Smaller nonbanks facing “come to Jesus moment” as MSR values dip

FHFA issues advisory mandating third-party valuations of MSR assets

Nick Smith, the founder, managing partner and CEO of Minneapolis-based Rice Park Capital Management, sees the FHFA advisory bulletin as a positive development. “People generally don’t like regulation and don’t like being held to certain standards, but they also don’t like the consequences of crashes, [which] hurt everybody,” said Smith, whose private investment firm is an active MSR portfolio buyer on behalf of institutional investors and others.