MLN, Other B&C Servicers Find Selves in Hot Water.(Mortgage Lenders Network USA Inc.)(Brief article)

NEW YORK -- The struggling Mortgage Lenders Network of Connecticut is auctioning off a $5 billion chunk of servicing rights in an effort to raise money, sources confirmed to Mortgage Servicing News.

At press time, no information was available on the sale, but MLN - a $17 billion servicer of mostly nonconforming loans - was in the processing of closing its entire wholesale network, a platform that accounts for 90% of its originations.

Meanwhile, the entire subprime sector - including servicers - is in the throes of a correction that some say could eliminate 20 of the nation's top 100 firms.

As already reported, many shops are testing the M&A waters, placing their shops on the auction block.

Large subprime servicers that are entertaining offers include Option One Mortgage, Orange, Calif. ($74.5 billion in servicing rights), and Ameriquest Mortgage, Orange, Calif. ($74 billion). (Option One is owned by tax services giant H&R ...