Complaint Review: OCWEN Federal Bank

We were sold to Ocwen from Finance America in March 2000. In May 2002, our business failed which meant no pay check. We became late with our June/2001 payment and they were threatening foreclosure so we sent a check and it bounced. Our fault.

We were then due for July. Ocwen said they would work out a forbearance plan to help us get caught up. We thought great, and then when they told us how much it was 500.00 more than the original note. Everything was done verbally. We had to pay 1262.00 down and two notes of 1600.00.

The notes were so high we couldnt afford it, but Ocwen said if we didnt pay it, they would start Foreclosure Proceedings for being 30 days going on 60 days late. We paid the 1262.00 then the problem came trying to come up with the 1600.00. To our fault of not enough funds, the check bounced. So our church passed an offering we then sent a 1636.00 payment. We still had to come up with another 1636.00 but it was impossible. So we tried to just send a regular payment in October.

An Ocwen employee called and offered a different type of plan that was even higher than the other saying he could not accept a regular. They couldnt understand we couldnt afford the note we had and your practically doubling the notes. So he said hold off sending a payment in October and send both in November, but when we were in the process of getting it together to send, another employee (who said he was a lawyer for Ocwen) called for payment. I explained the arrangements we had made; he told us this guy (who would not give a name) did not have authority to do so. This was in Oct. or Nov. 2002.

So we decided to start sending regular payments again anyway. They tell you they will call you back and a month will go by and no return phone calls They do this until you are so far behind they have the upper hand. They took one or two payments but then refused payment by returning it to us.

In February 2003, a relative of mine said we were in the paper for foreclosure. The next day a sheriff was at my door to serve me. The house sale was set for May 2003. I called Ocwen and spoke to what they call an in house attorney. He told me if I pay $2700.00 down and $1200.00 a month instead of regular note $1,010.00, till March 2002 that would catch us up. I paid the 2700.00 dollars and we are paying the note on time. I called them this month (June) to pay off the difference to get us off of the forbearance plan, which they led us to believe it would be approx. 2,280.00 according to the agreement. When I received the total it was 6,357.00 extra to include foreclosure and late fees. Thats not including the extra I am paying for the next year. This amount was not what my statement in May said, when I made the agreement.

I decided to try and refinance. Thats when the shock came in. My bank said that since October 2002, Ocwen turned me in for (2) 30-day lates and (5) 90-day lates. I ran a report in October 2002 when I was trying to refinance then and it only showed (2) 30-day lates, so I new it was a fraud report. Actually, its impossible to have that much late in a six-month period of time. I called them and they blamed it on Equifax first. Equifax said they just download a disk. No room for errors. I called Ocwen back and then they said that it was a true report. I opened an investigation with Equifax and it came back with (2) more 90 day lates in just 3 weeks. I tried another loan I found on FHA website with Irwin Mortgage, which I thought was for people in the position I am in, and was denied.

I borrowed approx. 124,000.00 three years ago. My payoff is about 132,000.00. My principle balance is 121,700.00. They said because of foreclosure and late fees. I went online to look at my account and noticed I have discrepancies on the interest paid and interest they reported to IRS. I do not want that to come back to haunt me.

My question is, is it legal to charge outrageous foreclosure fees, especially when we proceedings were stopped? Is there a maximum that they can charge. My foreclosure is on hold and I will show late every month until the NOW $8,000 dollars in fees are paid back. That will take years, which means I give them more room to add fees. In fact this month (June,2003) they added 400.00 more dollars in late fees that they cannot explain what for. Just that I am late is all they can tell me.

And now they have the nerve to call mw to refinance with them for a better interest rate to get you out of the bind you are in. Which adds another 4 or 5 thousand to the loan. Because they know you cannot get financed anywhere else while stuck in there forbearance plan with a bad credit report. I know we defaulted on loan due to things out of our control but is it legal to prey on people in these situations.


To add to the original complaint:

I have been asking for a detailed bill showing start of loan to present. They WILL not send me anything but 2002 2003. Thats because from Mar 2000 June 2002, I was not late. The detailed bill they did send was not worth the paper it was written on. I wanted to see a breakdown month by month for all these fees. I also needed the pay off because I thought I was going to be able to refinance. It cost me 40.00 dollars to get that report faxed to me. Thats when they showed me the outrageous foreclosure fees (which was different from the statement), late fees, attorney fees, back interest etc. of about 10,000.00. It is such a shock because your statements NEVER show these things. All it shows is principle amount. So much time has passed when you get something like this you can hardly remember your history with them. But there is one thing I have been taught, have faith and God will see us through this.

Angela
Thibodaux, Louisiana
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on OCWEN Federal Bank Financial Services