Consumer complaint received 2015-09-22
Company: Ocwen Financial Corporation
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Complaint:
To Whom It May Concern : I was granted a permanent loan modification in XX/XX/XXXX. I was advised that an escrow adjustment will be mailed out to me by OCWEN after a year. It was a big surprise that OCWEN is increasing my escrow payment by {$1100.00}, in addition to the {$990.00} escrow payment that I have already been paying, due to non-collection of escrow cushion after approval in XX/XX/XXXX, that OCWEN did not initially disclose and collect. This is going to cause another financial hardship. My payments will go from roughly {$2600.00} to roughly {$3800.00} per month for the next year, starting XX/XX/XXXX. 

I have spoken with a Customer Service Representative ( CSR ) XXXX, Code XXXX, on XX/XX/XXXX, regarding the Annual Account Disclosure Statement that I have received in the mail, dated XX/XX/XXXX. ( Attachment XXXX ) CSR XXXX meticulously reviewed the escrow activities with me since my loan modification was officially approved on XX/XX/XXXX. During the escrow activities review, CSR XXXX informed me that mortgage payments for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX have not been posted. CSR XXXX sent a message to the proper channel to research these payments pending posting. On XX/XX/XXXX, I also contacted my home 's last fire insurance company, XXXX, to refund unused premiums. The refund process will take 15-20 working days. I will forward to OCWEN once received. Once the XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX payments are posted by OCWEN and insurance premium forwarded to OCWEN, the escrow impound will be up-to-date for the XX/XX/XXXX property tax payment. 

In regards to the escrow impound anticipated payments of {$13000.00} which is broken down to {$1100.00}, in addition to the already {$990.00} escrow payment that I have been making since the permanent loan modification approval in XX/XX/XXXX, will cause financial hardship and is not according to RESPA regulations and State and Federal laws. I was advised by Code XXXX that one year of escrow impound, per RESPA regulations, is mandatory for collections. 
When I researched online, according to RESPA, the cushion to be maintained is equal to XXXX ( XXXX ) of the total amount of impounds ( property taxes and fire insurance ), yet OCWEN is mandating one-year cushion. In addition, I researched the mandated impounds when closing a real estate deal according to the chart ( Attachment XXXX ) in XXXX XXXX County, where the property is. If OCWEN would have followed this required impounds according to " close of escrow '', in my case XX/XX/XXXX, then OCWEN should have only collected 4 months worth ( maximum allowed by State and Federal laws ), which equated to {$4300.00} ; not {$13000.00} spread out in one year, according to property taxes and fire insurance paid in XX/XX/XXXX. Since this was a disclosure not made by OCWEN in the initial contract prior to the permanent loan modification, collecting XXXX year worth of impounds broken down to {$1100.00} escrow in addition to the {$990.00} escrow payments for the next 12 months, considering the facts in my opinion and according to the California State and Federal laws, is breaking the law. 

My hired loan modification help contacted OCWEN continuously in XX/XX/XXXX regarding the additional escrow cushion and was advised by the OCWEN Representative that OCWEN made a mistake not disclosing the escrow cushion, which again, is going to cause financial hardship if OCWEN insists on collecting the $ XXXX ( equivalent to one year of escrow ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I have contacted a real estate attorney with XXXX XXXX XXXX and was advised to send a note to Office of the Controller of Currency ( consumerfinance.gov ) and XXXX. 

I am asking for resolution in this matter before the XX/XX/XXXX mortgage payment with the additional escrow cushion. Your time in reviewing this matter is greatly appreciated.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation