My husband was laid off of work about 4 months ago. We contact Ocwen within a couple of days of him getting laid off and told them we may be late or may not be able to make mortgage payment. They said to send them bank statments paystubs copy of unemployment info 2007 tax returns w-2 forms I did, I have faxed them 5 times. each time to a different number that they asked me to fax it to. I call them today and they say well your loan was just transfered to this dept and we do not have any of the things we need. I started to get P.O.'d I asked if I have previously faxed the info 5 times would it not be in the file. He said no that they do not have the info and we need to refax.This has been going on for months I need help, I have been in my home for 11 years, I do not want to loose it now. we refinanced to upgrade the house and all the money went into doing that and now I may loose it because they will not help and they could care less. Another question: why the heck am I calling Orlando and it gets transferred to India or some other country. I live in America and would like to speak with someone in America that understands what the market is like here. Someone that actually understands where we are coming from and acutally cares.
Mel Riverview, FloridaU.S.A.
Showing posts with label late fees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label late fees. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Ocwen charging me late charges of $1520.25 and I have never been late and I have copies of my payments
ocwen has been sending me statements in the mail saying that i have current late charges of over a year old. i was never late and i told them this. now i receive an letter for them saying to aviod possible negative consequences of unpaid past due amounts on your mortgage loan without having to increase your payments.
they want me to sign this notice saying that they can add this amount to my mortgage or this may result in foreclosure. i will not sign this notice because i donot owe ocwen late charges.
this company should have never been in this business, they are only trying to ripoff as many people as they can, before they are closed down.
any type of suites filed against them i am with you all the way. someone has to stop them from ripping honest people off.
i am so thankful that i am one of those people that makes copies of everything.
my sugguestion to all the readers is to always check into any company you deal with(sometimes things may seem good at first but there may be a trick down the line).
Never late
Richton Park, IllinoisU.S.A.
they want me to sign this notice saying that they can add this amount to my mortgage or this may result in foreclosure. i will not sign this notice because i donot owe ocwen late charges.
this company should have never been in this business, they are only trying to ripoff as many people as they can, before they are closed down.
any type of suites filed against them i am with you all the way. someone has to stop them from ripping honest people off.
i am so thankful that i am one of those people that makes copies of everything.
my sugguestion to all the readers is to always check into any company you deal with(sometimes things may seem good at first but there may be a trick down the line).
Never late
Richton Park, IllinoisU.S.A.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Ocwen Loan Servicing Escalated payments, failed to credit payments or credited late, refused payments while in forebearance negotiaions
Ocwen Loan Servicing Escalated payments, failed to credit payments or credited late, refused payments while in forebearance negotiaions, then wants $150,000 extra
Ocwen takes the prize for most dishonorable company, and we want a class action suit against them! Anybody game?We have tried to keep up payments, but with an ARM, this became impossible, as our rate went to 11%. Additionally, there were always late fees, even though we paid on time. Finally my husband filed for bankruptcy, and reached a verbal agreement with Ocwen on what our payment would be.But the very next payment was sent back as not being the correct amount, but no one could tell us what that amount should be. We started the very long process of trying to reach someone on the phone who could tell us, with hold times anywhere from 30 minutes to 2+ hours. Many times we were told someone would call, but when 'they' did, it was a recording. Finally we got to talk to 'Ganesh'.We reached an agreement and were told the papers would be sent in the mail, and not to make a payment until we could send it with the new contract. Many calls later, still no papers, but still told not to pay. Foreclosure papers came. More calls, told not to worry, just a formality, don't pay. Second set of foreclosure papers came. Got an attorney. Almost a year later, got the papers, but amount now owed is about $150,000 more than our original mortgage - all sorts of fees and interest due to not paying for a year. We TRIED to pay all year, but were told not to by Ganesh. Amount is more than we could ever hope to refinance, so no hope of getting away from this crazy company even if we can pay the exorbitant amount they demand. After reading all the rip-off reports on them, I don't trust them anyway.We're serious about the class action suit. I've only hit the highlights of our problems with them.
Meg Burleson, Texas U.S.A.
From: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/396/RipOff0396544.htm
Ocwen takes the prize for most dishonorable company, and we want a class action suit against them! Anybody game?We have tried to keep up payments, but with an ARM, this became impossible, as our rate went to 11%. Additionally, there were always late fees, even though we paid on time. Finally my husband filed for bankruptcy, and reached a verbal agreement with Ocwen on what our payment would be.But the very next payment was sent back as not being the correct amount, but no one could tell us what that amount should be. We started the very long process of trying to reach someone on the phone who could tell us, with hold times anywhere from 30 minutes to 2+ hours. Many times we were told someone would call, but when 'they' did, it was a recording. Finally we got to talk to 'Ganesh'.We reached an agreement and were told the papers would be sent in the mail, and not to make a payment until we could send it with the new contract. Many calls later, still no papers, but still told not to pay. Foreclosure papers came. More calls, told not to worry, just a formality, don't pay. Second set of foreclosure papers came. Got an attorney. Almost a year later, got the papers, but amount now owed is about $150,000 more than our original mortgage - all sorts of fees and interest due to not paying for a year. We TRIED to pay all year, but were told not to by Ganesh. Amount is more than we could ever hope to refinance, so no hope of getting away from this crazy company even if we can pay the exorbitant amount they demand. After reading all the rip-off reports on them, I don't trust them anyway.We're serious about the class action suit. I've only hit the highlights of our problems with them.
Meg Burleson, Texas U.S.A.
From: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/396/RipOff0396544.htm
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Ocwen Financial Corporation Failure to Complete Loan Modification Agreement West Palm Beach Florida
From: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/328/RipOff0328145.htm
Approximately one month ago my husband and I received a loan modification agreement from Ocwen Financial Corp that detailed a modification agreement to our loan which would lock us in at a fixed rate throughout the duration of our loan. We called to verify the details of the agreement and then were told that the only thing we needed to do to seal the deal was to sign and date the agreement and then make a payment at the new mortgage payment amount. We did this and waited for confirmation of the process being completed. Several days later we started recieving calls from the collections department stating that we were behind in our payment. We explained our having recieved the modification agreement and the fact that we paid the agreed upon amount according to the agreement. We were then told the process had not been completed but not to worry because everything was okay. To be honest I can not tell you how many phone calls have occured between that time and now but I can give a rough estimate of about at least 20 and that is being modest. We have been put on hold, disconnected, told the matter would be resolved in a matter of days, told someone would contact us because the Loan Modification Dept was experiencing extremely high call volume. We were told it was denied, we were told it is pending, we were told to re-fax information and to include our drivers licenses and it would be settled for the most recent time on last Thursday, April 17,2008 and the matter would be corrected within 48-72 hours. Nowhere on the agreement does it indicate that we needed to send copies of our drivers licenses otherwise we would have faxed that info when we faxed the agreement, yet this was the reason stated that the process had not been completed. Meanwhile we are constantly getting calls from the collections department. We got something in the mail stating we needed to send them info so they could renew our forbearance agreement. We called to clarify we were not entering into another forbearance agreement but rather a Loan Modification Agreement. We called the automated line April 11, 2008 and it indicated we only owed a payment of $310.26 we made that payment. We were then contacted by the collections department stating that we owed $752.00. No one has been able to explain or give us a breakdown of the charges. There are also charges on the statement we asked to be explained no one could offer an explanation. We are being told we owe one amount by the customer service reps, given another amount online, and received a paper statement with another amount. This situation is totally out of control We are now entering a month of this chaos and confustion and are not sure what to do, who to render a complaint to. There is something definitely out of order at Ocwen Financial Corporation but we can't seem to get any cooperation or satisfaction in regards to this matter and we don't want to lose our home simply because they are not giving us the proper information. Honestly we don't know what is going on. If anybody could assist us in this matter is would be GREATLY appreciated. We didn't realize this company was so screwed up until recently.CharlotteIndianapolis, IndianaU.S.A.
Approximately one month ago my husband and I received a loan modification agreement from Ocwen Financial Corp that detailed a modification agreement to our loan which would lock us in at a fixed rate throughout the duration of our loan. We called to verify the details of the agreement and then were told that the only thing we needed to do to seal the deal was to sign and date the agreement and then make a payment at the new mortgage payment amount. We did this and waited for confirmation of the process being completed. Several days later we started recieving calls from the collections department stating that we were behind in our payment. We explained our having recieved the modification agreement and the fact that we paid the agreed upon amount according to the agreement. We were then told the process had not been completed but not to worry because everything was okay. To be honest I can not tell you how many phone calls have occured between that time and now but I can give a rough estimate of about at least 20 and that is being modest. We have been put on hold, disconnected, told the matter would be resolved in a matter of days, told someone would contact us because the Loan Modification Dept was experiencing extremely high call volume. We were told it was denied, we were told it is pending, we were told to re-fax information and to include our drivers licenses and it would be settled for the most recent time on last Thursday, April 17,2008 and the matter would be corrected within 48-72 hours. Nowhere on the agreement does it indicate that we needed to send copies of our drivers licenses otherwise we would have faxed that info when we faxed the agreement, yet this was the reason stated that the process had not been completed. Meanwhile we are constantly getting calls from the collections department. We got something in the mail stating we needed to send them info so they could renew our forbearance agreement. We called to clarify we were not entering into another forbearance agreement but rather a Loan Modification Agreement. We called the automated line April 11, 2008 and it indicated we only owed a payment of $310.26 we made that payment. We were then contacted by the collections department stating that we owed $752.00. No one has been able to explain or give us a breakdown of the charges. There are also charges on the statement we asked to be explained no one could offer an explanation. We are being told we owe one amount by the customer service reps, given another amount online, and received a paper statement with another amount. This situation is totally out of control We are now entering a month of this chaos and confustion and are not sure what to do, who to render a complaint to. There is something definitely out of order at Ocwen Financial Corporation but we can't seem to get any cooperation or satisfaction in regards to this matter and we don't want to lose our home simply because they are not giving us the proper information. Honestly we don't know what is going on. If anybody could assist us in this matter is would be GREATLY appreciated. We didn't realize this company was so screwed up until recently.CharlotteIndianapolis, IndianaU.S.A.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
ocwen rip off conartist
From:http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/327/RipOff0327151.htm
I am a victim of OCWEN fraud this company has wrongly charged me figures that are not right and is promising foreclosure of my home, many stories of lawsuits against OCWEN is on the internet just by searching 'OCWEN' can you help me with this litigation? I have made my payment to them each month, I have already went through one forbearance plan because of other allegations made by OCWEN just to try to get on their track, they are a rip off con artist and there is no making anything right with them Thank you, late fees 706.00 interest 2,691.00past due 4,088.00property inspection 736property valuation 575.00 & 115.00maintenance expense 31.50legal collection 1,100.00JeffPennington Gap, VirginiaU.S.A.
I am a victim of OCWEN fraud this company has wrongly charged me figures that are not right and is promising foreclosure of my home, many stories of lawsuits against OCWEN is on the internet just by searching 'OCWEN' can you help me with this litigation? I have made my payment to them each month, I have already went through one forbearance plan because of other allegations made by OCWEN just to try to get on their track, they are a rip off con artist and there is no making anything right with them Thank you, late fees 706.00 interest 2,691.00past due 4,088.00property inspection 736property valuation 575.00 & 115.00maintenance expense 31.50legal collection 1,100.00JeffPennington Gap, VirginiaU.S.A.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Ocwen And Foster And Garbus Getting screwed Orlando Florida
From: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/326/RipOff0326221.htm
ocwen wrote off my loan and sent me a 1099 stating on the 1099 cancelation of debt. which i filed, then started sending me a bill for $12,000 and charging me $ 800 in late fees each month because i would not pay it. than when i had a buyer for my house they gave me the run around for months, waiting on hold for 40 to 50 minutes just to talk to someone, and when i finally got to talk to someone they had no answers or transfered me to someone else, told me to submit a short sale packet to get a release of lien and never responded after that.i have spend numerious hours on hold and on the phone with this company trying to get an answer, and when my first morgage company started to contact them so i could settle the short sale they sold my loan to a collection agency for the full amount and refuse to honor my short sale.the house went to forclosure and now i owe the irs 20,000, my credit is shot, i have no money, no house and i know nothing about law and dont understand much about it.i am begging anyone to give me some good info on what to do. i am completely lost and dont have a clue what to do....how can you sell a loan a all if you already wrote it off and i am paying taaxes on.
PeteCoram, New YorkU.S.A.
ocwen wrote off my loan and sent me a 1099 stating on the 1099 cancelation of debt. which i filed, then started sending me a bill for $12,000 and charging me $ 800 in late fees each month because i would not pay it. than when i had a buyer for my house they gave me the run around for months, waiting on hold for 40 to 50 minutes just to talk to someone, and when i finally got to talk to someone they had no answers or transfered me to someone else, told me to submit a short sale packet to get a release of lien and never responded after that.i have spend numerious hours on hold and on the phone with this company trying to get an answer, and when my first morgage company started to contact them so i could settle the short sale they sold my loan to a collection agency for the full amount and refuse to honor my short sale.the house went to forclosure and now i owe the irs 20,000, my credit is shot, i have no money, no house and i know nothing about law and dont understand much about it.i am begging anyone to give me some good info on what to do. i am completely lost and dont have a clue what to do....how can you sell a loan a all if you already wrote it off and i am paying taaxes on.
PeteCoram, New YorkU.S.A.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
OCWEN Loan Services/Cris Simmons/Ronald Faris MAKING UP CHARGES TO CREATE FORECLOSURE West Palm Beach Florida
From: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/312/RipOff0312883.htm
I contacted the company to get a payoff quote in order to refinance and i was given an inflated amount of over $9,000.00 OVER the current balance being $2,300.00 of PREPAYMENT PENALTY. Then the next day I received a Loan modification document with a cover letter threatening to ruin my credit and foreclosure if i didnt pay 5200. escrow shortage .They had acquired forced insurance and placed flood insurance where i did not require one and without notifying me were intending to use this charge to demand immediate payment or ruin my credit.
During the following days i have tried to have them reverse those charges by PROVING them of my existing insurance and they claim that they have received nothing even though i have proof of receipt of faxed documents.During the life og this loan I have NEVER PAID late not even once.
Maria Alicia medinaastoria, New YorkU.S.A.
I contacted the company to get a payoff quote in order to refinance and i was given an inflated amount of over $9,000.00 OVER the current balance being $2,300.00 of PREPAYMENT PENALTY. Then the next day I received a Loan modification document with a cover letter threatening to ruin my credit and foreclosure if i didnt pay 5200. escrow shortage .They had acquired forced insurance and placed flood insurance where i did not require one and without notifying me were intending to use this charge to demand immediate payment or ruin my credit.
During the following days i have tried to have them reverse those charges by PROVING them of my existing insurance and they claim that they have received nothing even though i have proof of receipt of faxed documents.During the life og this loan I have NEVER PAID late not even once.
Maria Alicia medinaastoria, New YorkU.S.A.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Ocwen, Allegations of Fraud, Malice, Misrepresentation and Manipulation.
From:http://www.msfraud.org/Articles/The%20Ocwen%20Story.htm
Voice of the People
Ocwen, Allegations of Fraud, Malice, Misrepresentation and Manipulation. Ocwen Financial Corporation ("Ocwen") is a vertically integrated multi-billion dollar, publicly traded (NYSE: OCN) financial services holding company, engaged in a variety of businesses related to mortgage servicing, real estate asset management, asset recovery and technology. Headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida,Within a 12 month period this company has lost two major lawsuits alleging fraud, malice, misrepresentation and manipulation totaling $14.5M. Other allegations have been made by former and current employees including the intentional destruction of information, and document forgery.Why do so many people claim that Ocwen is ripping them off and wrongfully foreclosing on their homes?Is Ocwen really the bad guy?Or are their customers failing to meet their obligations and looking for a quick court buck?This is the first in a series of stories about this company, Ocwen services sub-prime mortgages. This means they service mortgages for people that have had trouble paying their bills in the past. And Ocwen services a lot of these, nearly 400,000 customers. As part of this investigation we decided to review a typical Ocwen customer, and a not so typical Ocwen customer. We will call them Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones (these are real Ocwen customers) who have ask to not be identified because of pending legal action.Mr. Smith just had the loan servicing rights acquired by Ocwen in August of 2005. Mr. Smith has homeowners insurance through Prudential, his premiums are paid and current. In September of 2005 Mr. Smith paid his regular monthly bill to Ocwen with his old account #. Mr. Smith had not received his new payment information from Ocwen and did not want to be late on his payment. Ocwen cashed this payment and on Sept 22nd sent him a letter (to the wrong address), stating he was late on house payment this letter did not contain his new account and payment information.Mr. Smith contacted Ocwen numerous times in writing and on the phone trying to resolve this matter. Many times Mr. Smith would be routed to customer representatives that spoke very poor or unintelligible English or would be disconnected.In October Mr. Smith still had not received his new payment information and again sent another payment to Ocwen, which again they cashed and again sent a letter, this time threatening foreclosure.In November of 2005 Mr. Smith finally received his payment information, the statement showed he was 4 months behind (yes 4 months when he had only been a customer for 3) in his payments and fees had been added that he did not understand, such as homeowners insurance and legal fees and late payment fees, totaling almost $2600. Mr. Smith made another payment in Nov 2005 which was returned by Ocwen stating they could not accept partial payments.Mr. Smith was now receiving nearly daily calls from Ocwen collections, and Mr. Smith responded in writing trying to rectify the situation. In December Mr. Smith received another statement again with a promise of foreclosure and new fees added in order to become current Ocwen now claimed he had to pay a sum of almost $3600.Now these fees were different from the statement he had received the month before for the same items. Homeowners insurance went up $120, legal fees increased by $277 and the house payment itself went down by $38.
Mr. Smith wanted to refinance, but it appears Ocwen has already contacted the Credit Bureaus and reported him being late, he can’t get refinanced.How is this possible?A former employee claims he knows exactly how it’s possible. “The RealServicing software used by Ocwen and the Nightly Processing that reconciles the loan accounts doesn’t work and hasn’t for several years. That’s why customers get different payment information from month to month. It was a running joke in IT on how long the system would be down everyday when it ran. This whole process generated huge error logs that no one ever reviewed and it had been clear to everyone involved in the process that it has major problems”.Ocwen has sued a former consultant that performed a review on this software claiming he has posted confidential information on the Internet and reported this information to Government Agencies and this consultant has already testified in a case against the company in which Ocwen was hit with a $3 Million verdict in Guzman V. Ocwen. This testimony was specific on the problems with Ocwen software and account reconciliation. We contacted this consultant for comment and were informed that because of an Injunction granted to Ocwen he could not discuss the matter, and was prevented from testifying in another case in which he was listed as a witness and the jury awarded the plaintiff $11.5 Million in damages in Davis V. Ocwen. However a hearing was being set to Vacate the Injunction that prevented the consultant from discussing the details of his work at the company. Other former and current employees have confirmed this information and noted that Management has been aware of these issues at the highest levels inside the company. Two employees have even tried to get the company to take action to resolve the problems but have not been successful.WOW. If the company is aware of these problems why haven’t they done something to fix it?Ocwen has not responded to these specific issues yet but has commented and currently claim that they are not intentionally foreclosing on homes. The CEO William Ereby has stated publicly that the company doesn’t make money on foreclosures that their profit comes from servicing the loans themselves.If this is true then why are their an overwhelming number of reports freely available on the internet that confirm the Mr. Smith experience with the company?Why are there so many lawsuits pending against Ocwen?Next month we will continue this series on Ocwen and report on Mr. Jones a very unusual Ocwen customer.
Voice of the People
Ocwen, Allegations of Fraud, Malice, Misrepresentation and Manipulation. Ocwen Financial Corporation ("Ocwen") is a vertically integrated multi-billion dollar, publicly traded (NYSE: OCN) financial services holding company, engaged in a variety of businesses related to mortgage servicing, real estate asset management, asset recovery and technology. Headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida,Within a 12 month period this company has lost two major lawsuits alleging fraud, malice, misrepresentation and manipulation totaling $14.5M. Other allegations have been made by former and current employees including the intentional destruction of information, and document forgery.Why do so many people claim that Ocwen is ripping them off and wrongfully foreclosing on their homes?Is Ocwen really the bad guy?Or are their customers failing to meet their obligations and looking for a quick court buck?This is the first in a series of stories about this company, Ocwen services sub-prime mortgages. This means they service mortgages for people that have had trouble paying their bills in the past. And Ocwen services a lot of these, nearly 400,000 customers. As part of this investigation we decided to review a typical Ocwen customer, and a not so typical Ocwen customer. We will call them Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones (these are real Ocwen customers) who have ask to not be identified because of pending legal action.Mr. Smith just had the loan servicing rights acquired by Ocwen in August of 2005. Mr. Smith has homeowners insurance through Prudential, his premiums are paid and current. In September of 2005 Mr. Smith paid his regular monthly bill to Ocwen with his old account #. Mr. Smith had not received his new payment information from Ocwen and did not want to be late on his payment. Ocwen cashed this payment and on Sept 22nd sent him a letter (to the wrong address), stating he was late on house payment this letter did not contain his new account and payment information.Mr. Smith contacted Ocwen numerous times in writing and on the phone trying to resolve this matter. Many times Mr. Smith would be routed to customer representatives that spoke very poor or unintelligible English or would be disconnected.In October Mr. Smith still had not received his new payment information and again sent another payment to Ocwen, which again they cashed and again sent a letter, this time threatening foreclosure.In November of 2005 Mr. Smith finally received his payment information, the statement showed he was 4 months behind (yes 4 months when he had only been a customer for 3) in his payments and fees had been added that he did not understand, such as homeowners insurance and legal fees and late payment fees, totaling almost $2600. Mr. Smith made another payment in Nov 2005 which was returned by Ocwen stating they could not accept partial payments.Mr. Smith was now receiving nearly daily calls from Ocwen collections, and Mr. Smith responded in writing trying to rectify the situation. In December Mr. Smith received another statement again with a promise of foreclosure and new fees added in order to become current Ocwen now claimed he had to pay a sum of almost $3600.Now these fees were different from the statement he had received the month before for the same items. Homeowners insurance went up $120, legal fees increased by $277 and the house payment itself went down by $38.
Mr. Smith wanted to refinance, but it appears Ocwen has already contacted the Credit Bureaus and reported him being late, he can’t get refinanced.How is this possible?A former employee claims he knows exactly how it’s possible. “The RealServicing software used by Ocwen and the Nightly Processing that reconciles the loan accounts doesn’t work and hasn’t for several years. That’s why customers get different payment information from month to month. It was a running joke in IT on how long the system would be down everyday when it ran. This whole process generated huge error logs that no one ever reviewed and it had been clear to everyone involved in the process that it has major problems”.Ocwen has sued a former consultant that performed a review on this software claiming he has posted confidential information on the Internet and reported this information to Government Agencies and this consultant has already testified in a case against the company in which Ocwen was hit with a $3 Million verdict in Guzman V. Ocwen. This testimony was specific on the problems with Ocwen software and account reconciliation. We contacted this consultant for comment and were informed that because of an Injunction granted to Ocwen he could not discuss the matter, and was prevented from testifying in another case in which he was listed as a witness and the jury awarded the plaintiff $11.5 Million in damages in Davis V. Ocwen. However a hearing was being set to Vacate the Injunction that prevented the consultant from discussing the details of his work at the company. Other former and current employees have confirmed this information and noted that Management has been aware of these issues at the highest levels inside the company. Two employees have even tried to get the company to take action to resolve the problems but have not been successful.WOW. If the company is aware of these problems why haven’t they done something to fix it?Ocwen has not responded to these specific issues yet but has commented and currently claim that they are not intentionally foreclosing on homes. The CEO William Ereby has stated publicly that the company doesn’t make money on foreclosures that their profit comes from servicing the loans themselves.If this is true then why are their an overwhelming number of reports freely available on the internet that confirm the Mr. Smith experience with the company?Why are there so many lawsuits pending against Ocwen?Next month we will continue this series on Ocwen and report on Mr. Jones a very unusual Ocwen customer.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Mortgage servicer Ocwen's practices raise ire
From:http://www.msfraud.org/Articles/Ocwen.htm
By Jeff Ostrowski, Palm Beach Post Staff WriterSunday, January 18, 2004Michelle Trott got a nasty surprise when she sold her home in Broward County last year to move to Jupiter.Ocwen Financial Corp., the West Palm Beach company that collected Trott's monthly mortgage payments, demanded that she and her husband pay $600 in late fees for monthly payments the Trotts say weren't late.Ocwen also charged her $200 just to tell her real estate agent how much she owed on her loan, Trott says.What's more, she says, Ocwen dinged her credit score by reporting her mortgage payments as late, forcing her to pay a higher rate on the new loan on her Jupiter home.And Ocwen pushed the couple to buy an expensive homeowners insurance policy, even though the Trotts say they already had coverage."(Ocwen) posted our payments late all the time," Trott said in a recent interview. "It's not fair. It was a very unpleasant experience. I wouldn't recommend anybody going with that company."Ocwen President Ronald Faris disputes Trott's claims. She made "dozens" of late payments, he says, and Ocwen forced her to take on a homeowners policy only because she let her policy lapse.Moreover, he says, Ocwen doesn't charge $200 to issue a payoff amount; the company charges $10 to $30 for that service.Still, Trott isn't alone in her gripes about Ocwen, a mortgage-servicing company that collects monthly payments from thousands of homeowners nationwide, most of them "subprime" borrowers with spotty credit histories.Ocwen faces suits from customers in California and Connecticut who make allegations similar to Trott's.The nonprofit National Consumer Reinvestment Coalition says it has 300 complaints about Ocwen, while the Better Business Bureau of Central Florida last year received 146 consumer complaints about the company, up from 42 in 2002 and nine in 2001.Firm: No financial incentiveAs borrowers' attorneys seek to portray a pattern of unfair practices by Ocwen, company officials say they've done nothing wrong.Investors seem to agree.In spite of the lawsuits, the company's stock (NYSE: OCN) recently shot past $10, up from $2.60 a year ago. Ocwen has no financial reason to gouge customers or to post their mortgage payments late, Faris says. He calls the suits against Ocwen "misdirected and baseless.""We don't make money off of delinquent loans," Faris says. "Our favorite customer is someone who gets their bill and pays it. We make a ton of money on those customers."As a mortgage servicer, Ocwen doesn't lend money to borrowers. Rather, lenders hire the company to service their loans.Attorneys and some industry observers argue that mortgage servicers have a good reason to post payments late: They get to keep late fees."Ocwen has a financial incentive to call a payment late so it can collect a late fee," says Jack Guttentag, a professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business who runs the Mortgage Professor Web site. "It does not have an incentive to push the borrower into bankruptcy, unless the borrower has so much equity in the property that it will cover all the expenses of foreclosure, including legal and other fees which can be a source of profit to the servicer."Faris denies Ocwen unfairly posts payments late, and he says the seemingly large numbers of consumer complaints sound worse than they are.Ocwen handles 350,000 home loans, so the several hundred complaints lodged by customers represent a tiny fraction of its clients, Faris says."We're not saying we never make a mistake," Faris says. "Mistakes happen on an individual basis."But, he says, the company tries to fix errors quickly. Its customer service representatives are readily available by phone or by e-mail, Faris says.That's not the experience of Trott or of Ocwen customer Eleanor Blackmer, who has three years left on the mortgage on her home in suburban Lake Worth."We've got a three-year sentence with Ocwen," Blackmer says.Both Trott and Blackmer say phone calls to Ocwen result in being put on hold 20 minutes or more, followed by conversations with Indian employees with difficult-to-decipher accents.Ocwen employs more than 1,200 people in India, where it has offices in Bangalore and Bombay."You try to call them and they don't understand and they don't speak English, because they're all in India," Blackmer says.Faris says Ocwen makes a point of hiring Indian employees whose English can be easily understood by Americans. "It's difficult for me to address the accent issue because I can't comment on someone else's experience," Faris says. "I've talked to many, many of our agents in India on the phone and I've never had a problem understanding them."Faris says that Ocwen's customer service is better than it's ever been. As a federally chartered thrift, the company's collection practices are closely monitored by the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision, he says.The gripes about Ocwen are on the rise, Faris says, because the media have been covering the mortgage industry more closely -- CBS News last year aired a story about complaints against Ocwen -- and because plaintiffs' attorneys are looking for the next payday after Fairbanks Capital.That mortgage servicer last year agreed to pay $40 million to settle allegations it engaged in deceptive practices that victimized as many as 250,000 homeowners."I don't think there's increased complaints," Faris says. "There's increasing attention by the media and by the plaintiffs' lawyers. They saw what happened at Fairbanks Capital and are hoping they can find a situation similar to that."Analysts approveThe barrage of complaints against Ocwen comes as the company pulls off a financial turnaround.Its shares got a boost this month when an analyst at JMP Securities in San Francisco rated Ocwen a "strong buy" with a target price of $18 a share.After posting big losses in 2001 and 2002, Ocwen turned a profit in 2003, in part because it has cut costs by hiring customer service employees and software programmers in India, where wages are cheaper than in the United States.And the company last year won a contract to handle the foreclosed properties of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a deal that could bring in revenue of $95 million to $125 million over the next five years.Still, the lawsuits pose enough of a threat to Ocwen that Fitch Ratings, a corporate credit rating agency, warned last month it might lower its "servicer rating" on Ocwen."We're concerned," said Kathleen Tillwitz, senior director at Fitch Ratings. "Is it a pattern of mistakes that were malicious? Or is it just the one-off mistakes that happen in the daily course of servicing?"Fitch has yet to lower its ratings on Ocwen, however. In a statement last month, it lauded the company for "successful practices and procedures," "expertise" and "well-trained staff."Meanwhile, consumers' gripes keep coming and Ocwen keeps explaining.Jackson, Mich., homeowner RaeAnn Walker says Ocwen has unfairly posted her payments late and charged her legal fees.And one suit accuses Ocwen of unfairly charging borrowers $95 in legal fees for collection letters.Faris calls the charge a legitimate cost of doing business.mailto:jeff_ostrowski@pbpost.com
By Jeff Ostrowski, Palm Beach Post Staff WriterSunday, January 18, 2004Michelle Trott got a nasty surprise when she sold her home in Broward County last year to move to Jupiter.Ocwen Financial Corp., the West Palm Beach company that collected Trott's monthly mortgage payments, demanded that she and her husband pay $600 in late fees for monthly payments the Trotts say weren't late.Ocwen also charged her $200 just to tell her real estate agent how much she owed on her loan, Trott says.What's more, she says, Ocwen dinged her credit score by reporting her mortgage payments as late, forcing her to pay a higher rate on the new loan on her Jupiter home.And Ocwen pushed the couple to buy an expensive homeowners insurance policy, even though the Trotts say they already had coverage."(Ocwen) posted our payments late all the time," Trott said in a recent interview. "It's not fair. It was a very unpleasant experience. I wouldn't recommend anybody going with that company."Ocwen President Ronald Faris disputes Trott's claims. She made "dozens" of late payments, he says, and Ocwen forced her to take on a homeowners policy only because she let her policy lapse.Moreover, he says, Ocwen doesn't charge $200 to issue a payoff amount; the company charges $10 to $30 for that service.Still, Trott isn't alone in her gripes about Ocwen, a mortgage-servicing company that collects monthly payments from thousands of homeowners nationwide, most of them "subprime" borrowers with spotty credit histories.Ocwen faces suits from customers in California and Connecticut who make allegations similar to Trott's.The nonprofit National Consumer Reinvestment Coalition says it has 300 complaints about Ocwen, while the Better Business Bureau of Central Florida last year received 146 consumer complaints about the company, up from 42 in 2002 and nine in 2001.Firm: No financial incentiveAs borrowers' attorneys seek to portray a pattern of unfair practices by Ocwen, company officials say they've done nothing wrong.Investors seem to agree.In spite of the lawsuits, the company's stock (NYSE: OCN) recently shot past $10, up from $2.60 a year ago. Ocwen has no financial reason to gouge customers or to post their mortgage payments late, Faris says. He calls the suits against Ocwen "misdirected and baseless.""We don't make money off of delinquent loans," Faris says. "Our favorite customer is someone who gets their bill and pays it. We make a ton of money on those customers."As a mortgage servicer, Ocwen doesn't lend money to borrowers. Rather, lenders hire the company to service their loans.Attorneys and some industry observers argue that mortgage servicers have a good reason to post payments late: They get to keep late fees."Ocwen has a financial incentive to call a payment late so it can collect a late fee," says Jack Guttentag, a professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business who runs the Mortgage Professor Web site. "It does not have an incentive to push the borrower into bankruptcy, unless the borrower has so much equity in the property that it will cover all the expenses of foreclosure, including legal and other fees which can be a source of profit to the servicer."Faris denies Ocwen unfairly posts payments late, and he says the seemingly large numbers of consumer complaints sound worse than they are.Ocwen handles 350,000 home loans, so the several hundred complaints lodged by customers represent a tiny fraction of its clients, Faris says."We're not saying we never make a mistake," Faris says. "Mistakes happen on an individual basis."But, he says, the company tries to fix errors quickly. Its customer service representatives are readily available by phone or by e-mail, Faris says.That's not the experience of Trott or of Ocwen customer Eleanor Blackmer, who has three years left on the mortgage on her home in suburban Lake Worth."We've got a three-year sentence with Ocwen," Blackmer says.Both Trott and Blackmer say phone calls to Ocwen result in being put on hold 20 minutes or more, followed by conversations with Indian employees with difficult-to-decipher accents.Ocwen employs more than 1,200 people in India, where it has offices in Bangalore and Bombay."You try to call them and they don't understand and they don't speak English, because they're all in India," Blackmer says.Faris says Ocwen makes a point of hiring Indian employees whose English can be easily understood by Americans. "It's difficult for me to address the accent issue because I can't comment on someone else's experience," Faris says. "I've talked to many, many of our agents in India on the phone and I've never had a problem understanding them."Faris says that Ocwen's customer service is better than it's ever been. As a federally chartered thrift, the company's collection practices are closely monitored by the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision, he says.The gripes about Ocwen are on the rise, Faris says, because the media have been covering the mortgage industry more closely -- CBS News last year aired a story about complaints against Ocwen -- and because plaintiffs' attorneys are looking for the next payday after Fairbanks Capital.That mortgage servicer last year agreed to pay $40 million to settle allegations it engaged in deceptive practices that victimized as many as 250,000 homeowners."I don't think there's increased complaints," Faris says. "There's increasing attention by the media and by the plaintiffs' lawyers. They saw what happened at Fairbanks Capital and are hoping they can find a situation similar to that."Analysts approveThe barrage of complaints against Ocwen comes as the company pulls off a financial turnaround.Its shares got a boost this month when an analyst at JMP Securities in San Francisco rated Ocwen a "strong buy" with a target price of $18 a share.After posting big losses in 2001 and 2002, Ocwen turned a profit in 2003, in part because it has cut costs by hiring customer service employees and software programmers in India, where wages are cheaper than in the United States.And the company last year won a contract to handle the foreclosed properties of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a deal that could bring in revenue of $95 million to $125 million over the next five years.Still, the lawsuits pose enough of a threat to Ocwen that Fitch Ratings, a corporate credit rating agency, warned last month it might lower its "servicer rating" on Ocwen."We're concerned," said Kathleen Tillwitz, senior director at Fitch Ratings. "Is it a pattern of mistakes that were malicious? Or is it just the one-off mistakes that happen in the daily course of servicing?"Fitch has yet to lower its ratings on Ocwen, however. In a statement last month, it lauded the company for "successful practices and procedures," "expertise" and "well-trained staff."Meanwhile, consumers' gripes keep coming and Ocwen keeps explaining.Jackson, Mich., homeowner RaeAnn Walker says Ocwen has unfairly posted her payments late and charged her legal fees.And one suit accuses Ocwen of unfairly charging borrowers $95 in legal fees for collection letters.Faris calls the charge a legitimate cost of doing business.mailto:jeff_ostrowski@pbpost.com
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Ocwen Loan Servicing unexplained bogus fees i didn't sign up for, loosing pmts always saying im late, increase mortgage pmt on a fixed
From: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/297/RipOff0297464.htm
Ocwen Loan Servicing unexplained bogus fees i didn't sign up for, loosing pmts always saying im late, increase mortgage pmt on a fixed rate loan Orlando Florida
Hi , I have been dealing with Ocwen for about 7 years and it has been hard in 2002 I had to file chapter thirteen but Ocwen was not under the chapter 13. I paid ocwen outside my chapter 13. i started receiving statements saying i owed them 1600.00 for payments not made i made the payments but at that time I had misplaced my Western Union receipt for my proof ( I know my fault) but i ended up adding the 1600.00 dollars on to my chapter 13 to keep them from foreclosing on my house. I made my chapt.13 pmts the were drafted from my pay check every payday. My attorney then informs me that ocwen sent in a petition and added a extra 800.00 more dollars I asked questions I attorney tried to contact them but of course they used the law against me to protect them they refused to talk or give any info pretaining to my account as long as i was under chapt.13. Now I have since been discharged for chapt.13 now ocwen has added alot of bogus charges such as Ocwen financial insider, foreclosure fees. Now I have been making my pmt on time i still use western union but i keep all my receipts now they have sent me a letter statting i am past dueas 12/21/07 3071.24. i don't know how thats possible but i know this company isn't right. if there anybody out there that can help me please come forward.Nikkimacon ga, GeorgiaU.S.A.
Ocwen Loan Servicing unexplained bogus fees i didn't sign up for, loosing pmts always saying im late, increase mortgage pmt on a fixed rate loan Orlando Florida
Hi , I have been dealing with Ocwen for about 7 years and it has been hard in 2002 I had to file chapter thirteen but Ocwen was not under the chapter 13. I paid ocwen outside my chapter 13. i started receiving statements saying i owed them 1600.00 for payments not made i made the payments but at that time I had misplaced my Western Union receipt for my proof ( I know my fault) but i ended up adding the 1600.00 dollars on to my chapter 13 to keep them from foreclosing on my house. I made my chapt.13 pmts the were drafted from my pay check every payday. My attorney then informs me that ocwen sent in a petition and added a extra 800.00 more dollars I asked questions I attorney tried to contact them but of course they used the law against me to protect them they refused to talk or give any info pretaining to my account as long as i was under chapt.13. Now I have since been discharged for chapt.13 now ocwen has added alot of bogus charges such as Ocwen financial insider, foreclosure fees. Now I have been making my pmt on time i still use western union but i keep all my receipts now they have sent me a letter statting i am past dueas 12/21/07 3071.24. i don't know how thats possible but i know this company isn't right. if there anybody out there that can help me please come forward.Nikkimacon ga, GeorgiaU.S.A.
Ocwen Loan Servicing, New Century Mortgage, Deutche Bank entered on time cash payments late, racking up late fees and lawyer fees
From:
Ocwen Loan Servicing, New Century Mortgage, Deutche Bank entered on time cash payments late, racking up late fees and lawyer fees, refused payments causing even more late fees, then filed foreclosure papers with the court system in my county and TRIED TO TAKE MY HOME!!!! Orlando Florida
Ocwen Loan Servicing is the company handling my home loan. Since the loan was handed to Ocwen by New Century Mortgage, I've had nothing but problems. On time cash payments were repeatedly entered late resulting late fees , many payments were even rejected, resulting in even more late fees and now lawyer fees. When I attempted to reach Ocwen and tell them I wanted to become current on my home loan , I was told 'we can give you a 'forebarence agreement'. This agreement still did not make my mortgage current. As time went on Ocwen was harder and harder to reach. When they were reached i was told to send different amounts by a couple of different people.The billing statements kept coming some reflecting payments, some not. Now my credit is completely ruined. But thats not all. After all the underhanded and probably illegal collection practices , they went to the courthouse in my county, filed foreclosure papers , and are currently trying to TAKE MY HOME !!! Yes you read correctly. I have the cash to remedy my situation , they will not take my money and have filed papers to take my home. Anyone who has been taken by this company , please come forward. I'm fully interested in filling a class-action lawsuit immediately. thank you. All my statements are true, so help me God.HadbyocwenHawthorne, New JerseyU.S.A.
Ocwen Loan Servicing, New Century Mortgage, Deutche Bank entered on time cash payments late, racking up late fees and lawyer fees, refused payments causing even more late fees, then filed foreclosure papers with the court system in my county and TRIED TO TAKE MY HOME!!!! Orlando Florida
Ocwen Loan Servicing is the company handling my home loan. Since the loan was handed to Ocwen by New Century Mortgage, I've had nothing but problems. On time cash payments were repeatedly entered late resulting late fees , many payments were even rejected, resulting in even more late fees and now lawyer fees. When I attempted to reach Ocwen and tell them I wanted to become current on my home loan , I was told 'we can give you a 'forebarence agreement'. This agreement still did not make my mortgage current. As time went on Ocwen was harder and harder to reach. When they were reached i was told to send different amounts by a couple of different people.The billing statements kept coming some reflecting payments, some not. Now my credit is completely ruined. But thats not all. After all the underhanded and probably illegal collection practices , they went to the courthouse in my county, filed foreclosure papers , and are currently trying to TAKE MY HOME !!! Yes you read correctly. I have the cash to remedy my situation , they will not take my money and have filed papers to take my home. Anyone who has been taken by this company , please come forward. I'm fully interested in filling a class-action lawsuit immediately. thank you. All my statements are true, so help me God.HadbyocwenHawthorne, New JerseyU.S.A.
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