Monitor calls mortgage servicer’s info unreliable

The monitor overseeing a national mortgage settlement said Tuesday that Ocwen Financial Corp., one of the biggest U.S. servicers of home loans, had produced unreliable information about its business practices.

Joseph Smith, who is monitoring banks’ and mortgage servicers’ compliance with the $25 billion settlement over foreclosure abuses, said Tuesday he has hired an independent accounting firm to re-evaluate Ocwen’s progress in the first half of the year. Smith said he started investigating in May after an Ocwen employee alleged there were “serious deficiencies” in the company’s internal review. The employee’s complaint raised questions about the review’s independence from Ocwen management, Smith said in a report.

Atlanta-based Ocwen said Tuesday it has made changes to its review process to make it more independent. The company said it has put new managers in charge of the internal compliance review.

Olive Garden owner posts $32.8 million quarterly loss

Darden Restaurants reported a $32.8 million quarterly loss Tuesday, the first results since activist investor Starboard Value took over the company’s board of directors.

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Darden said it lost money despite 0.5 percent growth in same restaurant sales at Olive Garden and 2.6 percent at Longhorn Steakhouse. However, traffic continued to drop at both Olive Garden and Longhorn.

Sales for the quarter increased by 4.9 percent to $1.56 billion.

RadioShack makes moves to slash its operating costs

RadioShack has a new interim chief financial officer, again.

The struggling Fort Worth-based consumer electronics chain said last week that it planned to slash operating costs by $400 million including moves that will save $41 million on professional fees.

RadioShack said Tuesday that it entered into an agreement for advisory and interim management services with FTI Consulting. As part of that agreement, Carlin Adrianopoli becomes interim CFO, succeeding Holly Etlin who has been interim CFO since September.

— From news service reports


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