Complaint Review: Hubzu Ocwen

I wanted to help my daughter get her first home since she is now an ICU night nurse at the local trauma hospital.  I had bid on several Hubzu properties before for investments, but had been outbid or not met the reserve so didn't win the properties (that's the way auctions work).  This time I saw the MLS ad for the house listed at $47,000 and went by to look at the outside.  Huge dangerous hole in the back yard where an above ground pool had been and had been dug half in the ground and had metal brace pieces sticking up on the sides of the hole and nothing keeping people from falling in and getting hurt.  

Called my realtor to make an offer, wrote up a contract over asking and when she went to present it learned it was in a Hubzu auction.  The opening bid was in the 30's,, so I made the first bid and marked that I had not visited the property since I had not been inside the house and inspected it.  Had my contractor meet me and my contractor meet at the house (I knew it wouldn't go for the opening bid since it was below the reserve) and I raised my bids several times.  When you bid on Hubzu, you just raise your bid amount and don't change any of the other terms (I had originally marked all cash, no contingencies and earliest closing date).  

I then had my daughter meet me and my agent at the property and raised my bid prior to the end of the auction.  Later that day I received an email from Hubzu that the auction had ended and I had the highest bid.  They have a disclaimer that they have the right to reject any offer at their discretion, but since mine was all cash, no inspection required, and the earliest closing they allowed I was just waiting for wiring instructions and a sales contract to start the ball rolling, which they state may take up to a week to prepare.

I had my contractor meet again with the realtor earlier today and we spent nearly an hour checking out everything and going over approximate repair costs (replace kitchen cabinets, redo bathrooms, fill the hole with 5 - 6 dump truck loads of dirt dumped in the front yard and moved to the back with a backhoe since no access to the area).  Upon returning home I found an email stating that my offer had been rejected and immediately called my agent.  I then contacted Realhome Services and Solutions but got the listing agents voicemail and spoke to another employee.  When I asked why my offer was rejected I was told that there was a higher offer.  Asking further I was told it was $1,000 more than mine, which I found strange since I had the email stating I was the high bidder.  

She transferred me to Hubzu to find out if the offer was rejected because of my Hispanic female name (some people don't even return calls or emails with a Hispanic last name - it happens).  Hubzu also gave me the story that the winning bidder was $1,000 over my final bid and she couldn't explain why I got the email since the winning bid was $49,000 and mine was only $48,000.  I mentioned wanting to know the reason my offer was rejected before I spoke to my real estate attorney and she managed to transfer me to the listing agent, Stephanie McCall.  Ms. McCall was very nice on the phone and said the other bid was higher and I must have not read the email correctly.  

I pulled up the email (the auction is over and you are the high bidder) which is hard to misunderstand.  All three people I spoke to mentioned the clause they can reject any offer at will, but why would an owner reject an all cash offer with no contingencies to back out (they could keep the earnest money deposit if I didn't fulfill the contract as liquidated damages) and I was willing and able to close at the earliest closing date.  Ms. McCall requested I forward the email to her and my own real estate agent (who was cheated out of her commision when I was rejected).

Now the story changed from I was outbid by Antonio Lopez to he placed a later bid for the same amount as me, but he had checked the box that said he had visited the property and in Ocwen's infinite wisdom, they felt he knew more about the property and it's problems than I did.  At no time did any of the above companies contact me to ask if I had been to the property to inspect and when you raise you bid on Hubzu all you do is raise the amount of money and there is no box to change any of the other info (such as inspecting the property).  

As any auction where you bid "as is where is", it's the buyer's responsibility to inspect prior to bidding and if I suddenly backed out, then I would lose the earnest money deposit and the backup bidder would be contacted. I still don't know why the story changed - you either were the high bidder or you weren't, dollar amounts don't change.  Was I rejected because I am a woman and couldn't possibly know as much about rehabs and remodeling as a man?  Cash is cash, no contingency is you bought it as is, earliest closing date is just that - as soon as you get a title policy showing no liens or fines on the property we close.  What more could a seller want?

After reading all the other victims' stories on the Ripoff Report, maybe there is an agenda with this company.