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NOTE 1 DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS, BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2013
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Transfers of Financial Assets

Transfers of Financial Assets

We securitize, sell and service forward and reverse residential mortgage loans. Securitization transactions typically involve the use of VIEs and are accounted for either as sales or as secured financings. We typically retain economic interests in the securitized assets in the form of servicing rights and obligations. In order to efficiently finance our assets and operations and create liquidity, we may sell servicing advances, MSRs and the right to receive servicing fees, excluding ancillary income, relating to certain of our MSRs (Rights to MSRs).

In order to determine whether or not a VIE is required to be consolidated, we consider our ongoing involvement with the VIE. In circumstances where we have both the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the VIEs performance and the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits that could be significant, we would conclude that we would consolidate the entity, which precludes us from recording an accounting sale in connection with the transfer of the financial assets. In the case of a consolidated VIE, we continue to record the underlying residential mortgage loans or servicing advances, and we record the securitized debt on our consolidated balance sheet.

In the case of transfers where either one or both of the power or economic criteria above are not met, we evaluate whether we achieve a sale for accounting purposes. In order to achieve a sale, the transferred assets must be legally isolated, not be constrained by restrictions from further transfer, and be deemed to be beyond our control. If we fail any of these three criteria, the accounting is consistent with a secured financing as described in the preceding paragraph. Subsequent to the determination that a transaction does not meet the accounting sale criteria, we may determine that we meet the criteria. In the event we subsequently meet the accounting sale criteria, we derecognize the transferred assets and related liabilities.

In the case of transfers of MSRs and Rights to MSRs where we retain the right to subservice, we defer the related gain or loss and amortize the balance over the life of the subservicing agreement.

Gains or losses on off-balance sheet securitizations take into consideration any retained interests, including servicing rights and representation and warranty obligations, both of which are initially recorded at fair value at the date of sale in Gain on loans held for sale, net, in our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2011-11, (Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 210, Balance Sheet): Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities and ASU 2013-01: Clarifying the Scope of Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities. This ASU contains new disclosure requirements regarding the nature of an entity’s rights of offset and related arrangements associated with financial and derivative instruments. ASU 2013-01 clarified the scope of transactions that are subject to ASU 2011-11. The new disclosures also provide information about gross and net exposures. Retrospective application is required for all comparative periods presented. Our adoption of these standards on January 1, 2013 did not have a material impact on our unaudited consolidated financial statements, as the requirements relate to disclosures only.

ASU 2013-02 (ASC 220, Comprehensive Income): Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (which amends ASC 220, Comprehensive Income). ASC 2013-02 contains new requirements related to the presentation and disclosure of items that are reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income. The ASU is required to be applied prospectively. Adoption of this standard on January 1, 2013 did not have a material impact on our unaudited consolidated financial statements, as the requirements relate to disclosures only.

ASU 2013-04 (ASC 405, Liabilities): Obligations Resulting from Joint and Several Liability Arrangements for Which the Total Amount of the Obligation Is Fixed at the Reporting Date, a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF). On February 28, 2013, the FASB issued ASU 2013-04. The ASU requires an entity to measure obligations resulting from joint and several liability arrangements for which the total amount of the obligation within the scope of this guidance is fixed at the reporting date, as the sum of the following:

a. The amount the reporting entity agreed to pay on the basis of its arrangement among its co-obligors, and
b. Any additional amount the reporting entity expects to pay on behalf of its co-obligors.

Required disclosures include a description of the joint-and-several arrangement and the total outstanding amount of the obligation for all joint parties. The ASU permits entities to aggregate disclosures (as opposed to providing separate disclosures for each joint-and-several obligation). The ASU is effective for all prior periods in fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2013 (and interim reporting periods within those years). The ASU should be applied retrospectively to obligations with joint-and-several liabilities existing at the beginning of an entity’s fiscal year of adoption. Entities that elect to use hindsight in measuring their obligations during the comparative periods must disclose that fact. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the effect of adopting this standard effective January 1, 2014, but we do not anticipate that our adoption will have a material impact on our consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

 

ASU 2013-05 (ASC 830, Foreign Currency Matters): Parent’s Accounting for the Cumulative Translation Adjustment upon Derecognition of Certain Subsidiaries or Groups of Assets within a Foreign Entity or of an Investment in a Foreign Entity, a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force. On March 4, 2013, the FASB issued ASU 2013-05, which requires that the entire amount of a cumulative translation adjustment (CTA) related to an entity’s investment in a foreign entity should be released when there has been a:

● sale of a subsidiary or group of net assets within a foreign entity and the sale represents the substantially complete liquidation of the investment in the foreign entity,
● loss of a controlling financial interest in an investment in a foreign entity (i.e., the foreign entity is deconsolidated), or
● step acquisition for a foreign entity (i.e., when an entity has changed from applying the equity method for an investment in a foreign entity to consolidating the foreign entity).

The ASU does not change the requirement to release a pro rata portion of the CTA of the foreign entity into earnings for a partial sale of an equity method investment in a foreign entity. The ASU is effective for fiscal years (and interim periods within those fiscal years) beginning on or after December 15, 2013. The ASU should be applied prospectively from the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. We are currently evaluating the effect of adopting this standard effective January 1, 2014, but we do not anticipate that our adoption will have a material impact on our consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

ASU 2013-10 (ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging): Inclusion of the Fed Funds Effective Swap Rate (or Overnight Index Swap Rate) as a Benchmark Interest Rate for Hedge Accounting Purposes (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force). On July 17, 2013, the FASB issued ASU 2013-10, which permits the Fed Funds Effective Swap Rate to be used as a U.S. benchmark interest rate for hedge accounting purposes under ASC 815, in addition to interest rates on direct Treasury obligations of the U.S. government (UST) and the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). The ASU also removes the restriction on using different benchmark rates for similar hedges. The ASU is effective prospectively for qualifying new or redesignated hedging relationships entered into on or after July 17, 2013. Because we terminated our remaining interest rate swap agreements on May 31, 2013, our adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

ASU 2013-11 (ASC 740, Income Taxes): Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exists (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force). On July 18, 2013, the FASB issued ASU 2013-11, which clarifies that an unrecognized tax benefit, or a portion thereof, should be presented in the financial statements as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward. To the extent a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward is not available at the reporting date under the tax law of the applicable jurisdiction to settle any additional income taxes that would result from the disallowance of a tax position or the tax law of the applicable jurisdiction does not require the entity to use, and the entity does not intend to use, the deferred tax asset for such purpose, the unrecognized tax benefit should be presented in the financial statements as a liability and should not be combined with deferred tax assets. The assessment of whether a deferred tax asset is available is based on the unrecognized tax benefit and deferred tax asset that exist at the reporting date and should be made presuming disallowance of the tax position at the reporting date.

The ASU is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2013. Early adoption is permitted. The ASU should be applied prospectively to all unrecognized tax benefits that exist at the effective date. Retrospective application is permitted. We are currently evaluating the effect of adopting this standard effective January 1, 2014, but we do not anticipate that our adoption will have a material impact on our consolidated financial condition or results of operations.