Ocwen Financial Services is the worst of the worst when it comes to loan servicing! They have this little ditty on their website:"Helping Homeowner's is what we do!" I'm not buying it. They seem to do everything possible "not" to help the homeowner. In fact it is almost impossible to even get a phone number out of their customer service department for anyone in the United States who could possibly help.
Here is the story!! The homeowner was recently divorced and is self-employed. He runs a local residential construction company and has seen better days, even here in Austin. Last year, his business took a nose-dive and he is just now starting to recover. His priorities have changed. This is now a one income family and he has to pay child support. Right after the first of the year, he tried to do a loan modification. Seven months later he is still trying with no success. He has a relationship manager who has been less than helpful during this process. His most recent request for a loan modification was turned down July 17, 2012. She wasn't even aware that it had been turned down. Of course, what they want is new documents filled out and they will not stop the foreclosure. Their average turn-around time on a modification is 2-3 months, so there is no time left to start over. The only options offered were foreclosure or reinstatement of the loan by paying back $32,000.
Let's get something straight here. This homeowner is not my client. His property is listed with another agent. It isn't even a listing in my office. I have nothing to gain financially by helping. The agent is a friend, and we've worked together before. She just knows that I have helped her clients in the past and she asked if I could please look at this case to see what I could do. So far I've invested about 5 hours and haven't gotten anywhere. Yesterday I faxed in my third party authorization and started doing my due diligence on this property. The homeowner owes approximately $250,000 and has $200,000 in equity. The home was reduced in price today down to $450,000.
I have spoken to the Ombudsman for Ocwen but they suggested that I do a "short sale." I've explained that this is not a "short sale" and that the homeowner has almost as much equity in the property as Ocwen does. By foreclosing on the homeowner, they are stealing his equity. Isn't there something we can do to help this homeowner? They are telling me that they never stop a foreclosure. I've asked about a forebearance agreement and they told me that they never do a forebearance agreement beyond 3 months. I told the relationship manager and the Ombudsman "You've told me what you can't do for the homeowner, what can you do to help him? Their only suggestions were to bring the loan current or to apply for a HAMP modification. This loan is not a Fannie Mae or a Freddie Mac loan. I've asked for the name of the investor and I've been told to put in a fax request to the "research department."
So far, I've emailed every email I have found for Ocwen managers and executives. This company goes to great lengths to protect their internal phone system and email system from prying agents. I'm about ready to write an expose on their business practices, their despicable overcharges and their whole scam of GoHoming.com and RHSS.com which is run out of India on Ocwen servers. They input listings at night and don't pay for access on our MLS. The Better Business Bureau rates this company as "F." Does anyone in the Active Rain community have any suggestions or have an email address or phone number of someone who may be willing to help?
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