Note 9 — Rights to MSRs

Ocwen and PHH have entered into agreements to sell MSRs or Rights to MSRs and the related servicing advances to NRZ, and in all cases have been retained by NRZ as subservicer. In the case of Ocwen Rights to MSRs transactions, while the majority of the risks and rewards of ownership were transferred, legal title was retained by Ocwen, causing the Rights to MSRs transactions to be accounted for as secured financings. In the case of the PHH transactions, and for those Ocwen MSRs where consents were subsequently received and legal title was transferred to NRZ, due to the length of the non-cancellable term of the subservicing agreement, the transactions do not qualify as a sale and are accounted for as secured financings. As a result, we continue to recognize the MSRs and related financing liability on our consolidated balance sheet, as well as the full amount of servicing revenue and changes in the fair value of the MSRs and related financing liability in our consolidated statements of operations.

NRZ is our largest servicing client, accounting for 51% of the UPB of residential assets serviced and 70% of our loan servicing and subservicing fee revenue as of and for the year ended December 31, 2018, respectively. The following table presents the assets and liabilities recorded on our consolidated balance sheets as well as the impacts to our consolidated statements of operations in connection with our NRZ agreements.



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018		2017			2016
Balance Sheets
MSRs, at fair value	$	894,002	$	499,042		$	477,707
Due from NRZ	25,196		14,924			21,873
Due to NRZ (1)	53,001		98,493			83,248
Financing liability - MSRs pledged, at fair value	1,032,856		508,291			477,707

Statements of Operations
Servicing fees collected on behalf of NRZ	$	539,039	$	549,411		$	633,545
Less: Subservicing fee retained	142,334		295,192			337,727
Net servicing fees remitted to NRZ	396,705		254,219			295,818
Less: Reduction (increase) in financing liability
Changes in fair value:
Original Rights to MSRs Agreements	171		(83,300		)	(2,580		)
2017 Agreements and New RMSR Agreements	14,369		42,018			—
PHH MSR Agreements	4,729		—			—
	19,269		(41,282		)	(2,580		)
Runoff, settlement and other:
Original Rights to MSRs Agreements	50,620		57,264			63,997
2017 Agreements and New RMSR Agreements	136,700		1,926			—
PHH MSR Agreements	18,446		—			—
	205,766		59,190			63,997

Interest expense	$	171,670	$	236,311		$	234,401


(1)	Amounts collected on behalf of NRZ for advances and servicing fees.

Ocwen Transactions

Prior to the transfer of legal title under the Master Servicing Rights Purchase Agreement dated as of October 1, 2012, as amended, and certain Sale Supplements, as amended (collectively, the Original Rights to MSRs Agreements), Ocwen agreed to service the mortgage loans underlying the MSRs on the economic terms set forth in the Original Rights to MSRs Agreements. After the transfer of legal title as contemplated under the Original Rights to MSRs Agreements, Ocwen was to service the mortgage loans underlying the MSRs as subservicer on substantially the same economic terms.

On July 23, 2017 and January 18, 2018, we entered into a series of agreements with NRZ that collectively modify, supplement and supersede the arrangements among the parties as set forth in the Original Rights to MSRs Agreements. The July 23, 2017 agreements, as amended, include a Master Agreement, Transfer Agreement and Subservicing Agreement (collectively, the 2017 Agreements) pursuant to which the parties agreed, among other things, to undertake certain actions to facilitate the transfer from Ocwen to NRZ of Ocwen’s legal title to the remaining MSRs that were subject to the Original Rights to MSRs Agreements and under which Ocwen would subservice mortgage loans underlying the MSRs for an initial term of five years (the Initial Term).

On January 18, 2018, the parties entered into new agreements (including a Servicing Addendum) regarding the Rights to MSRs related to MSRs that remained subject to the Original Rights to MSRs Agreements as of January 1, 2018 and amended the Transfer Agreement (collectively, New RMSR Agreements) to accelerate the implementation of certain parts of our arrangements in order to achieve the intent of the 2017 Agreements sooner. Upon receiving the required consents and transferring the MSRs, Ocwen will subservice the mortgage loans underlying the MSRs pursuant to the 2017 Agreements.

Ocwen received lump-sum cash payments of $54.6 million and $279.6 million in 2017 and 2018 in accordance with the terms of the 2017 Agreements and New RMSR Agreements, respectively. These upfront payments generally represent the net present value of the difference between the future revenue stream Ocwen would have received under the Original Rights to MSRs Agreements and the future revenue stream Ocwen expects to receive under the 2017 Agreements and the New RMSR Agreements.

On August 17, 2018, Ocwen and NRZ entered into certain amendments to the New RMSR Agreements to include New Penn Financial, LLC dba Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing (Shellpoint), a subsidiary of NRZ, as a party and to conform the New RMSR Agreements to certain of the terms of the Shellpoint Subservicing Agreement between Ocwen and Shellpoint.

In the event the required third-party consents are not obtained with respect to any dates specified in, and in accordance with the process set forth in, the New RMSR Agreements, such MSRs will either: (i) remain subject to the New RMSR Agreements at the option of NRZ, (ii) be acquired by Ocwen at a price determined in accordance with the terms of the New RMSR Agreements, or (iii) be sold to a third party in accordance with the terms of the New RMSR Agreements.

At any time during the Initial Term, NRZ may terminate the Subservicing Agreement and Servicing Addendum for convenience, subject to Ocwen’s right to receive a termination fee and proper notice. Following the Initial Term, NRZ may extend the term of the Subservicing Agreement and Servicing Addendum for additional three-month periods by providing proper notice. Following the Initial Term, the Subservicing Agreement and Servicing Addendum can be cancelled by Ocwen on an annual basis. NRZ and Ocwen have the ability to terminate the Subservicing Agreement and Servicing Addendum for cause if certain specified conditions occur.

Under the terms of the Subservicing Agreement and Servicing Addendum, in addition to a base servicing fee, Ocwen will continue to receive ancillary income, which primarily includes late fees, loan modification fees and Speedpay^® fees. NRZ will receive all float earnings and deferred servicing fees related to delinquent borrower payments, as well as be entitled to receive certain real estate owned (REO) related income including REO referral commissions.

Prior to January 18, 2018, MSRs as to which necessary transfer consents had not yet been obtained continued to be subject to the terms of the agreements entered into in 2012 and 2013. Under the 2012 and 2013 agreements, the servicing fees payable under the servicing agreements underlying the Rights to MSRs were apportioned between NRZ and us. NRZ retained a fee based on the UPB of the loans serviced, and OLS received certain fees, including a performance fee based on servicing fees paid less an amount calculated based on the amount of servicing advances and the cost of financing those advances.

PHH Transactions

On December 28, 2016, PHH entered into an agreement to sell substantially all of its MSRs, and the related servicing advances, to New Residential Mortgage LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NRZ. In connection with this agreement, on December 28, 2016, PHH also entered into a subservicing agreement with NRZ (collectively, the PHH MSR Agreements). The PHH subservicing agreement has an initial term of three years, subject to certain transfer and termination provisions.

Through its acquisition of PHH on October 4, 2018, Ocwen recognized MSRs of $42.3 billion UPB related to the PHH MSRs Agreements. As of December 31, 2018, $3.5 billion UPB of private-investor MSRs and related advances remain committed to be sold to New Residential under the PHH MSRs Agreements.

At any time during each of the second and third years of the initial term, and subject to the payment of the applicable deboarding fee, NRZ may terminate an amount not to exceed 25% of the underlying mortgage loans with proper notice. The PHH MSR Agreements automatically renew for successive one-year terms unless either party provides notice of termination. NRZ and PHH each have the ability to terminate the subservicing agreement for cause if certain specified conditions occur.