Complaint Review: Ocwen Federal Bank FSB - Orlando Florida

Because if your payment is late, you accrue a late fee based on your mortgage. So yes, they can indeed pursue foreclosure, because if you aren't paying your payment plus the late fee if the payments are late, then you can rest assured they are probably not applying your payments, and you are getting further and further behind. You can call and ask them to waive some of the late fees. Sometimes they will waive some of them. Something else you can do if you feel you aren't late is request, IN WRITING, a pay history. Because you mention all of these payments you have made, which might make you current, but then again, in 04, perhaps you missed December (just as an example) and then you made the 6 payments in 05, but they went into a suspense account or they posted them to Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr and May leaving you still due for June. Just make sure you handle everything in writing, it creates a paper trail that can come in very handy if you need it.

I did some homework and checked my account status with Ocwen online. I have concerns regarding the late fees that are being applied to my balance due. It is difficult to tell how our payments are being applied, the report only reflects a year-to-date accounting and not a monthly reporting. I'm unsure if I am actually behind based on my personal accounting. My bank statements show a payment posted in June, May, April, two in Feb and a payment in Jan of this year, yet my online billing statement reflects that we are a month behind. Conversely, a credit reporting made available by Ocwen shows that my payments are current up to the month of April. You can see where my confusion lies. As I stated in my earlier comment, we are only able to pay the regular monthly payment amount stated in our original agreement, but we have accrued these fees. Can anyone tell me, based on their experience, how my payment habits will affect my loan. I noticed that Julie stated in her last comment that we should be alright if the payment AND the fees are paid to date, but admittedly, we are unable to raise that much capital based on our current monthly budget; the monthly payment is all we can afford to do. Will this cause the servicer of a loan, in this case Ocwen, to force forclosure? I pose this question here because it is often times difficult to get the same answer twice from Ocwen. The service received really depends on the representative we happen to get at the time. I realize it might appear that I am obsessing over this by the frequency of my posts; I apologize and ask that you please bear with me. As you can probably tell, this is causing me some anxiety; for us a lot is at stake here and this is unfamiliar territory for me.

I'm having a difficult time believing (although this is aparently true) that something as critical as sending a billing statement for a monthly mortgage is not required, but is seen as something of a courtesy-especially when one's home is at risk-and this is considered completely legal. Question: If Ocwen's practices are actually above board, why then the renaming and reorganization of the bank? I also received a letter stating that Ocwen Bank FSB has been, in effect, dissolved and that no future payments should be sent under that cover. They have, however, renamed the bank Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC. Does this now give them even more leverage and less regulation? This is all very alarming. I came upon this site accidentally, I was looking for an on-line link to Ocwen to check on my account status because I noticed that it was the end of the month and I have not received a bill, now I'm discovering that the company that collects my mortgage might be considered suspect. I think I'll have to take Robin's advise and get out the best way we can. This is a nightmare, a horror beyond words, and as usual the one's that have the least pay the biggest price. This is too much...I'm at a loss for words.

Lisa, perhaps I was not clear about the mortgage statement. Julie is correct in that Ocwen does not have to send you or anyone else a statement. Ocwen uses this to its advantage. Ocwen sometimes will send statements for a period of time and then abruptly quit sending them. Sometimes this in itself will generate a late fee and here we go! Many folks simply send the payment in anyway thinking the mail failed. They eventually contact Ocwen and get the same line Julie gave you "We are not required to send a statement to you". This is (unfortunately) true. So people continue sending payments without a statement. During this "paperless" period many things may be going on the background. Perhaps a late fee has been added. Once the payment is split to cover that fee, every subsequent payment is considered "short". The arrearage grows exponentially with more and more fees being added and covered until you are actually paying nothing on your mortgage. You are then ripe for foreclosure. Perhaps insurance has been added. How is the borrower to know where their money is going without a statement? Is it being applied to P & I or is it being split off for fees? Without a monthly paper accounting, borrowers have no way of knowing. Ocwen is usually steadily reporting "lates" to the CRAs during this period which could make it difficult to refinance. Ask for a copy of your credit report and see what is on there. If you have been receiving any kind of regular statements from Ocwen and they have suddenly stopped, that is a red flag for you. Most of us tend to take business dealings on faith. If we send money and we are not hearing anything from the company, all must be well. You simply cannot take this attitude with Ocwen, ever. Many folks do not make it from one year to the next for that yearly report. They find themselves in foreclosure in a period of a few months due to the trumped up fees. By then their balances are so grossly inflated with BS fees that they cannot even sell the home for enough to pay it off. There are open court cases all over the country against Ocwen. An honest company does not get sued every day of the week. If you can, refinance your home with another lender, preferably a bank or credit union. There are still no guarantees that you will not find yourselves back in Ocwen's hands later, but it is worth a shot. You say you are getting "legal fees"..do you have any clue what those legal fees may be for? Just curious, because Ocwen got itself in a bind before with its fake "law firm", Moss Codilis et al. These MC folks were sitting in Orlando cranking out letters and Ocwen was billing borrowers something like $95.00 per letter as "legal fees". MC was prolific and could churn out lots of letters in a month's time. These "legal fees" were eating lots of payments. I don't mean to be a wild-eyed rampant conspiracy theorist. It does all sound unbelievable. Julie must work at a company or bank that does attempt to deal honestly. If so, kudos to her. She cannot seem to understand that Ocwen is a "dark" company. Unfortunately, all mortgage servicers are largely unregulated by law and some are NOT basically honest. One thing you can do is begin contacting the elected Congresspeople from your state and lobby for some laws to be put in place. Such as making it a law that mortgage servicers be required to send out statements so that borrowers are always aware of the status of their accounts. Making elected officials aware of your problems now may help you later in the event Ocwen moves on you later. Also, check into your state laws. Ocwen is de-banking and relinquishing its federal charter that has shielded it for so long from state laws. Ocwen will now be required to apply for and receive a license to do business in your state. And it will have to conduct itself according to the laws of the state of North Carolina once this is done. Perhaps you will find something in those laws that will be beneficial to you. It is not my intention to terrify you, but a little paranoia is always best when dealing with Ocwen. My former advice stands: Both eyes wide open. Call Ocwen anytime you suspect something is not right. Log names, dates and times. Better, write them letters as paper is admissible in court should it go that far where phone conversations are not so easy to use. (Phone contacts are useful to show that you tried to resolve the situation)Best scenario is that every phone call is followed by a letter to Ocwen recounting the conversation. Mailed with a delivery confirmation request. If you have access to an online accounting, use it. Save the page to your hard drive or print it out. Amazing things can happen to online accounts overnight at Ocwen. It is a crying shame that in the United States of America anyone would have to go to these lengths to make a stupid mortgage payment. Unfortunately, it is proving to be very difficult to get elected officials interested in the issue for some reason. Good luck, Lisa. Be defensive.

Thank you Robin for the heads-up. I didn't think my eyes were deceiving me; and you are right, the fees being charged to us are more of a legal than service nature. Managing this loan is exhausting our resources. If there is anyone reading this with beneficial suggestions as to how this situation can be more effectively managed, please, your help is welcomed and much needed. As for those others; I've noticed there are some that respond on this site in a way that seems to support this and other lenders/loan servicers. To them I say this: As a professional, I am expected to behave as a fiduciary on behalf of my clientel. My advise is trusted and expected to be above board and reliable. My falacy; I expected ALL those presenting themselves as professionals to behave in the same manner, not because of professional courtesy, but for the sake of professionalism itself. I am considered the expert in my field by my clients. I do NOT expect the general public to be knowledgable, that is what MY job is. As an advisor, it costs me NOTHING to act responsibly toward my clientel, why should I NOT expect the same from other PROFESSIONALS?

and my post magically disappeared. How interesting. Lisa, Robin is a rampant conspiracy theorist. She has given you NO advice, but has simply put the scare in you. This isn't really an affective way of helping anyone, to spread hellfire and damnation without providing some advice or hey, A SOLUTION. Imagine that? Helping someone instead of scaring the holy crap out of them. Nevertheless, No mortgage servicer is required to send a statement. It sucks, but they don't have to. They are only required to send you a statement on an annual basis and you are to make your payment based on that each month, regardless of the receipt of a coupon book or montly statement. That annual statement gives you your payment amount and your mortgage document tells you when it is due. I am not saying this is fair, I am just telling you how it is (telling the truth, as opposed to the wild eyed nutty Robin, filling your head with horror). Robin states "then there are late fees, "appraisal fees", "legal fees", and "just 'cos we want to fees" added. Your entire payment will be applied to these fees and your mortgage balance will be going up rather then down." This is about the only correct thing I have seen her say. They are allowed to charge back all of these fees to you, it is in your mortgage document (which if Robin would read one, then she would know this is all perfectly LEGAL). Late fees start hitting at 30 days delinquent, inspection fees can start hitting at right after 30 days, and legal fees can start hitting as early as your third month behind. The mortgage balance goes UP, because of your interest charges. If you take a gander at your truth in lending statement, it clearly shows that while you may have paid $100,000 for your house, over the 30 year life of your loan, you will actually pay $399,000 (just an example, but not far from what you see on these things). The reason you will actually pay that much is interest. Simply put, you don't make your June payment, which in our example includes $599 in interest. Your loan balance is $100,000. As of July 1, your balance is $100,599 because the interest has accrued. This isn't some scandal or thing that no one knows, this is standard to 100% of all mortgages in the US of A. The bigger question here is this: despite the fact that you didn't get your mortgage statement, did you spend the payment elsewhere or did you have the foresight to hang onto it. Because if you have it, you aren't in that bad a state, you can make it before the end of June, plus your late fee and be right back on track. By the By, I am not some "self styled expert". I work in the mortgage industry, but not for a servicer or for an attorney. I am not on the side of all financial institutions, I am a single mother with three children, struggling just like the rest of you. I just hate to see people lie and get your all riled up when they don't seem to have a clue what a mortgage document actually says.

Robin is right! I too would be very suspect of anyone who would even minimally try to defend Ocwen. Most likely they're just another Ocwen shill. It's a fact, Ocwen will steal all your equity, destroy your credit and leave you homeless and never look back. They are a Scam. Furthermore, our government (OTS and others) has failed to protect us from these greedy scumbags.

Lisa, your complaint is well-founded. You are entering the early stages of Ocwen foreclosure targeting. You are absolutely right to be concerned. This is how it starts. Ocwen sends the statement late or not at all. The next payment will begin being split off toward fees generated by the "late" payment. Pretty soon, there are late fees, "appraisal fees", "legal fees", and "just 'cos we want to fees" added. Your entire payment will be applied to these fees and your mortgage balance will be going up rather then down. You will become more in arrears every month. Or Ocwen may simply "lose" your insurance information and begin splitting money off to pay their force-placed policy. Ocwen's tricks are many and varied. All of them are dirty. Within a period of a few short months, Ocwen can arrange things to where you will be on the fast track to foreclosure. You might get a letter or you may just see it in the newspaper. Or the sheriff may come knocking on your door to "help" you move. Watch Ocwen with BOTH eyes wide open. Call them daily if necessary to see what is going on with your account. Hammer them mercilessly with questions, force them to give you answers because if you don't, Ocwen will have no qualms about hammering you with a foreclosure. Unfortunately, dealing with Ocwen becomes a way of life. It is like having a fulltime job with the constant phone calls, letter writing, and the stress is hell. I have seen strong individuals fold under this SCAM servicer. Good luck and don't cut Ocwen any slack! (There are a couple of self-styled "experts" hanging around this site lately. Both claim to "know" everything and both like to tell people that they are being silly and that there is nothing wrong with what is being done to them. These folks are very fond of the financial sector and its ways and defend them at every opportunity. Listen to them at your own risk)

Lisa, your complaint is well-founded. You are entering the early stages of Ocwen foreclosure targeting. You are absolutely right to be concerned. This is how it starts. Ocwen sends the statement late or not at all. The next payment will begin being split off toward fees generated by the "late" payment. Pretty soon, there are late fees, "appraisal fees", "legal fees", and "just 'cos we want to fees" added. Your entire payment will be applied to these fees and your mortgage balance will be going up rather then down. You will become more in arrears every month. Or Ocwen may simply "lose" your insurance information and begin splitting money off to pay their force-placed policy. Ocwen's tricks are many and varied. All of them are dirty. Within a period of a few short months, Ocwen can arrange things to where you will be on the fast track to foreclosure. You might get a letter or you may just see it in the newspaper. Or the sheriff may come knocking on your door to "help" you move. Watch Ocwen with BOTH eyes wide open. Call them daily if necessary to see what is going on with your account. Hammer them mercilessly with questions, force them to give you answers because if you don't, Ocwen will have no qualms about hammering you with a foreclosure. Unfortunately, dealing with Ocwen becomes a way of life. It is like having a fulltime job with the constant phone calls, letter writing, and the stress is hell. I have seen strong individuals fold under this SCAM servicer. Good luck and don't cut Ocwen any slack! (There are a couple of self-styled "experts" hanging around this site lately. Both claim to "know" everything and both like to tell people that they are being silly and that there is nothing wrong with what is being done to them. These folks are very fond of the financial sector and its ways and defend them at every opportunity. Listen to them at your own risk)

Lisa, your complaint is well-founded. You are entering the early stages of Ocwen foreclosure targeting. You are absolutely right to be concerned. This is how it starts. Ocwen sends the statement late or not at all. The next payment will begin being split off toward fees generated by the "late" payment. Pretty soon, there are late fees, "appraisal fees", "legal fees", and "just 'cos we want to fees" added. Your entire payment will be applied to these fees and your mortgage balance will be going up rather then down. You will become more in arrears every month. Or Ocwen may simply "lose" your insurance information and begin splitting money off to pay their force-placed policy. Ocwen's tricks are many and varied. All of them are dirty. Within a period of a few short months, Ocwen can arrange things to where you will be on the fast track to foreclosure. You might get a letter or you may just see it in the newspaper. Or the sheriff may come knocking on your door to "help" you move. Watch Ocwen with BOTH eyes wide open. Call them daily if necessary to see what is going on with your account. Hammer them mercilessly with questions, force them to give you answers because if you don't, Ocwen will have no qualms about hammering you with a foreclosure. Unfortunately, dealing with Ocwen becomes a way of life. It is like having a fulltime job with the constant phone calls, letter writing, and the stress is hell. I have seen strong individuals fold under this SCAM servicer. Good luck and don't cut Ocwen any slack! (There are a couple of self-styled "experts" hanging around this site lately. Both claim to "know" everything and both like to tell people that they are being silly and that there is nothing wrong with what is being done to them. These folks are very fond of the financial sector and its ways and defend them at every opportunity. Listen to them at your own risk)

You are right, Ocwen is NOT the original lender, which is why I stated in my original comment that ALL involved in the lending process did not act responsibly toward us, the lender. We have just received our bill for our mortgage payment yesterday, June 23. This bill was dated 06/14/05 and states that the next payment due date is 06/07/05. That means that by the time I received the bill, the payment is already two weeks late. I don't work in the mortgage industry either, I am in insurance. I know for a fact that WE in our industry must bill PRIOR to the bill date to allow for payment. I am currently in possession of a bill that reflects late charges for payments not billed for until after the due date. In addition, I had to contact Ocwen to inquire about the billing statement since I had not received anything in the mail. That call was made on the 21st. You might not see anything wrong with our loan, and I might not be as versed in lending practices as you appear to be, however, I fail to see how delayed billing is acting responsibly toward the consumer. In my line of work, continued delayed billing or any other questionable practices would be aggressively investigated and pursued by the state. The fact that I have concerns about how my loan is being serviced gives my the right to post and raise the question; is this right?

You are right, Ocwen is NOT the original lender, which is why I stated in my original comment that ALL involved in the lending process did not act responsibly toward us, the lender. We have just received our bill for our mortgage payment yesterday, June 23. This bill was dated 06/14/05 and states that the next payment due date is 06/07/05. That means that by the time I received the bill, the payment is already two weeks late. I don't work in the mortgage industry either, I am in insurance. I know for a fact that WE in our industry must bill PRIOR to the bill date to allow for payment. I am currently in possession of a bill that reflects late charges for payments not billed for until after the due date. In addition, I had to contact Ocwen to inquire about the billing statement since I had not received anything in the mail. That call was made on the 21st. You might not see anything wrong with our loan, and I might not be as versed in lending practices as you appear to be, however, I fail to see how delayed billing is acting responsibly toward the consumer. In my line of work, continued delayed billing or any other questionable practices would be aggressively investigated and pursued by the state. The fact that I have concerns about how my loan is being serviced gives my the right to post and raise the question; is this right?

You are right, Ocwen is NOT the original lender, which is why I stated in my original comment that ALL involved in the lending process did not act responsibly toward us, the lender. We have just received our bill for our mortgage payment yesterday, June 23. This bill was dated 06/14/05 and states that the next payment due date is 06/07/05. That means that by the time I received the bill, the payment is already two weeks late. I don't work in the mortgage industry either, I am in insurance. I know for a fact that WE in our industry must bill PRIOR to the bill date to allow for payment. I am currently in possession of a bill that reflects late charges for payments not billed for until after the due date. In addition, I had to contact Ocwen to inquire about the billing statement since I had not received anything in the mail. That call was made on the 21st. You might not see anything wrong with our loan, and I might not be as versed in lending practices as you appear to be, however, I fail to see how delayed billing is acting responsibly toward the consumer. In my line of work, continued delayed billing or any other questionable practices would be aggressively investigated and pursued by the state. The fact that I have concerns about how my loan is being serviced gives my the right to post and raise the question; is this right?

You are right, Ocwen is NOT the original lender, which is why I stated in my original comment that ALL involved in the lending process did not act responsibly toward us, the lender. We have just received our bill for our mortgage payment yesterday, June 23. This bill was dated 06/14/05 and states that the next payment due date is 06/07/05. That means that by the time I received the bill, the payment is already two weeks late. I don't work in the mortgage industry either, I am in insurance. I know for a fact that WE in our industry must bill PRIOR to the bill date to allow for payment. I am currently in possession of a bill that reflects late charges for payments not billed for until after the due date. In addition, I had to contact Ocwen to inquire about the billing statement since I had not received anything in the mail. That call was made on the 21st. You might not see anything wrong with our loan, and I might not be as versed in lending practices as you appear to be, however, I fail to see how delayed billing is acting responsibly toward the consumer. In my line of work, continued delayed billing or any other questionable practices would be aggressively investigated and pursued by the state. The fact that I have concerns about how my loan is being serviced gives my the right to post and raise the question; is this right?

I never worked for this company, however, I work in the mortgage business. I feel that people need to be more educated about these things, instead of posting something like this on a website without researching. You say in your headline that this bank is engaging in "predatory" lending practices. Predatory lending is when someone refinaces or approves a loan for a consumer that the borrower will not be able to pay, or that will not benefit the borrower in any way. Seeing as Ocwen did not APPROVE your loan, this is not predatory lending. Also, you said that you did not know this was a simple interest loan. In the simple interest calculation, interest is computed ONLY on that portion of the original principal still owed. This is how 99.99% of all mortgages are. When you first open a mortgage, a VERY large percent only goes to interest. As you reach the middle of your loan term, about half of your payment goes to interest. And as you near the end, MOST of your payment goes to the principal balance. Seeing as you only went about 4 years into the loan, it makes sense that in the beginning, 70% of your payment was being applied towards interest. And yes; If you do not pay your bill, your house is going to be foreclosed on, AND you will have to pay foreclosure fees. This is true in any situation I have seen. It's not that I'm for or against this bank. I see other logical complaints on this site about them. THIS, however, is not one of them. In your case, I cannot find one thing wrong with your story, nor the way that your situation was handled.