Contingencies |
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Mar. 31, 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loss Contingency [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contingencies |
When we become aware of a matter involving uncertainty for which we may incur a loss, we assess the likelihood of any loss. If a loss contingency is probable and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated, we record an accrual for the loss. In such cases, there may be an exposure to potential loss in excess of the amount accrued. Where a loss is not probable but is reasonably possible or where a loss in excess of the amount accrued is reasonably possible, we disclose an estimate of the amount of the loss or range of possible losses for the claim if a reasonable estimate can be made, unless the amount of such reasonably possible loss is not material to our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. It is possible that we will incur losses relating to certain matters that materially exceed any accrued amount. Predicting the outcome of any matter is inherently difficult and we generally cannot predict the eventual outcome of any matter or the eventual loss, if any, associated with the outcome, particularly where the claimants seek very large or indeterminate damages, including punitive damages, or where the matters present novel legal theories or involve a large number of parties. If a reasonable estimate of loss cannot be made, we do not accrue for any loss or disclose any estimate of exposure to potential loss even if the potential loss could be material and adverse to our business, reputation, financial condition and results of operations. An assessment regarding the ultimate outcome of any such matter involves judgments about future events, actions and circumstances that are inherently uncertain. The actual outcome could differ materially. Where we have retained external legal counsel or other professional advisers, such advisers assist us in making such assessments. Our current accrual with respect to the following matters (Litigation and Regulatory) is included in the $18.3 million legal and regulatory accrual. We cannot currently estimate the amount, if any, of reasonably possible losses above amounts that have been recorded at March 31, 2026. Any material adverse resolution of these matters could materially and adversely affect our business, reputation, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations. Litigation In the ordinary course of business, we are a defendant in, or a party or potential party to, many threatened and pending legal proceedings, including proceedings brought by borrowers, regulatory agencies (discussed further under “Regulatory” below), current or former employees, those brought on behalf of various classes of claimants, and those brought derivatively on behalf of Onity against certain current or former officers and directors or others, and those brought under the False Claims Act, including by private citizens on behalf of the U.S. In addition, we may be a party or potential party to threatened or pending legal proceedings involving fair-housing advocates; current and former commercial counterparties and market competitors, including, among others, claims related to the sale or purchase of loans, MSRs or other assets, and breach of contract actions; parties on whose behalf we service or serviced mortgage loans; parties who provide ancillary services including property preservation and other post-foreclosure related services; applicable taxing authorities; and parties who provide or provided consulting, subservicing, or other services to Onity. The majority of these proceedings are based on alleged violations of federal, state and local laws and regulations governing our mortgage servicing and lending activities, including, among others, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the Homeowners Protection Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, as well as individual state licensing and foreclosure laws, federal and local bankruptcy rules, federal and local tax regulations, and state deceptive trade practices laws. Such proceedings include wrongful foreclosure and eviction actions, bankruptcy violation actions, payment misapplication actions, allegations of wrongdoing in connection with lender-placed insurance and mortgage reinsurance arrangements, claims relating to our property preservation activities, claims related to REO management, claims relating to our written and telephonic communications with our borrowers such as claims under the TCPA and individual state laws, claims related to our payment, escrow and other processing operations, claims relating to fees imposed on borrowers relating to inspection fees, foreclosure attorneys’ fees, reinstatement fees, foreclosure registration fees, payment processing, payment facilitation or payment convenience fees, claims related to ancillary products marketed and sold to borrowers, claims related to loan modifications and loan assumptions, claims related to call recordings, claims regarding certifications of our legal compliance related to our participation in certain government programs, claims related to improper occupancy inspections, claims related to untimely recording of mortgage satisfactions, claims related to data privacy, and claims related to tax deficiencies owed by and tax refunds due to us. In some of these proceedings, claims for substantial monetary damages are asserted against us. For example, we are currently or have been a defendant in various matters alleging that (1) certain fees imposed on borrowers relating to payment processing, payment facilitation or payment convenience violate the FDCPA and similar state laws, (2) certain fees we assess on borrowers are improperly assessed and/or marked up improperly in violation of applicable state and federal law, (3) we breached fiduciary duties we purportedly owe to benefit plans due to the discretion we exercise in servicing certain securitized mortgage loans, (4) certain legacy mortgage reinsurance arrangements violated RESPA, (5) we failed to subservice loans appropriately pursuant to subservicing and other agreements, (6) we did not comply with specific state and federal wage and hour laws for certain non- exempt employees, and (7) our written certifications documenting our entitlement to benefits under the Treasury Department’s Home Affordable Modification Program and similar federal government programs allegedly violated the False Claims Act. In the future, we are likely to become subject to other private legal proceedings alleging failures to comply with applicable laws and regulations, including putative class actions, in the ordinary course of our business. Convenience Fees - As previously disclosed, we are subject to individual lawsuits relating to our FDCPA compliance and putative state law class actions based on the FDCPA and similar state statutes. For example, we are currently defending putative class action lawsuits challenging, under state and federal law, certain fees charged to borrowers who used certain optional payment methods. See e.g., Jones v. Onity Mortg. Corp., et al. (D. NJ) (parties’ motions for summary judgment and related to class certification remain pending); Smith-Fowler v. Onity Mortgage Corp. (D.D.C) (motion to dismiss is fully briefed and remains pending). Mortgage Reinsurance - In addition, we continue to be involved in legacy matters arising prior to Onity’s October 2018 acquisition of PHH Corporation, including a putative class action filed in 2008 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California against PHH Corporation and related entities alleging that PHH Corporation’s legacy mortgage reinsurance arrangements between its captive reinsurer, Atrium Insurance Corporation, and certain mortgage insurance providers violated RESPA. See Munoz v. Onity Mortgage Corp. et al. (Eastern District of California). In June 2015, the court certified a class of borrowers who obtained loans with private mortgage insurance through OMC’s captive reinsurance arrangement between June 2007 and December 2009. Following nearly a decade of additional proceedings, on March 19, 2025, the parties reached an agreement in principle to settle the litigation. On August 11, 2025, the Court granted preliminary approval of the settlement and on December 19, 2025, the Court granted final approval of the settlement. We are currently going through the settlement administration process. Property Related Fees - Onity was a defendant in a certified class action in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of California where the plaintiffs claimed Onity marked up fees for property valuations and title searches in violation of California state law. See Weiner v. Ocwen Financial Corp., et al. In October 2023, the parties reached a tentative settlement to resolve the lawsuit prior to trial. In March 2024, the district court entered an order granting preliminary approval of the parties’ settlement agreement and directing notice to the settlement class. The Court held a Final Fairness Hearing in September, 2024, and in October 2024, the Court entered an order approving the settlement. The parties have executed on their obligations under the settlement, and after the expiration of the claims deadline, we made final payment of the claims amount on December 16, 2025, concluding our obligations in the matter. USVI Tax Refund - We are in ongoing litigation with the United States Virgin Islands (“USVI”) regarding our entitlement to refunds of income taxes paid in prior years, plus accrued interest. The USVI is defending against such claims and contesting that such refunds are owed. See Note 10 – Receivables. On April 30, 2025, the USVI filed an additional lawsuit in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands against us alleging that we did not meet the conditions for receiving benefits under our Economic Development Commission Certificate. We have removed that matter to federal court and filed a motion to dismiss it, which remains pending. We intend to vigorously pursue our rights with respect to these various matters. RMBS Servicing - Over the past several years, lawsuits have been filed by RMBS trust investors alleging that the trustees and master servicers breached their contractual and statutory duties by (i) failing to require loan servicers to abide by their contractual obligations; (ii) failing to declare that certain alleged servicing events of default under the applicable contracts occurred; and (iii) failing to demand that loan sellers repurchase allegedly defective loans, among other things. Onity has received several letters from trustees and master servicers purporting to put Onity on notice that the trustees and master servicers may ultimately seek indemnification from Onity in connection with the litigations. Onity has not been directly impleaded into any of these cases, but it has produced and continues to produce documents to the parties in response to third-party subpoenas. In addition, several RMBS trustees have received notices of events of default alleging material failures by servicers to comply with applicable servicing agreements. Although Onity has not been sued by an RMBS trustee in response to an event of default notice, there is a risk that Onity could be replaced as servicer as a result of said notices, that the trustees could take legal action on behalf of the trust certificate holders, or, under certain circumstances, that the RMBS investors who issue notices of event of default could seek to press their allegations against Onity, independent of the trustees. We are unable at this time to predict what, if any, actions any trustee will take in response to an event of default notice, nor can we predict at this time the potential loss or range of loss, if any, associated with the resolution of any event of default notice or the potential impact on our operations. If Onity were to be terminated as servicer, or other related legal actions were pursued against Onity, it could have an adverse effect on Onity’s business, reputation, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations. Regulatory We are subject to a number of ongoing federal and state regulatory examinations, orders, inquiries, subpoenas, civil investigative demands, requests for information and other actions. We may also on occasion be subject to foreign regulatory actions in the countries where we operate outside the U.S. In addition, we regularly receive information requests and other inquiries, both formal and informal in nature, from our state financial regulators as part of their general regulatory oversight of our licensed servicing and lending businesses, as well as from state attorneys general, the CFPB and other federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, HUD and various inspectors general. For example, we have received requests regarding the charging of certain fees to borrowers (including our practice of charging borrowers a fee to use certain optional payment methods, or “convenience fees”); the post-boarding process to verify loan and payment terms are properly implemented, calculated, and applied; bankruptcy practices; COVID-19-related forbearance and post-forbearance options; Homeowner Assistance Fund participation and implementation; and our offshore employees’ access to veteran borrower data. The GSEs, HUD, FHA, VA, Ginnie Mae, the United States Treasury Department, and others also subject us to periodic reviews and audits and engage with us on various matters. For example, we are currently engaged with several regulators related to borrower convenience fees and we resolved one such matter with HUD in January 2025, which required us to credit/refund consumers for convenience fees charged on FHA-insured loans since May 1, 2020. We have in the past resolved, and may in the future resolve, these or other matters via consent orders, payments of monetary amounts and other agreements in order to settle issues identified in connection with examinations or other oversight activities, and such resolutions could have material and adverse effects on our business, reputation, operations, results of operations and financial condition. Loan Put-Back and Related Contingencies Our contracts with purchasers of originated loans contain provisions that require indemnification or repurchase of the related loans under certain circumstances. While the language in the purchase contracts varies, they generally contain provisions that require us to indemnify purchasers of related loans or repurchase such loans if: •representations and warranties concerning loan quality, contents of the loan file or loan underwriting circumstances are inaccurate; •adequate mortgage insurance is not secured within a certain period after closing; •a mortgage insurance provider denies coverage; or •there is a failure to comply, at the individual loan level or otherwise, with regulatory requirements. We received origination representations and warranties from our network of approved originators in connection with loans we purchased through our correspondent lending channel. To the extent that we have recourse against a third-party originator, we may recover part or all of any loss we may incur. We have exposure to representation, warranty and indemnification obligations relating to our Originations business, including lending, loan sales and securitization activities. We initially recognize these obligations at fair value. Thereafter, the estimation of the liability considers probable future obligations based on industry data of loans of similar type segregated by year of origination, to the extent applicable, and estimated loss severity based on current loss rates for similar loans, our historical rescission rates and the current pipeline of unresolved demands. Our historical loss severity considers the historical loss experience that we incur upon loan sale or collateral liquidation as well as current market conditions. We have exposure to servicing representation, warranty and indemnification obligations relating to our servicing practices. We record an accrual for a loss contingency if the loss contingency is probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated. We monitor the adequacy of the overall liability and make adjustments, as necessary, after consideration of our historical losses and other qualitative factors including ongoing dialogue and experience with our counterparties. We do not provide or assume any origination representations and warranties in connection with our MSR purchases. At March 31, 2026 and March 31, 2025, we had outstanding representation and warranty repurchase demands of $26.5 million UPB (77 loans) and $25.5 million UPB (96 loans), respectively. We review each demand and monitor through resolution, primarily through rescission, loan repurchase or make-whole payment. The following table presents the changes in our liability for representation and warranty obligations and similar indemnification obligations:
(1)The liability for representation and warranty obligations is reported in Other liabilities (a component of Liability for indemnification obligations) on our unaudited consolidated balance sheets. (2)Includes reclassification of principal and interest losses in connection with repurchased loans, make-whole, indemnification and fee payments and settlements net of recoveries, if any. Other We may, from time to time, have affirmative indemnification and other claims against service providers, parties from whom we purchased MSRs or other assets, investors or other parties. Although we pursue these claims, we cannot currently estimate the amount, if any, of further recoveries. Similarly, from time to time, indemnification and other claims are made against us by parties to whom we sold MSRs or other assets or by parties on whose behalf we service mortgage loans. We cannot currently estimate the amount, if any, of reasonably possible loss above amounts recorded.
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