Note 7 — Transactions with Affiliates and Affiliated Entities

Manager

The Company has entered into the Management Agreement with the Manager, pursuant to which the Manager provides for the day-to-day management of the Company’s operations. The Management Agreement requires the Manager to manage the Company’s business affairs in conformity with the policies that are approved and monitored by the Company’s board of directors. The term of the Management Agreement will expire on October 22, 2020 and will be automatically renewed for a one-year term on such date and on each anniversary of such date thereafter unless terminated or not renewed as described below. Either we or our Manager may elect not to renew the Management Agreement upon expiration of its initial term or any renewal term by providing written notice of non-renewal at least 180 days, but not more than 270 days, before expiration. In the event we elect not to renew the term, we will be required to pay our Manager a termination fee equal to three times the average annual management fee amount earned by the Manager during the two four-quarter periods ending as of the end of the most recently completed fiscal quarter prior to the non-renewal. We may terminate the Management Agreement at any time for cause effective upon 30 days prior written notice of termination from us to our Manager, in which case no termination fee would be due. Our board of directors will review our Manager’s performance prior to the automatic renewal thereof and, as a result of such review, upon the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members of our board of directors or of the holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock, we may terminate the Management Agreement based upon unsatisfactory performance by our Manager that is materially detrimental to us or a determination by our independent directors that the management fees payable to our Manager are not fair, subject to the right of our Manager to prevent such a termination by agreeing to a reduction of the management fees payable to our Manager. Upon any termination of the Management Agreement based on unsatisfactory performance or unfair management fees, we are required to pay our Manager the termination fee described above. Our Manager may terminate the Management Agreement, without payment of the termination fee, in the event we become regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Our Manager may also terminate the Management Agreement upon 60 days’ written notice if we default in the performance of any material term of the Management Agreement and the default continues for a period of 30 days after written notice to us, whereupon we would be required to pay our Manager the termination fee described above. Pursuant to the Management Agreement, the Manager, under the supervision of the Company’s board of directors, formulates investment strategies, arranges for the acquisition of assets, arranges for financing, monitors the performance of the Company’s assets and provides certain advisory, administrative and managerial services in connection with the operations of the Company. For performing these services, the Company pays the Manager the management fee which is payable in cash quarterly in arrears, in an amount equal to 1.5% per annum of the Company’s stockholders’ equity (as defined in the Management Agreement).

The Manager is a party to a services agreement (the “Services Agreement”) with Freedom Mortgage, pursuant to which Freedom Mortgage provides to the Manager the personnel, services and resources needed by the Manager to carry out its obligations and responsibilities under the Management Agreement. The Company is a named third-party beneficiary to the Services Agreement and, as a result, has, as a non-exclusive remedy, a direct right of action against Freedom Mortgage in the event of any breach by the Manager of any of its duties, obligations or agreements under the Management Agreement that arise out of or result from any breach by Freedom Mortgage of its obligations under the Services Agreement. The Services Agreement will terminate upon the termination of the Management Agreement. Pursuant to the Services Agreement, the Manager will make certain payments to Freedom Mortgage in connection with the services provided. The Management Agreement between the Company and the Manager was negotiated between related parties, and the terms, including fees payable, may not be as favorable to the Company as if it had been negotiated with an unaffiliated third party. At the time the Management Agreement was negotiated, both the Manager and Freedom Mortgage were controlled by Mr. Stanley Middleman, who is also a shareholder of the Company. Ownership of the Manager has been transferred to CHMM Blind Trust, a grantor trust for the benefit of Mr. Middleman.

The Management Agreement provides that the Company will reimburse the Manager for (i) various expenses incurred by the Manager or its officers, and agents on the Company’s behalf, including costs of software, legal, accounting, tax, administrative and other similar services rendered for the Company by providers retained by the Manager and (ii) the allocable portion of the compensation paid to specified officers dedicated to the Company. The amounts under “Due to affiliates” on the consolidated balance sheets consisted of the following for the periods indicated (dollars in thousands):

Management Fees and Compensation Reimbursement to Affiliate

	Year Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
Management fees	$	5,088	$	3,583	$	2,303
Compensation reimbursement		858		764		643
Total	$	5,946	$	4,347	$	2,946

Subservicing Agreement

Freedom Mortgage is directly servicing a portion of the Company’s portfolio of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MSRs and all of its Ginnie Mae MSRs pursuant to a subservicing agreement entered into on June 10, 2015. Freedom Mortgage has given notice of termination of the subservicing agreement without cause, which will be effective in the second or third quarter of 2019. Under this agreement, Freedom Mortgage will continue to service the applicable mortgage loans in accordance with applicable law and the requirements of the applicable agency, and the Company will continue to pay customary fees to Freedom Mortgage for specified services, until the servicing is transferred.

Joint Marketing Recapture Agreement

In June 2016, Aurora entered into a joint marketing recapture agreement with Freedom Mortgage. Pursuant to this agreement, Freedom Mortgage attempts to refinance certain mortgage loans underlying Aurora’s MSR portfolio subserviced by Freedom Mortgage as directed by Aurora. If a loan is refinanced, Aurora will pay Freedom Mortgage a fee for its origination services. Freedom Mortgage will be entitled to sell the loan for its own benefit and will transfer the related MSR to Aurora. The agreement had an initial term of one year, subject to automatic renewals of one year each. This agreement will terminate upon termination of the subservicing agreement with Freedom Mortgage in the second or third quarter of 2019. During the year ended December 31, 2018, MSRs on 98 loans with an aggregate UPB of approximately $21.5 million had been received from Freedom Mortgage which generated approximately $32,000 in fees due to Freedom Mortgage. During the year ended December 31, 2017, MSRs on 116 loans with an aggregate UPB of approximately $27.6 million had been received from Freedom Mortgage which generated approximately $43,000 in fees due to Freedom Mortgage.

Sale of Excess MSRs

On November 15, 2016, the Company sold the Excess MSRs in Excess MSR Pool 1 and the Excess MSRs in Excess MSR Pool 2014 to Freedom Mortgage. At the closing, the Company received cash proceeds of approximately $38.0 million, repaid $12.0 million of outstanding borrowings drawn on the Company’s $25 million term loan facility with NexBank SSB (the “NexBank term loan”) with a portion of the cash proceeds and released the Company’s security interests in the underlying MSRs. The Company invested the remaining cash proceeds in Agency RMBS. The Company sold the Excess MSRs in Excess MSR Pool 2 to Freedom Mortgage on February 1, 2017. In connection with the sale of the Excess MSRs in Excess MSR Pool 2 to Freedom Mortgage, Freedom Mortgage transferred to Aurora Ginnie Mae MSRs with a weighted average servicing fee of approximately 30 basis points at the time of acquisition. The Ginnie Mae MSRs relate to a pool consisting primarily of newly originated Ginnie Mae conforming mortgage loans that had an aggregate UPB of approximately $4.5 billion as of January 31, 2017. At the closing of the sale of the Excess MSRs in Excess MSR Pool 2, the Company repaid the remaining outstanding borrowings drawn on the NexBank term loan with cash on hand. In addition, the acknowledgment agreement that the Company and Freedom Mortgage entered into with Ginnie Mae at the time of the IPO was terminated.

In connection with the sale transactions, Freedom Mortgage made 12 monthly yield maintenance payments to the Company from December 2016 to November 2017 aggregating $3.0 million.

See Note 10 for a discussion of the now terminated acknowledgment agreement among the Company, Freedom Mortgage and Ginnie Mae.

Other Transactions with Affiliated Persons

In March 2017, the Company waived the forfeiture provisions of LTIP-OP Units previously granted to Mr. Middleman that otherwise would have been triggered once he no longer was a member of the Company’s board of directors.

The Company leases four employees from Freedom Mortgage and reimburses Freedom Mortgage on a monthly basis.

The Company entered into a loan servicing purchase and sale agreement with Freedom Mortgage on December 15, 2016. The amount of holdback remaining under this agreement was approximately $757,000 and $1.0 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.