Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

20. Commitments and Contingencies

Litigation and Regulatory

The Company and its subsidiaries are routinely and currently involved in a significant number of legal proceedings, including, but not limited to, judicial, arbitration, regulatory and governmental proceedings related to matters that arise in connection with the conduct of the Company’s business. The legal proceedings are at varying stages of adjudication, arbitration or investigation and are generally based on alleged violations of consumer protection, securities, employment, contract, tort, common law fraud and other numerous laws, including, without limitation, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, National Housing Act, Homeowners Protection Act, Service Member’s Civil Relief Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, Truth in Lending Act, Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices in violation of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Title 11 of the United States Code (aka the “Bankruptcy Code”), False Claims Act, the CARES Act and Making Home Affordable loan modification programs.

In addition, along with others in its industry, the Company is subject to repurchase and indemnification claims and may continue to receive claims in the future, regarding alleged breaches of representations and warranties relating to the sale of mortgage loans, the placement of mortgage loans into securitization trusts or the servicing of mortgage loans securitizations. The Company is also subject to legal actions or proceedings related to loss sharing and indemnification provisions of its various acquisitions. Certain of the pending or threatened legal proceedings include claims for substantial compensatory, punitive and/ or statutory damages or claims for an indeterminate amount of damages.

On November 3, 2023, a putative class action lawsuit was filed against the Company, captioned Cabezas v. Mr. Cooper Group, Inc., No. 23-cv-02453 (“Cabezas”), in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, by plaintiff Jennifer Cabezas purportedly on behalf of a class consisting of those persons impacted by the cybersecurity incident that occurred on October 31, 2023. The class action complaint alleges claims for negligence, negligence per se, breach of express contract, breach of implied contract, invasion of privacy, unjust enrichment, breach of confidence, and breach of fiduciary duty based upon allegations that the Company did not employ reasonable and adequate security measures to protect customer personal information accessed in the cybersecurity incident. The Cabezas complaint seeks damages, declaratory and injunctive relief, and an award of costs, attorney fees and expenses, among other relief. Between November 2023 and January 9, 2024, 19 additional putative class actions have been filed against the Company asserting substantially similar claims and allegations as those asserted in the Cabezas action. On January 9, 2024, the Cabezas Court ordered that all 19 then-pending actions be consolidated with the Cabezas action. Following the issuance of the consolidation order, six additional, related putative class actions were filed in the Northern District of Texas, which we expect will also be consolidated with the Cabezas action.

The Company operates within highly regulated industries on a federal, state and local level. In the normal and ordinary course of its business, the Company is routinely subject to extensive examinations, investigations, subpoenas, inquiries and reviews by various federal, state and local governmental, regulatory and enforcement agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, various State mortgage banking regulators and various State Attorneys General, related to the Company’s residential loan servicing and origination practices, its financial reporting and other aspects of its businesses. Any pending or potential future investigations, subpoenas, examinations or inquiries may lead to administrative, civil or criminal proceedings or settlements, and possibly result in remedies including fines, penalties, restitution, or alterations in the Company’s business practices, and additional expenses and collateral costs. The Company is cooperating fully in these matters. Responding to these matters requires the Company to devote substantial resources, resulting in higher costs and lower net cash flows. Adverse results in any of these matters could further increase the Company’s operating expenses and reduce its revenues, require it to change business practices and limit its ability to grow and otherwise materially and adversely affect its business, reputation, financial condition and results of operation.

The Company seeks to resolve all legal proceedings and other matters in the manner management believes is in the best interest of the Company and contests liability, allegations of wrongdoing and, where applicable, the amount of damages or scope of any penalties or other relief sought as appropriate in each pending matter. The Company has entered into agreements with a number of entities and regulatory agencies that toll applicable limitations periods with respect to their claims.

On at least a quarterly basis, the Company assesses its liabilities and contingencies in connection with outstanding legal and regulatory and governmental proceedings utilizing the latest information available. Where available information indicates that it is probable a liability has been incurred, and the Company can reasonably estimate the amount of the loss, an accrued liability is established. The actual costs of resolving these proceedings may be substantially higher or lower than the amounts accrued.

As a legal matter develops, the Company, in conjunction with any outside counsel handling the matter, evaluates on an ongoing basis whether such matter presents a loss contingency that is both probable and estimable. If, at the time of evaluation, the loss contingency is not both probable and reasonably estimable, the matter will continue to be monitored for further developments that would make such loss contingency both probable and reasonably estimable. Once the matter is deemed to be both probable and reasonably estimable, the Company will establish an accrued liability and record a corresponding amount to legal-related expense. The Company will continue to monitor the matter for further developments that could affect the amount of the accrued liability that has been previously established. The Company incurred legal-related expense, which includes legal settlements and the fees paid to external legal service providers, of $39 and $23 for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and was included in “expenses - general and administrative” on the consolidated statements of operations.

For matters for which a loss is probable or reasonably possible in future periods, whether in excess of a related accrued liability or where there is no accrued liability, the Company may be able to estimate a range of possible loss. In determining whether it is possible to provide an estimate of loss or range of possible loss, the Company reviews and evaluates its material legal matters on an ongoing basis, in conjunction with any outside counsel handling the matter. Management currently believes the aggregate range of reasonably possible loss is $1 to $3 in excess of the accrued liability (if any) related to those matters as of December 31, 2023. This estimated range of possible loss is based upon currently available information and is subject to significant judgment, numerous assumptions and known and unknown uncertainties. The matters underlying the estimated range will change from time to time, and actual results may vary substantially from the current estimate. Those matters for which an estimate is not possible are not included within the estimated range. Therefore, this estimated range of possible loss represents what management believes to be an estimate of possible loss only for certain matters meeting these criteria. It does not represent the Company’s maximum loss exposure and the Company cannot provide assurance that its litigations reserves will not need to be adjusted in the future. Thus, the Company’s exposure and ultimate losses may be higher, possibly significantly so, than the amounts accrued or this aggregate amount.    

In the Company’s experience, legal proceedings are inherently unpredictable. One or more of the following factors frequently contribute to this inherent unpredictability: the proceeding is in its early stages; the damages sought are unspecified, unsupported or uncertain; it is unclear whether a case brought as a class action will be allowed to proceed on that basis or, if permitted to proceed as a class action, how the class will be defined; the other party is seeking relief other than or in addition to compensatory damages (including, in the case of regulatory and governmental investigations and inquiries, the possibility of fines and penalties); the matter presents meaningful legal uncertainties, including novel issues of law; the Company has not engaged in meaningful settlement discussions; discovery has not started or is not complete; there are significant facts in dispute; predicting possible outcomes depends on making assumptions about future decisions of courts or governmental or regulatory bodies or the behavior of other parties; and there are a large number of parties named as defendants (including where it is uncertain how damages or liability, if any, will be shared among multiple defendants). Generally, the less progress that has been made in the proceedings or the broader the range of potential results, the harder it is for the Company to estimate losses or ranges of losses that is reasonably possible the Company could incur.

Based on current knowledge, and after consultation with counsel, management believes that the current legal accrued liability within payables and accrued liabilities, is appropriate, and the amount of any incremental liability arising from these matters is not expected to have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial condition of the Company, although the outcome of such proceedings could be material to the Company’s operating results and cash flows for a particular period depending, on among other things, the level of the Company’s revenues or income for such period. However, in the event of significant developments on existing cases, it is possible that the ultimate resolution, if unfavorable, may be material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Other Loss Contingencies

As part of the Company’s ongoing operations, it acquires servicing rights of mortgage loans that are subject to indemnification based on the representations and warranties of the seller. From time to time, the Company will seek recovery under these representations and warranties for incurred costs. The Company believes all balances sought from sellers recorded in “advances and other receivables, net” represent valid claims. However, the Company acknowledges that the claims process can be prolonged due to the required time to perfect claims at the loan level. Because of the required time to perfect or remediate these claims, management relies on the sufficiency of documentation supporting the claim, current negotiations with the counterparty and other evidence to evaluate whether a reserve is required for non-recoverable balances. In the absence of successful negotiations with the seller, all amounts claimed may not be recovered. Balances may be written-off and charged against earnings when management identifies amounts where recoverability from the seller is not likely. As of December 31, 2023, the Company believes all recorded balances for which recovery is sought from the seller are valid claims, and no evidence suggests additional reserves are warranted.

As a seller of mortgage loans to Agencies and other third parties, the Company may be required to indemnify or repurchase mortgage loans that fail to meet certain customary representations and warranties made in conjunction with sales of mortgage loans. The repurchase reserve liability related to such customary representations and warranties was $79 and $22 as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, which are included in “payables and other liabilities” within the consolidated balance sheets. The repurchase reserve liability increased during the third quarter of 2023 due to the assumption of repurchase risk for any mortgages previously sold by Home Point in connection with the Home Point Acquisition. Refer to Note 3, Acquisitions, for discussion of the Home Point Acquisition.

Loan and Other Commitments

The Company enters into IRLCs with prospective borrowers whereby the Company commits to lend a certain loan amount under specific terms and interest rates to the borrower. The Company also enters into LPCs with prospective sellers. These loan commitments are treated as derivatives and are carried at fair value. See Note 12, Derivative Financial Instruments, for more information.