PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. operates as a specialty financial services company with a comprehensive mortgage platform and integrated business primarily focused on the production and servicing of U.S. residential mortgage loans (activities which it refers to as mortgage banking).
The company also engages in the management of investments related to the U.S. mortgage market and providing products and services that leverage innovative technologies to effectively and efficiently support its cu...
PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. operates as a specialty financial services company with a comprehensive mortgage platform and integrated business primarily focused on the production and servicing of U.S. residential mortgage loans (activities which it refers to as mortgage banking).
The company also engages in the management of investments related to the U.S. mortgage market and providing products and services that leverage innovative technologies to effectively and efficiently support its customers.
The company operates and control all of the business and affairs and consolidate the financial results of Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company, LLC (PNMAC) and its subsidiaries described below:
The company’s principal mortgage banking subsidiary, PennyMac Loan Services, LLC (PLS), is a non-bank producer and servicer of mortgage loans. PLS is a seller/servicer for the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), each of which is a government-sponsored entity (GSE). PLS is also an approved issuer of securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), a lender of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and a lender/servicer of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The company refers to each of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, FHA, VA and USDA as an Agency and collectively as the Agencies. PLS is able to service loans in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the United States Virgin Islands, and originate loans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, either because it is properly licensed in a particular jurisdiction or exempt or otherwise not required to be licensed in that jurisdiction.
The company’s investment management subsidiary is PNMAC Capital Management, LLC (PCM), a Delaware limited liability company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. PCM manages PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (PMT), a mortgage real estate investment trust listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PMT.
Segments
The company conducts its business in two reportable operating segments: production and servicing.
The production segment performs loan origination, acquisition and sale activities for the company’s account, as well as for PMT.
The servicing segment performs loan servicing for both newly originated loans the company is holding for sale and loans it services for others, including for PMT.
Mortgage Banking
Production Segment
The company’s loan production segment sources new prime credit quality residential conventional and government-insured or guaranteed mortgage loans through three channels: correspondent production, broker direct lending and consumer direct lending as described below.
Correspondent Production
In correspondent production the company manages, for its own account and on behalf of PMT, the purchase from non-affiliates of mortgage loans that have been underwritten to investor guidelines. The company’s correspondent loans historically have been directed to each entity based on the guarantor of the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) created from the loans: its production focus has historically been on loans insured or guaranteed by the FHA, VA or USDA for sale into MBS guaranteed by Ginnie Mae, whereas PMT’s production focus has been on loans that can be sold into MBS guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. In 2022, the company began to acquire certain loans for its own account that can be sold into MBS guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The mortgage loan production arrangement between the company and PMT exists, in part, because PMT is not approved as an issuer of Ginnie Mae guaranteed MBS. As a result, PMT sells the government-insured or guaranteed loans that it purchases from correspondent sellers to the company and it pays PMT a sourcing fee ranging from one to two basis points, based on the average number of calendar days that PMT holds the loans before its purchase. The company generally pool the government-insured or guaranteed loans into Ginnie Mae guaranteed MBS and then sell such MBS to institutional investors. The company also purchases certain conventional loans from PMT under the same agreement. Beginning July 1, 2025, the company will become the initial purchaser of all loans from correspondent sellers and begin transferring agreed upon volumes of conventional loans to PMT.
In the company’s correspondent production activities, for loans it sources for its own account, it earns loan origination fees from the correspondent sellers, interest income on the loans during the time it holds such loans, gains or losses from the date it makes a commitment to purchase the loans through the sale of these loans, and, in connection with such sales, it generally retains and recognizes the fair value of the contractual rights to service the loans on behalf of the purchaser of the loans. These servicing contracts are referred to as mortgage servicing rights (MSRs).
In the company’s loan fulfillment activities for the support of PMT’s correspondent production activities and only for loans purchased for PMT’s account, it earns fulfillment fees and tax service fees. The company may also serve as a correspondent seller of newly originated loans from its consumer direct and broker direct lending channels or purchased through its correspondent channel for its own account to PMT under a mortgage loan purchase agreement. When the company sells loans to PMT, PMT obtains the MSRs relating to such loans. As such, the company gains on sales of loans to PMT are primarily cash gains.
Broker Direct Lending
In broker direct lending, the company obtains loan application packages from non-affiliated mortgage loan brokers, underwrite and fund the resulting loans for sale. In the company’s broker direct lending activities, it earns origination fees and interest income, gains or losses from the date it makes a commitment to fund the loan through the sale of these loans, and, in sales to entities other than PMT, it generally retains and recognize the fair value of the associated MSRs.
Consumer Direct Lending
Through the company’s consumer direct lending channel, it originates mortgage loans on a national basis. The company’s consumer direct model relies on the Internet and call center-based staff to acquire and interact with customers across the country.
In the company’s consumer direct lending activities, it earns loan origination fees from the borrower, interest income during the time it holds the loan before sale, gains or losses from the date it makes a commitment to fund the loan through the sale of these loans, and, in sales to entities other than to PMT, it retains and recognizes the fair value of the associated MSRs. To the extent the company refinance loans that it subservices for PMT where PMT owns the related MSRs, it is generally required to pay PMT a recapture fee.
Servicing Segment
The company’s loan servicing segment performs loan administration, collection, and default management activities, including the collection and remittance of loan payments; responding to customer inquiries; providing accounting for principal and interest; holding custodial (impounded) funds for the payment of property taxes and insurance premiums; counseling delinquent borrowers; administering loss mitigation activities, including modification and forbearance programs; and supervising foreclosures and property dispositions.
The company services loans both as the owner of MSRs and mortgage servicing liabilities (MSLs) and as the subservicer on behalf of PMT.
The company’s responsibilities and risks relating to loans its services in arrangements where it owns the MSRs or MSLs differ from those where it acts as subservicer for the owner of the servicing rights. As the owner of the servicing rights:
The company recognizes its investment in the servicing rights received in loan sale transactions where it retains the contractual obligation to service the loans as well the investment it makes when it buys MSRs or the liability it incurs when it assumes MSLs. The company carries these assets and liabilities at fair value and as such they are subject to subsequent changes in fair value owing to the anticipated realization of the cash flows from the asset or liability or to changes in the market for such MSRs and MSLs;
The company is responsible for advancing its corporate funds to protect the loan owners’ interest in the collateral securing such loans for such items as hazard insurance, property taxes and foreclosure-related costs, subject to future reimbursement, as well as advancing delinquent principal and interest payments to MBS holders; and
As the owner of Ginnie Mae MSRs, the company has the option to purchase loans that are at least three months delinquent out of the underlying Ginnie Mae securities as an alternative to continuing to advance principal and interest payments to the holders of the Ginnie Mae securities, or it may be required to purchase loans out of Ginnie Mae securities if there has been a modification of the loans’ terms. As a result, the fees the company earns from such arrangements are generally less on a per-loan basis than those it earns from holding MSRs and MSLs.
Business Strategies
The company expects to grow its correspondent production business as it continues to expand the loan products and services it offers. The company is well positioned to continue generating significant business in this channel based on its management expertise in the correspondent production business, its relationships with correspondent sellers, and its supporting systems and processes. The company expects to grow its consumer direct lending business over time by leveraging its servicing portfolio through the recapture of existing customers for refinance and purchase-money loans, as well as by acquiring new customers.
The company plans on growing its mortgage loan volume in this channel through the addition of new broker and non-delegated partner relationships, as well as expansion of existing relationships enabled by its leading broker technology platform. The company expects to grow its servicing portfolio through loan production activities, as its correspondent production for its own account and consumer and broker direct lending add new servicing for owned MSRs, and correspondent conventional production for PMT’s account adds new subservicing. The company also expects to add subservicing for new non-affiliate clients. The company or PMT may also grow its servicing portfolio through acquisitions. The company regularly evaluates opportunities to grow its business, including expansion into new markets and providing additional services to its customers directly or through external partnerships. The company continues to develop new products to satisfy demand from customers in each of its production and servicing channels and respond to changing circumstances in the market, by, for example, expanding its non-affiliate subservicing.
Competition
In the company’s loan production and servicing segments, it competes with large global banks and financial institutions, including the cash windows of the GSEs, as well as with other independent non-bank mortgage loan producers and servicers, such as Rocket Mortgage, Mr. Cooper, Rithm Capital, Freedom Mortgage, and United Wholesale Mortgage.
Intellectual Property
The company holds or has otherwise applied for various registered trademarks, including trademarks with respect to the name Pennymac and various additional designs and word marks relating to the Pennymac name.
Legal and Regulatory Compliance
The company must comply with a number of federal consumer protection laws, including, among others:
the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and Regulation X thereunder, which require certain disclosures to mortgagors regarding the costs of mortgage loans, the administration of tax and insurance escrows, the transferring of servicing of mortgage loans, the management of mortgage loans in default, loss mitigation and foreclosure events, the response to consumer complaints, and payments between lenders and vendors of certain settlement services;
the Truth in Lending Act, and Regulation Z thereunder, which require certain disclosures to mortgagors regarding the terms of their mortgage loans, notices of sale, assignments or transfers of ownership of mortgage loans, new servicing rules involving payment processing, and adjustable rate mortgage change notices and periodic statements;
the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B thereunder, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of age, race and certain other characteristics, in the extension of credit;
the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, sex, national origin, and certain other characteristics;
the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and Regulation C thereunder, which require financial institutions to report certain public loan data;
the Homeowners Protection Act, which requires the cancellation of private mortgage insurance once certain equity levels are reached, sets disclosure and notification requirements, and requires the return of unearned premiums;
the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which provides, among other things, interest and foreclosure protections for service members on active duty;
the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and Regulation P thereunder, which require it to maintain privacy with respect to certain consumer data in the company’s possession and to periodically communicate with consumers on privacy matters;
the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which regulates the timing and content of debt collection communications;
the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Regulation V thereunder, which regulate the use and reporting of information related to the credit history of consumers; and
the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994, which provides for lenders to require from borrowers or to purchase flood insurance on behalf of borrower/owners of properties in special flood hazard areas.
Many of these laws are further impacted by the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (the SAFE Act) and implementation of new rules by the CFPB.
History
PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. was founded in 2008. The company was incorporated in 2018.