Wells Fargo selling rights to service some reverse mortgages

Wells Fargo is selling a $12.2 billion reverse mortgage servicing portfolio, according to an announcement from the buyer, Walter Investment Management Corp. The 76,000 loans are expected to be transferred in the third quarter.

The sale comes more than a year after Wells, the country's largest mortgage servicer, announced it would stop originating reverse mortgages. Bank of America had already made a similar announcement.

Wells Fargo said at an investor conference in March that it might test the waters on selling some mortgage servicing rights, but wasn't under pressure to do so. Bank of America has sold off hundreds of billions of servicing rights over the past few months.

The sales, which come after proposed new rules would allow banks to count less of their mortgage servicing rights toward capital, have also drawn the attention of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.