Ocwen to cut 140 jobs at Houston

(Reuters) - Private mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial Corp said it will cut 140 jobs as part of its move to stop residential servicing operations in Houston. The planned redundancies, which is less than 5 percent of the company's total workforce of 3,200, was made to streamline the number of call center sites, Ocwen said on Wednesday. The company has been slimming down its operations since regulators questioned its servicing standards last year. Ocwen has sold more than $90 billion of servicing rights since February, which includes $45 billion of mortgage servicing rights to JPMorgan Chase & Co's consumer and commercial banking unit. Ocwen agreed in December to replace its chairman and pay New York $150 million after the state accused the company of backdating letters to borrowers and funneling work to affiliates, possibly leading to improper foreclosures. Ocwen shares closed at $10.21 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. (Reporting by Avik Das in Bengaluru)