H&R Block sells troubled mortgage servicer

[DainBramaged]

Source: MSNBC

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross to pay $1.1 billion for Options One business

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross will pay $1.1 billion for H&R Block's troubled Option One mortgage servicing business, which has been rocked by the nationwide mortgage crisis.

Option One currently services about $53 billion of subprime mortgages, ranking it the fourth-largest in the nation.

WL Ross & Co. earlier agreed to acquire $42 billion mortgage servicing rights from American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., and the combined total of $95 billion will create the country's second-largest subprime servicing portfolio, after Countrywide Financial.






Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23671296/

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Fire sale, get your hot mortgages, fire sale, get 'em while they are cheap!

[TML]

1. They're still up and running?

I used to work in the mortgage industry, and we joked that Option One should have been named "Only Option" because they used to take the worst of the worst in eligible borrowers.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

2. Up...But Not Running

My understanding is that they are not taking on any new mortgages.

[TML]

4. Understandable

When I worked in the mortgage industry, all you needed was a 500 FICO and a pulse to get a first mortgage 65% LTV through Option One. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but not by much. It really was the last option for most borrowers to refinance their home.

[flvegan]

3. I think that this is good news.

Seeing a restructuring expert get into the sub-prime business can be potentially good news, especially at this magnitude.

[RavensChick]

5. They're part of those companies who

are considered predatory lenders. I had to deal with them in the late 90's and their interest rates were outrageous! The best way for me to get out from under them was to sell the house, but only after my older brother passed away I did it, they got their cut, and I went on with my life. I was hoping they would go under by now for the horrible way they treated me but this is just as good. Karma works in your favor sometimes.