Consumer complaint received 2018-05-03
Company: Ocwen Financial Corporation
State: MA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
My ex-husband and I bought our home in XXXX and opted for a XX/XX/XXXX mortgage with XXXX and XXXX respectively. The larger mortgage was sold to XXXX and then to Ocwen. We have subsequently divorced, and because I had been paying for the mortgage since the initiation of the loan, the deed was put into my name but both out names remained on the loan in order to avoid unnecessary closing/refinancing costs. Unfortunately, he filed for bankruptcy in XX/XX/XXXX and I lost the ability to track my account online. I called Ocwen several times in order to remedy this and was told that I could not be listed as the primary borrower and that because it was in bankruptcy I could not access the account online and could not receive statements as that would be perceived as an attempt to collect a debt. As the years passed, I paid {$950.00} ( slightly above the minimum payment monthly and on time. The entire time, the loan was paid from my account. To date, I have not received any phone call or written documentation that there was any concern with the mortgage. In XX/XX/XXXX I had to leave my job due to health reasons, and have continued to pay the mortgage, but did miss three payments ( XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX ), but that am currently paying on time. About a week ago, my ex-husband received a " Motion for Relief of Bankruptcy '' stating the mortgage was behind 7 months and in the amount of {$5700.00}. I was shocked and because I had no online access, I called Ocwen and after being on the phone with them for about 2 hours, I was shocked to hear what was happening with my account. During this phone call, on XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with XXXX ( # XXXX ) and XXXX, an escalation manager, ( # XXXX ). I let he know that I had not received any notification of concern and that if my ex-husband and I were not on good terms, I would have had no idea that there was as a very big an issue with the loan. She let me know that the account was actually listed as {$7100.00} behind and that the reason that I couldn't access the account information online was that the account number for the loan changed when my husband filed for bankruptcy. She helped me register the new loan number and reviewed the history of the loan. Apparently in XX/XX/XXXX, the monthly payment went to {$960.00} ( about {$18.00} more than I was sending each month ) and the payment was sent to a suspense account and the loan was deemed delinquent. I received no notice of this. In XX/XX/XXXX the loan rose to XXXX each month, in XX/XX/XXXX, the loan rose to {$980.00}, and in XX/XX/XXXX, the loan rose again to {$1000.00}. Again, in these three years, I received NO notification that there was a concern with the loan, received no phone calls or written statements, and was blocked access to the account information online. Each month, I sent the {$950.00}, and each month is was marked delinquent as it was not the full contractual amount. I asked XXXX ( # XXXX ) what my options were. She said in order for the motion to be removed, I would need to pay the full {$7100.00}. I reminded her that I was never notified about the issue, that that was a very large amount for a single mother of XXXX  on a XXXX salary to come up with on such short notice. She said that because my ex-husband was under bankruptcy protection, the bank would not remove the motion and allow the {$7100.00} to be distributed over a few months period and added to the contractual amount. I asked if my ex-husband 's name was removed, if I could renegotiate a payment for the amount in arrears and she said the only way to have my ex-husband 's name removed from the account and she said I could refinance the loan, or apply for a " formal assumption '' both had closing costs involved which would only add to the cost of the loan. She said that if the court approved the relief of bankruptcy that Ocwen filed on XX/XX/XXXX, that the account would be sent to " reinforcement '' and I would have to pay the {$7100.00} due or risk the company moving forward on foreclosure. Since Ocwen has a terrible reputation for unfair lending practices, mismanagement of escrow accounts and has settled class action suits in at least 10 states, I asked for a transcript or recording of our conversation. She said that those were only available through the research department and usually with a subpoena. She did give me the case number ( Case #  XXXX ). If I had been sent even one notice between XX/XX/XXXX and present, I would have been easily able to adjust the amount I was sending each month, rather than racking up this HUGE payment and having my account marked as 7 months delinquent.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation