Consumer complaint received 2015-06-30
Company: Ocwen Financial Corporation
State: NJ
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Credit decision / Underwriting

Complaint:
Below is part of letter that I sent to Ocwen Loan Servicing ; they replied back with saying they would modify the loan under HAMP, but the conditions were a 3 % rate and they would add a balloon payment of {$170000.00} at the end of the mortgage. 
Premise -Since the inception of this mortgage loan, it has literally taken a toll on my family and I. My family consists of my wife and I and XXXX children ; all who currently live in our home. Back in XX/XX/XXXX. I started a construction project on my house. Having only a XXXX bedroom house at that time, we needed more space for my family. I did most of the construction myself and my goal was to do it over time. As long as I had the roof and siding on, I was n't concerned on how long the inside would take for me to finish. I knew we had limited income and could only do pieces at a time. As you will see from my tax return of XX/XX/XXXX, we made {$50000.00} in income before taxes. Not a lot of money considering the cost of living in New Jersey and our surrounding area and although it was tight, we managed. My credit was also towards the lower end. So, the probability or possibility of getting another loan was not high. 
I responded to an ad and I talked to a mortgage broker who told us he could not only help to finance the construction, but also to get a new mortgage approved once the construction was complete. Although, I could not believe that this was possible, we said ok. This is where they roped us into a short loan of {$30000.00} at 24 % interest into a larger mortgage. But the mortgage broker was so slick, even coming to my work and having me sign papers on top of my car. Although, I thought it was different, I guess I trusted the guy. But somehow thru the whole process, I started with a {$150000.00} mortgage and ended with a {$260000.00} mortgage and got very little value of it. 
Predatory Items -1 ) Asset Based Mortgage instead of ability to pay - Debt to Income - Exhibits E & F - Total household GROSS income in 2004 was {$50.00}, XXXX ; Total of yearly mortgage payment = {$30000.00} ( {$2500.00} per month as represented in the papers ) 60 % of my gross income to pay the mortgage, which is absolutely unsustainable. 
2 ) Appraisals - Exhibits A, B, C, D - Appraisal used by mortgage broker/mortgage company was inflated because of the lack of income and credit report ; they needed the inflated value of the home to be high ( Their appraisal came in at {$540000.00} ). Our town had independent appraisals also done that year and their appraisal came in at {$200000.00}. That leaves a difference of {$230000.00}, which any reasonable person would conclude that the brokers/banks appraisal was flawed, either intentionally or ineptitude. Given our documented income and credit, what would a reasonable person conclude? 
3 ) Multiple, Duplicate Fees and Varying Truth in Lending Documents - Exhibits G, H, HXXXX, I, J - The broker came to my work at least XXXX times that I remember to sign documents ; and I literally remember signing them on the top of my car. 
4 ) Given copies of documents prior to signed copies - Exhibit K, L - Some of the documents I signed, I never received a copy of the signed copy ; I was just given a copy in advance of what I signed. So, in reality, I could have signed something completely different. 
5 ) Value received nominal compared to the cost - Exhibits M, N - I started in XX/XX/XXXX with a {$150000.00} mortgage and ended with an unaffordable {$260000.00} mortgage. Only value that I received was a {$30000.00} construction loan, payoff of {$5700.00} car loan and a payoff of {$2900.00} credit card. Total Value Received plus original mortgage = {$190000.00}. 
As I go thru paperwork today, I am still struggling to find out how it got up to {$260000.00}.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation