Nature of Business and Basis of Presentation (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

For the purpose of financial statement presentation, Mr. Cooper was determined to be the accounting acquirer in the Merger, and Nationstar’s assets and liabilities were recorded at estimated fair value as of the acquisition date. Mr. Cooper’s interim consolidated financial statements for periods following the Merger closing are labeled “Successor” and reflect the acquired assets and liabilities from Nationstar.

Under Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) rules, when a registrant succeeds to substantially all of the business of another entity and the registrant’s own operations before the succession appear insignificant relative to the operations assumed or acquired, the registrant is required to present financial information for the acquired entity (the “Predecessor”) for all comparable periods being presented before the acquisition. Due to the acquisition, the Predecessor and Successor financial statements have been prepared on different basis of accounting and are therefore not comparable.

Pursuant to the Merger, Nationstar is considered the predecessor company. Therefore, the Company is providing additional information in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements regarding Nationstar’s business for periods prior to July 31, 2018. The predecessor company financial information in this report is labeled “Predecessor” in these consolidated interim financial statements.

The consolidated interim financial statements of the Company and Predecessor have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X as promulgated by the SEC. Accordingly, the financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Upon the consummation of the Merger, the Company adopted the significant accounting policies that were implemented by Nationstar and applied to the Predecessor’s financial statements, as disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

The interim consolidated financial statements are unaudited; however, in the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring items, considered necessary for a fair presentation of the results of the interim periods have been included. Dollar amounts are reported in millions, except per share data and other key metrics, unless otherwise noted.

The Company evaluated subsequent events through the date these interim consolidated financial statements were issued.

Basis of Consolidation

Basis of Consolidation

The basis of consolidation described below was adopted by Nationstar and applied to the Predecessor financial statements for the periods impacted by the adoption. The Successor’s financial statements reflect the adoption of such standards.

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company, its wholly-owned subsidiaries, other entities in which the Company has a controlling financial interest and those variable interest entities (“VIE”) where the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries are the primary beneficiaries. Assets and liabilities of VIEs and their respective results of operations are consolidated from the date that the Company became the primary beneficiary through the date the Company ceases to be the primary beneficiary. The Company applies the equity method of accounting to investments where it is able to exercise significant influence, but not control, over the policies and procedures of the entity and owns less than 50% of the voting interests. Investments in certain companies over which the Company does not exert significant influence are accounted for as cost method investments. Intercompany balances and transactions on consolidated entities have been eliminated.

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates due to factors such as adverse changes in the economy, changes in interest rates, secondary market pricing for loans held for sale and derivatives, strength of underwriting and servicing practices, changes in prepayment assumptions, declines in home prices or discrete events adversely affecting specific borrowers, and such differences could be material.

Recent Accounting Guidance Adopted and Not Yet Adopted

Recent Accounting Guidance Adopted

Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) (“ASU 2016-02”), No.2018-10, Codification Improvements to Topic 842, Leases (“ASU 2018-10”), and No. 2018-11, Leases (Topic 842): Targeted Improvements (“ASU 2018-11”), primarily impact lessee accounting by requiring the recognition of a right-of-use asset and a corresponding lease liability on the balance sheet for long-term lease agreements. ASU 2016-02 was effective for the Company on January 1, 2019. ASU 2016-02 provides for a modified retrospective transition approach requiring lessees to recognize and measure leases on the balance sheet at the beginning of either the earliest period presented or as of the beginning of the period of adoption with the option to elect certain practical expedients. The Company has elected to apply ASU 2016-02 as of the beginning of the period of adoption (January 1, 2019) and has not restated comparative periods. The Company elected the package of practical expedients, which, among other items, permits the Company not to reassess under the new standard its prior conclusions about lease identification, lease classification and initial direct costs. The Company also elected the short-term lease recognition exemption for all leases that qualify. Under this practical expedient, for those leases that qualify, the Company does not recognize right-of-use (“ROU”) assets or lease liabilities, which includes not recognizing ROU assets or lease liabilities for existing short-term leases of those assets in transition. The Company also elected the practical expedient to not separate lease and non-lease components for all of our leases. The Company did not elect the use-of-hindsight practical expedient. As a result of implementing ASU 2016-02, the Company recognized an operating lease ROU asset of $114 and an operating lease liability of $124 on January 1, 2019, with no impact on its consolidated statement of operations. There was no cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of accumulated deficit as a result of the adoption of this standard. The ROU asset and operating lease liability are recorded in other assets, and payables and other liabilities, respectively, in the consolidated balance sheets. See Note 7, Leases for additional information.

Accounting Standards Update No. 2018-15, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40 - Customer's Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract" (“ASU 2018-15”) aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license). ASU 2018-15 will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2020. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in any interim period. In the first quarter of 2019, the Company early adopted ASU 2018-15. The standard did not have a material impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Recent Accounting Guidance Not Yet Adopted

Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326) (“ASU 2016-13”), requires expected credit losses for financial instruments held at the reporting date to be measured based on historical experience, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts. The update eliminates the probable initial recognition threshold in current GAAP and instead reflects an entity’s current estimate of all expected credit losses. Previously, when credit losses were measured under GAAP, an entity generally only considered past events and current conditions in measuring the incurred loss. ASU 2016-13 is effective for interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact of ASU 2016-13 on its consolidated financial statements.

Accounting Standards Update No. 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820)- Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement, (“ASU 2018-13”) removes the requirement to disclose the amount of and reasons for transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurement methodologies, the policy for timing of transfers between levels and the valuation processes for Level 3 fair value measurements. It also adds a requirement to disclose changes in unrealized gains and losses for the period included in other comprehensive income for recurring Level 3 fair value measurements held at the end of the reporting period and the range and weighted average of significant unobservable inputs used to develop Level 3 measurements. For certain unobservable inputs, entities may disclose other quantitative information in lieu of the weighted average if the other quantitative information would be a more reasonable and rational method to reflect the distribution of unobservable inputs used to develop Level 3 fair value measurements. ASU 2018-13 will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2020. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact of ASU 2018-13 on its consolidated financial statements.