Consumer complaint received 2020-05-11
Company: Ocwen Financial Corporation
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Reverse mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I obtained a reverse mortgage which was transferred to PHH Mortgage of XXXX, MI.for servicing in XXXX of XXXX. A set aside account was set up to pay my property taxes and insurance on my property. XXXX of XXXX, I was notified by my loan officer that my taxes had not been paid for XXXX or XXXX and after checking with my local tax office, I found that not only were the taxes not paid but had incurred late fees for both years. I instantly contacted PHH Mortgage and when I informed them that I have a set aside and asked why my taxes were not paid, was told that I was responsible to call them every month to make sure this was taking care of. I thought that this was ridiculous and asked to speak to a supervisor and then was told that the associate would need to email her supervisor to start an investigation on this issue. I hung up and called right back and was told by another associate that my taxes weren't paid because PHH never received a bill. I understood oversites and human errors and  even though this was their job, I contacted my local property tax office and was told that PHH would need to request that the bill be sent to them so I contacted PHH again and was told that they don't do that and the tax bill was my responsibility. Needless to say, by this time, I was livid and worried that my home was going to have a lean against it and really not knowing what to do, on top of that, I was informed by my insurance company that my homeowners insurance had not been paid either. At this point, I had no idea what this mortgage company was doing with the money set a side to take care of all this. After contacting PHH again and again, after almost two weeks, I finally talked to someone who took the time to look deeper into everything and who informed that they would be sending me a check twice yearly in the amount of {$440.00} that would go toward the payment of my taxes and insurance. I could not believe what I was hearing. ( I received a check in XXXX of XXXX and called about it, I was told that this was a refund check because my taxes before the reverse were already paid ). 
Apparently since the set aside was not fully funded, undenounced to me, this is a standard procedure and practice of which I was never informed. So in essence, my taxes and insurance are my responsibility My biggest concern in all this is why I was not informed of any of this. I entered into this thinking that my taxes and insurance would be taken care of and not to be made to feel like I had been taken advantage of. When I asked them if this was the way your company treats seniors on fixed incomes who are looking for a better way of life? All they said was sorry and could do nothing for me. I am XXXX years old, a XXXX senior and have owned several homes with conventional mortgages over a period of 20 years and have never ever been late on anything. I feel that it is their duty to practice truthful lending practices and to do no harm to unsuspecting seniors. If it were anyway possible, I would discontinue my dealings with PHH and go with a reputable reverse mortgage company.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation