occupy the premises in Irving, Texas currently occupied by the MetLife Bank mortgage servicing business. MetLife Bank's servicing platform is currently servicing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae mortgage loans with an approximate principal balance of $70 billion and has significant additional, scalable capacity. The existing servicing portfolio was recently sold by MetLife and the loans will be transferred to the new owner prior to the closing of this transaction, which is projected for March of 2013.
Based on the significant acquisitions recently announced by the company and expected continued growth opportunities, Walter Investment is developing a robust dual-track residential mortgage servicing platform. This includes the expansion of capacity in the company's existing high-touch collections platform, and the addition of an efficient, prime, agency-focused platform, with expanded product capabilities. The company expects to board a portion of the newly acquired Bank of America MSR on the platform.
"We believe the acquisition of the MetLife servicing platform, in conjunction with our existing high-touch servicing capabilities, positions us very well to continue to capitalize on the opportunities available in the mortgage servicing sector by providing additional capacity to assist with projected portfolio growth," said Mark J. O'Brien, chairman and CEO of Walter Investment. "We are very excited about adding the strong MetLife servicing management group and their associates to our team. In addition, the platform also accelerates our opportunities with respect to product diversity plans given its proven, efficient Ginnie Mae and Freddie Mac capabilities."
