COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Litigation – New Residential is or may become, from time to time, involved in various disputes, litigation and regulatory inquiry and investigation matters that arise in the ordinary course of business. Given the inherent unpredictability of these types of proceedings, it is possible that future adverse outcomes could have a material adverse effect on its business, financial position or results of operations. New Residential is not aware of any unasserted claims that it believes are material and probable of assertion where the risk of loss is expected to be reasonably possible.

New Residential is, from time to time, subject to inquiries by government entities. New Residential currently does not believe any of these inquiries would result in a material adverse effect on New Residential’s business.

Indemnifications – In the normal course of business, New Residential and its subsidiaries enter into contracts that contain a variety of representations and warranties and that provide general indemnifications. New Residential’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against New Residential that have not yet occurred. However, based on its experience, New Residential expects the risk of material loss to be remote.

Capital Commitments — As of September 30, 2019, New Residential had outstanding capital commitments related to investments in the following investment types (also refer to Note 5 for MSR investment commitments and to Note 18 for additional capital commitments entered into subsequent to September 30, 2019, if any):

MSRs and Servicer Advances — New Residential and, in some cases, third-party co-investors agreed to purchase future servicer advances related to certain Non-Agency mortgage loans. In addition, New Residential’s subsidiary, NRM, is generally obligated to fund future servicer advances related to the loans it is obligated to service. The actual amount of future advances purchased will be based on: (a) the credit and prepayment performance of the underlying loans, (b) the amount of advances recoverable prior to liquidation of the related collateral and (c) the percentage of the loans with respect to which no additional advance obligations are made. The actual amount of future advances is subject to significant uncertainty. See Notes 5 and 6 for information on New Residential’s investments in MSRs and Servicer Advance Investments, respectively.

Mortgage Origination Reserves — NewRez, a wholly owned subsidiary of New Residential, originates conventional, government-insured and nonconforming residential mortgage loans for sale and securitization. The GSEs or Ginnie Mae guarantee conventional and government insured mortgage securitizations and mortgage investors issue nonconforming private label mortgage securitizations while NewRez generally retains the right to service the underlying residential mortgage loans. In connection with the transfer of loans to the GSEs or mortgage investors, NewRez makes representations and warranties regarding certain attributes of the loans and, subsequent to the sale, if it is determined that a sold loan is in breach of these representations and warranties, NewRez generally has an obligation to cure the breach. If NewRez is unable to cure the breach, the purchaser may require NewRez to repurchase the loan.

In addition, for Ginnie Mae guaranteed securitizations, NewRez holds a Ginnie Mae Buy-Back Option to repurchase delinquent loans from the securitization at its discretion. While NewRez is not obligated to repurchase the delinquent loans, NewRez generally executes its option to repurchase that will result in an economic benefit. As of September 30, 2019, New Residential’s estimated liability associated with representations and warranties and Ginnie Mae repurchases was $9.2 million and $168.5 million, respectively. See Notes 5 and 8 for information on New Residential’s Ginnie Mae Buy-Back Option and mortgage origination, respectively.

Mortgage Origination Unfunded Commitments — As of September 30, 2019, NewRez was committed to fund approximately $2.7 billion of mortgage loans and had forward loan sale commitments of $7.0 million. The forward sales are expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2019.

Residential Mortgage Loans — As part of its investment in residential mortgage loans, New Residential may be required to outlay capital. These capital outflows primarily consist of advance escrow and tax payments, residential maintenance and property disposition fees. The actual amount of these outflows is subject to significant uncertainty. See Note 8 for information on New Residential’s investments in residential mortgage loans.

Consumer Loans — The Consumer Loan Companies have invested in loans with an aggregate of $279.4 million of unfunded and available revolving credit privileges as of September 30, 2019. However, under the terms of these loans, requests for draws may be denied and unfunded availability may be terminated at New Residential’s discretion.

Leases — New Residential, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Shellpoint, has leases on office space expiring through 2025. Future commitments under non-cancelable leases are approximately $25.4 million.

Environmental Costs — As a residential real estate owner, through its REO, New Residential is subject to potential environmental costs. At September 30, 2019, New Residential is not aware of any environmental concerns that would have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position or results of operations.

Debt Covenants — New Residential’s debt obligations contain various customary loan covenants (Note 11).

Certain Tax-Related Covenants — If New Residential is treated as a successor to Drive Shack Inc. (“Drive Shack”) under applicable U.S. federal income tax rules, and if Drive Shack failed to qualify as a REIT for a taxable year ending on or before December 31, 2014, New Residential could be prohibited from electing to be a REIT. Accordingly, in the separation and distribution agreement executed in connection with New Residential’s spin-off from Drive Shack, Drive Shack (i) represented that it had no knowledge of any fact or circumstance that would cause New Residential to fail to qualify as a REIT, (ii) covenanted to use commercially reasonable efforts to cooperate with New Residential as necessary to enable New Residential to qualify for taxation as a REIT and receive customary legal opinions concerning REIT status, including providing information and representations to New Residential and its tax counsel with respect to the composition of Drive Shack’s income and assets, the composition of its stockholders, and its operation as a REIT; and (iii) covenanted to use its reasonable best efforts to maintain its REIT status for each of Drive Shack’s taxable years ending on or before December 31, 2014 (unless Drive Shack obtains an opinion from a nationally recognized tax counsel or a private letter ruling from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) to the effect that Drive Shack’s failure to maintain its REIT status will not cause New Residential to fail to qualify as a REIT under the successor REIT rule referred to above). Additionally, New Residential covenanted to use its reasonable best efforts to qualify for taxation as a REIT for its taxable year ended December 31, 2013.