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TRANSACTIONS WITH RELATED PARTIES
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013
TRANSACTIONS WITH RELATED PARTIES  
TRANSACTIONS WITH RELATED PARTIES

4.  TRANSACTIONS WITH RELATED PARTIES

 

Ocwen

 

Ocwen, together with its subsidiaries, is our largest customer.  Our Chairman is also the Chairman of Ocwen.  Ocwen is contractually obligated to purchase certain mortgage services and technology services from us through August 2025 under the terms of a master services agreement and amendments to the master services agreement (collectively, the “Service Agreements”).  In connection with our acquisition from Ocwen of the fee-based businesses of Homeward Residential, Inc. (“Homeward”) that closed on March 29, 2013 and the acquisition from Ocwen related to the fee-based businesses of Residential Capital, LLC (“ResCap”) that closed on April 12, 2013 (see Note 5), our Service Agreements with Ocwen were amended to extend the term from 2020 to 2025.  Further, as part of the amendments, we are the exclusive provider of services to Ocwen with respect to the Homeward and ResCap servicing portfolios, and Ocwen agreed not to establish similar fee-based businesses that would directly or indirectly compete with Altisource’s services with respect to the Homeward and ResCap businesses.  We settle amounts with Ocwen on a daily, weekly or monthly basis depending upon the nature of the service and when the service is provided.

 

Related party revenue consists of revenue earned directly from Ocwen and its subsidiaries and revenue earned from the loans serviced by Ocwen and its subsidiaries when Ocwen designates us as the service provider.  We earn additional revenue on the portfolios serviced by Ocwen and its subsidiaries that are not considered related party revenue when a party other than Ocwen selects Altisource as the service provider.  Related party revenue as a percentage of segment and consolidated revenue was as follows for the years ended December 31:

 

 

 

2013

 

2012

 

2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mortgage Services

 

71%

 

68%

 

72%

 

Financial Services

 

30%

 

< 1%

 

< 1%

 

Technology Services

 

49%

 

42%

 

39%

 

Consolidated revenue

 

65%

 

60%

 

58%

 

 

We record revenue we earn from Ocwen and its subsidiaries under various long-term servicing contracts at rates we believe to be market rates as they are consistent with one or more of the following: the fees we charge to other customers for comparable services, the fees Ocwen pays to other service providers and fees charged by our competitors.

 

Support Services

 

We have support services agreements with Ocwen and its subsidiaries.  These services include such areas as human resources, vendor management, corporate services, operational effectiveness, quality assurance, quantitative analytics and treasury.  Payment for the services provided is based on the fully-allocated cost of providing the service based on an estimate of the time and expense of providing the service.  For the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, we billed Ocwen and its subsidiaries $2.6 million, $2.7 million and $2.6 million, respectively, and Ocwen and its subsidiaries billed us $2.9 million, $2.4 million and $1.9 million, respectively, for services provided under these agreements. These amounts are reflected as a component of selling, general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.

 

Unsecured Term Loan

 

On December 27, 2012, we entered into a senior unsecured term loan agreement with Ocwen under which we loaned $75.0 million to Ocwen.  Payments of interest were due quarterly at a rate per annum equal to the Eurodollar Rate (as defined in the agreement) plus 6.75%, provided that the Eurodollar Rate shall at no time be less than 1.50%.  On February 15, 2013, Ocwen repaid the outstanding principal amount of $75.0 million, plus all accrued and unpaid interest and the term loan was terminated.  Interest income related to this loan was $0.8 million and $0.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively (no comparative amount for 2011).

 

Transactions Related to Fee-Based Businesses

 

On January 31, 2013, we entered into non-binding letters of intent with Ocwen to acquire certain fee-based businesses associated with Ocwen’s acquisitions of the Homeward and ResCap servicing portfolios.  Ocwen acquired the Homeward servicing portfolio on December 27, 2012 and the ResCap servicing portfolio on February 15, 2013.  Altisource acquired the Homeward fee-based businesses from Ocwen on March 29, 2013 (see Note 5).  Altisource entered into an agreement with Ocwen on April 12, 2013 to establish additional terms related to our services in connection with the ResCap fee-based businesses (see Note 5).

 

Correspondent One® and HLSS

 

In July 2011, we acquired an equity interest in Correspondent One S.A. (“Correspondent One”) (see Note 10).  Correspondent One purchased closed conforming and government guaranteed residential mortgages from approved mortgage bankers.  On March 31, 2013, we sold our 49% interest in Correspondent One to Ocwen for $12.6 million. Under a support services agreement, we provided Correspondent One certain finance, human resources, legal support, facilities, technology, vendor management and risk management services.  For the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011, we billed Correspondent One less than $0.1 million, $0.4 million and $0.1 million, respectively.  We also provided certain origination related services to Correspondent One.  We earned revenue of $0.1 million and $0.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively, for these services (no comparative amount in 2011).

 

HLSS is a publicly traded company whose primary objective is the acquisition of mortgage servicing rights and advances.  In connection with the February 2012 HLSS initial public offering and subsequent thereto, HLSS acquired mortgage servicing related assets from Ocwen.  Our Chairman is also the Chairman of HLSS.  Under a support services agreement, we provide HLSS certain finance, human resources and legal support services.  For the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, we billed HLSS $0.7 million and $0.6 million, respectively (no comparative amount in 2011).

 

These amounts are reflected as a component of selling, general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.

 

Residential and AAMC

 

Residential and AAMC were established, capitalized and their equity was distributed to our shareholders on December 21, 2012 and are each separate publicly traded companies.   Residential is focused on acquiring and managing single family rental properties by acquiring portfolios of sub-performing and non-performing residential mortgage loans throughout the United States.  AAMC is an asset management company providing portfolio management and corporate governance services to Residential. Our Chairman is also the Chairman of Residential and AAMC.

 

For purposes of governing certain ongoing relationships between Altisource, Residential and AAMC after the Separation of the Residential Asset Businesses, and to provide for an orderly transition, we entered into certain agreements with Residential and AAMC.  We have agreements to provide Residential with renovation management, lease management and property management services.  In addition, we have agreements with Residential and AAMC to provide support services such as finance, human resources, legal support, facilities, technology, vendor management and risk management.  Further, we have separate agreements for certain services related to income tax matters, trademark licenses and technology products and services.  For the year ended December 31, 2013, we billed Residential $2.6 million, and we billed AAMC less than $0.1 million, under these agreements (no comparative amounts in 2012 and 2011).