Following a significant reduction in the size of its mortgage servicing rights portfolio, PHH Corp. is reportedly cutting one-third of its workforce at its facility in Amherst, N.Y.
Buffalo Business First reports that the company filed a WARN notice with the New York State Department of Labor on Sept. 15 indicating that it plans to eliminate 91 jobs at the facility at the end of this year.
Last month, it was reported that PHH had lost about 29% of it subservicing portfolio when client HSBC decided to sell about 139,000 mortgages serviced by the company. Those loans will now be serviced by another provider.
PHH currently employs 294 people in Amherst, according to the Buffalo Business First report. The company is evaluating whether it will maintain a presence in the city in the longterm.
The loss of business from HSBC is the second major blow to PHH’s portfolio so far this year. In April, Merrill Lynch Home Loans, a division of Bank of America Corp., decided to insource its subservicing, resulting in PHH’s servicing volume decreasing 26%.
In August, PHH reported a $12 million second-quarter loss; however, this was an improvement compared with the $30 million loss suffered in the first quarter.
PHH is currently fighting a $109 million penalty in federal court imposed last year by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for allegedly taking illegal kickbacks from mortgage insurers.
According to a recent report in the Philadelphia Business Journal, a federal appeals court is expected to soon render an opinion in that case.