Friday, December 7, 2007

Ocwen Class Action --- 'Update' of sorts by Kweku Hanson

Dear Kim, and all the thousands of other victims of Ocwen's fraudulent loan servicing practices.Once the Hanson v. Ocwen class action was transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northeren District of Illinois in Chicago and combined with a bunch of others mainly from California, my ability to influence the tempo and vigor of the lawsuit was almost totally obliterated. . . .Since I filed the class action not in my capacity as a class action lawyer (which I am) but rather as a private plainitff, the newer lawyers basically came in and, with the center of gravity now moved to Chicago from Connecticut, have been litigating the matter as they see it fit.As a victim-lawyer, my priority had been to try to expose Ocwen's fraud, which Ocwen knows I had ammassed irreebuttable proof of thanks to people working out of its Orlando facility, thanks to ex-employees, thanks to publically available government reports, thanks to hundreds of sworn statements (affidavits) submitted to me by victims from all walks of life and from 44 states and Puerto Rico. I was trying urgently to get a preliminary injunction hearing, as well as a hearing on class certification, and to litigate the case under Civil RICO (racketeering) so that the damages against Ocwen would be deep and punitive as to Ocwen, and discouraging to other predatory servicers. Well, with me relegated (for NOW) to the preiphery, perhaps the other plaintiffs' lawyers exercising their independent judgment have developed other priorities other than getting a judge to instantly halt Ocwen's fraudulent foreclosures and larcenious billing practices. As some of the prior comments relating to this particular thread of posts show, this shift in the class action (deprioritizing Civil RICO and also not trying to immediately save homeowners from nauseating fraud) led to me myself being accused of having dropped or fumbled the ball . . . (or bus) and resulted in rifts in my relationships with some of the folk who were by my side from close to the inception of this case.However, to make a long-winded story short, this is the status as far as I know: there are 'discussions' under foot. Because I am a lawyer (even though the judge did not recognize me as such in Chicago since I am being represented by my own hand-picked Connecticut lawyers, and this resulted in my being marginalized by my colleagues after I had carried the ball for so far and at such great personal cost), I have to be careful what I say.I have to sugercoat my words here with phrases like 'I surmise that there may be confidential talks underway between adversaries' (whatever that means. Of course, I darn well know what is going on, but I am simply NOT at liberty to say something which may theoretically perhaps maybe likely probably supposedly assumedly (you get my drift) jeopardize anything.My bottom line has been this: IF there is a settlement (again, assuming any negotiations are underway), then when a settlement is reached, it will (by law) be publically announced in the mass media and possibly via first class mail to all folks covered by the class action. AT THAT POINT EVERYONE WILL HAVE AN OPTION TO OPT OUT OF THE TERMS OF THE SETTLEMENT, OR STAY IN AND ACCEPT THE SETTLEMENT OFFER (whether pennies on the dollar, millions on the dollar, coupons, rebates, or whatever).Since I still have my legal knowledge, my absolute, unwavering determination to STOP this fraud upon my lawyer's oath, and all the evidence I have compiled (thanks to all of you my fellow victims) and safeguarded in upstate New York, I shall wait and see and then advise myself as to what I will do in the hypothetical event there is a settlement and the terms send sharp pains up my nostrils.Of course, this is a generalization (and not to be construed as reflecting my position or recommendation one way or another) that IF the majority of class members in any lawsuit opt OUT, the case then MUST be litigated, or the settlement terms renegotiated for the BETTER. So, we shall wait, shall we then?God bless all the victims who continue to suffer this financial terrorism (yep, lawyer or not, I do not have to mince my words as to what I know is abosultely true and what I can prove in a federal court of law anyday: financial terrorism by Ocwen --- whatever name it might be operating under today).Kweku Hanson

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

if there is a class action lawsuit, how do I become a part of this? Ocwen tried to foreclose on me and I had to find a angel investor to save my ass? Please let me know if there is anything I can do?

gvampyr@gmail.com

Heather said...

Kweku,

I attempted to email our information to the email address given for you on the ripoff.com website.

My husband and I would very much like to participate in any class action lawsuit currently in progress, if possible. We have excellent documentation to back up the clear violations on Ocwen's part, which are all the classic ones listed so far.

Please let us know if we can be included.

1heathermiller@gmail.com

Thank You,

Heather Miller

Anonymous said...

My Husband and I also have lost our home to Ocwen. Our mortage was sold to them in Nov. 2005 and in Feb. 2006.They said we were behind and they were going to foreclose on us in May of 2006 so we filed Chapter 13 to keep our house and had the payments sent directly to them directly through the court so they couldn't lie about the payments. they increased our mortage 2 times with out notifing us and therefore show us behind even in chapter 13
then in august 2007 my husband had a stroke and I could no longer make the 13 payments so we had no choice but to go chapter 7 and move. Now ocwen is still sending us statements saying we owe $7,000 dollars to them in legal fees and won't do anything with the property. I had a buyer for the property even after we lost it and they won't sell. I don't know if we even could do a class action suit now but I do know you all should persue it because they will rip you off and you will end up like us filing bankrupcky just to keep a home that in the end you will owe more for and will never pay off.

Unknown said...

If a class action lawsuit against Ocwen does come to fruition, I would like to sign up. My wife and I are a few days away from filling bankruptcy and giving our hose back to Ocwen. I have tried everything possible to work with them but nothing reasonable has come from it yet.

Brad
Mch1brg @gmail.com (no spaces)

Mescalito1414 said...

I, too, would like to participate in any class action law suit against Ocwen. They screwed up my mortgage and my credit by charging me late fees and penalties, all originating from "lack of proper proof of home owner's insurance". I had home owner's insurance through State Farm and both, my agent and myself faxed them copies on numerous occassions. The policy # is also clearly stated in my title documentation. Regardless, they took my additional principal payments and applied them to their erroneous fees, meanwhile reporting my payments late to the credit bureaus. I then started the refi process only to find that if I refinanced before the initial 2 yrs. I would have to pay a $20,000.00 penalty. I stopped the refi, intent on waiting. Ocwen sold my loan, and GMAC doesn't care that Ocwen screwed me, they tell me that I must pursue Ocwen for any misapplied payments. This has ended up costing me and my family 10's of thousands of dollars, maybe even more when you consider my credit rating has dropped substantially due to their reporting. Any ideas for me? Should I go it alone, or wait for class-action?

Anonymous said...

I don't understand Ocwen or these new laws. They modified my loan by deducting 20,000, but never lowered my interest rate so my payment is still the same. I still can not afford it and I have fallen behind again and they are dragging their feet to make something else work. I am not able to refinance or modify again until next year, I'm affraid that will be to late. Any sugestions?

brenda68beckley@yahoo.com

thefriese said...

I would like info about a class action too...I am a disabled vet and was let go from work because my disablity worsened. I asked ocwen to send me deed in lieu, short sale and modification paperwork through the mail. they refused and yesterday (while they are still calling for money today) they auctioned the house to a realtor. who showed up and told me to get out of her house. I cannot believe these idoits have a license to practice...this kind of negelence and complete disrespect is the reason these large companies are folding.

my addy is thefriese@yahoo.com

if you got something of interest or know somebody that can point me in the right direction please give them my address.

Heather said...

To the last poster, I'm sorry to hear about your experience (to all posters, really.) That sounds pretty sudden.

As near as I can tell, nothing Ocwen does makes sense and dealing with them has been much like a pronounced version of 'Alice in Wonderland.'

To give an update on our situation: Our house sat on the market for a shortsale for over a year and a half with no offers before finally getting one for $369k which was a very good offer considering the market. To our realtors disbelief Ocwen turned it down and opted to foreclose on the property instead, which they did in January. The house is now bank owned and on the market for.....$329K? Why would they turn down an offer for 369K to put it on the market for $40K less and go through the hassle and expense of foreclosing?

I have no idea.

We have moved on mentally and logistically. My sympathy to those who are in the middle of the madness, though.

Heather

Heather said...

Mark,

I'm so sorry. Thanks for taking the time to post your story; it sounds like despite a tremendous loss at Ocwen's hands you (and hopefully your wife) have a peaceful resignation about it now. Moving forward with perspective is a good thing.

Our house was officially foreclosed on in January of this year due to a number of appalling maneuvers on Ocwen's end that would take too long to list.

But we've found that though it seemed like 'the worst thing that could happen,' it actually wasn't. In many ways by finally being able to move on and away from the insanity world of Ocwen Financial we lost our 'house' but gained our 'home' (family) with not being burdened by the stress any longer.

May the road ahead be surprisingly light for you both...

With Kindness,

Heather

alronmor@yahoo.com said...

My Husband and I would like also to be part of a class action lawsuit against Ocwen loan. We are a few days of having to move out of our home of 12 years.I haven't missed any payments. they have illegelly foreclosed on us. We cannot get any help anywhere. We have tried everything. Please let us know if a class action is filed against them. We would love to be participants Please keep us informed alronmor@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Any update on a potential Class Action Lawsuit? Has anyone here been fortunate enought to find a Tough, experienced attorney to represent them? Also, of all of you here, how many of you started off with Delta Funding? My situation is different in that the Lender "Delta" inflated the Value of my house, leaving me unable to Sell when I had to.

your comments and ideas are welcome;

The easiest thing is to give up, but I know that if we Stick together we can find Justice.
triumphig@yahoo.com