Consumer complaint received 2017-08-29
Company: Ocwen Financial Corporation
State: MN
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
XXXX THIS IS A COMPLAINT AGAINST OCWEN LOAN SERVICING LOCATED AT XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX FL XXXX I escalated issues that I was having getting an appraisal completed to Ocwens Office of Consumer Ombudsman on XXXX XXXX, XXXX after failing to get assistance with the process of cancelling PMI on my home a process that I began in XXXX of XXXX. From XXXX XXXX through XXXX XXXX, XXXX I documented a number of failures in Ocwens business processes : 1. The inability of Ocwen to accept either fax or e-mail at published numbers/addresses and even at those numbers/addresses provided by Ocwens Research Department and Escalation Manager. The significance of this is that the Research and Escalation processes of Ocwen are the published escalation processes for customers having difficulty getting factual information on the property ( appraisal data coordinated by Ocwen ; receipt of documentation of improvements made by the Owner since purchase of the property ). Each request of the Escalation or Research Departments takes weeks for a response with all responses ending in dead ends. In other words, no factual information to resolve the issues is ever provided by Ocwen. All of this is summarized on page 1 of my XXXX XXXX, XXXX letter to Ocwen. I also had provided all of the documentation of hard costs that went into improvements at the above property after the purchase date. 
2. During and prior to the time- of direct correspondence with Ocwens Office of the Consumer Ombudsman, Ocwen has provided the following differing appraisals on the above property : a ) {$420000.00} appraisal by someone who actually came to my property in XXXX ; b ) {$230000.00} verbally quoted by the Ocwen Research department XXXX Ocwen never provided documentation of the source of the appraisal ; c ) {$270000.00} in a letter from Ocwen dated XXXX XXXX again no source of the appraisal date ; d ) {$390000.00} from a Brokers Price Opinion which is NOT an appraisal as required by Ocwens ( according to the Ocwen website ). 
As a part of the documentation that Ocwen sent along with their XXXX XXXX, XXXX letter to me is the actual BPO on the above property dated XXXX XXXX, XXXX and completed by XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX. On the bottom of the written BPO on the property, the form clearly states THIS IS AN OPINION OF PRICE OR COMPARATIVE MARKET ANALYSIS AND IS NOT AN APPRAISAL. 

Having no recollection of a XXXX XXXX, I called XXXX XXXX ( XXXX cell # shown on the BPO ) on the morning of XXXX XXXX, XXXX to ask why he had listed {$8000.00} of interior painting as a needed repair ( every inch of wall and floor space have been replaced, refurbished or painted since I acquired the property ). His response included the following direct quotes : The BPO was most likely a drive-by assessment ( in other words XXXX XXXX was never inside the home ) ; At that time, I was doing about 200 BPOs a month, and with that volume, files can often get mixed up between properties. 

All of this is documented in my XXXX XXXX, XXXX letter to Ocwen. 

Although I have continued my regular correspondence with XXXX XXXX of Ocwens Consumer Ombudsman Office, XXXX XXXX has provided NO assistance with resolving the issues raised and not acknowledgement of Ocwens actions which are clearly in violation with its written policies. 

Until XX/XX/XXXX, I believed that Ocwen was stonewalling my requests simply to delay the removal of PMI on the property and add to their bottom line ( the PMI is {$290.00} per month ). At this point, given that I have escalated the issue to the President/CEO of Ocwen, the Chair of the Board Audit Committee and Ocwens external Auditors in addition to the extensive correspondence with XXXX XXXX of the Consumer Ombudsman Office ( presumably someone directly responsible for resolving issues such as this ), I have concluded that Ocwen operates what one might call a fraudulent business enterprise. What is happening to me is also happening to hundreds, likely thousands of other homeowners homeowners that the Federal Government sought to help with the HARP Program. 

I have provided some, but not nearly all, of the documentation that I have. I documented every correspondence with Ocwen with complete sets of verifiable information. If there is not enough documentation enclosed, I am happy to provide more. 

XXXX LETTER TO OCWEN I am writing in response to your letter of XXXX XXXX, XXXX which was in response to my letter and documentation of XXXX XXXX, XXXX. The intent of this correspondence and the XXXX XXXX, XXXX correspondence - is to cut through the systemic chaos of Ocwen Loan Servicing to arrive at a factual decision on my request to Cancel PMI on the property associated with loan # XXXX. The letter of XXXX XXXX, XXXX does provide documentation that I have requested through Ocwens Research and Escalation Departments over the last year, but also raises some serious issues about the acceptability of Ocwens business processes and whether, in fact, these processes are only a means of stonewalling the removal of PMI from the above mortgage. 

Let me enumerate my concerns about the response in the Ocwen XXXX XXXX, XXXX letter : Owner-Approved Appraiser I want to make this abundantly clear : After requesting cancellation of PMI in writing and submitting the required {$100.00} fee to Ocwen as required, I have ONLY been contacted via shadowy phone calls establishing a person ( no name or contact information ) that would call me to set up an appraisal. As an Owner, I had absolutely NO participation in the selection or approval of the Appraiser that was sent to my home, nor was I ever left with a business card. 

An Appraisal is Required to Cancel PMI According to Ocwen An Appraisal was completed on the property at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX, as your letter indicates. Ocwen sent me an obtuse letter with ratios ( dated XXXX XXXX, XXXX ), but never stated the appraised value or the amount of the loan that would need to be paid down to reach the 80 % loan-to-value ratio. I interpreted this as yet another attempt to obfuscate ; why not just state the facts? I did correspond with Ocwen at that time indicating that the Appraisal seemed artificially low. 

After my additional request to cancel PMI in XXXX XXXX, Ocwen did not respond with an Appraisal, but with a Brokers Price Opinion ( BPO ) as you documented in the XXXX XXXX, XXXX Ocwen letter. According to the Ocwen documentation, the BPO of XXXX XXXX, XXXX on the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was done by XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX. On the bottom of the written BPO on the property, the form clearly states THIS IS AN OPINION OF PRICE OR COMPARATIVE MARKET ANALYSIS AND IS NOT AN APPRAISAL. 

Having no recollection of a XXXX XXXX, I called XXXX XXXX ( XXXX cell # shown on the BPO ) on the morning of XXXX XXXX, XXXX to ask why he had listed {$8000.00} of interior painting as a needed repair ( every inch of wall and floor space have been replaced, refurbished or painted since I acquired the property ). His response included the following direct quotes : The BPO was most likely a drive-by assessment ( in other words XXXX XXXX was never inside the home ) ; At that time, I was doing about 200 BPOs a month, and with that volume, files can often get mixed up between properties. 

I went on to ask XXXX XXXX whether or not he was aware that the house had a complete kitchen remodel with Viking appliances ; whether or not he was aware that the garage is insulated, heated and dry walled with storage on a second floor ; whether or not he knew the property was walk out with finished living areas on the walk out level ; whether or not he was aware of the year-round view of and proximity to XXXX XXXX. He answer was no to each of these questions. XXXX XXXX was quick to remind me that he was not licensed to do an Appraisal, just as the BPO states. 

I also find it just too coincidental that the BPO that XXXX XXXX completed had the same exact valuation ( {$390000.00} ) as the original purchase price. 


Documentation of Improvement Costs I have completed a substantial addition and interior renovations with a total cost of roughly {$140000.00}, therefore I am requesting a cancellation of PMI under the provision that cancellation of PMI may be granted based upon a current market value appraisal, provided substantial improvements have been made to the property. 

Ocwens XXXX XXXX, XXXX letter states ( documentation of ) cost must be provided by the vendor completing the Brokers Price Opinion or Appraisal. Please tell me how I might accomplish that on a drive-by BPO? 

In addition, I was generally asked if I had made improvements to the property, but I was NEVER asked for documentation of renovation/addition costs. Ocwen did not mention this documentation was needed until I received a mostly unintelligible response from Ocwen, dated XXXX XXXX, XXXX, from which I did surmise that documentation of the substantial improvements were being requested. I did not find this documentation requirement on Ocwens website under requirements for Cancelling PMI prior to initiating my requests for Cancellation of PMI. 

I did supply the entire 61 pages of documented ( checks, bank transactions, invoices ) substantial improvements as an attachment to my XXXX XXXX, XXXX letter along with extensive documentation on attempts to deliver this documentation to Ocwen dating back to XXXX XXXX. These documented hard-cost only improvements total {$100000.00}. Also enclosed were copies of the final inspections indicating all renovations/additions are in accordance with Building Code : footings/foundations ; framing ; electrical ; insulation and occupancy. 

Appraised Value The written documentation on appraised value that was provided by and attached to Ocwens XXXX XXXX, XXXX letter included statements of the need to expand the search area to find comparable homes and misstated the bedrooms in the subject property as 3, not the actual 4. Additionally, some of the vintage remodeled homes in the expanded search area included for comparables were very obviously do-it-yourself additions, not architecturally-designed renovations. Unless Ocwen, as a lender, is able to use a different set of Appraisal Criteria than a Minnesota-Licensed Appraiser is allowed to use for normal resale purposes, the Ocwen Appraisal process is seriously understating the actual current sale price of the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX property. Based on an Appraisal that I commissioned from a Minnesota-Licensed Appraiser in XXXX XXXX, the current selling price of XXXX XXXX XXXX Road is in the {$600000.00} range.
RESOLUTION OF ISSUES If there is any information that is lacking or a question on any information, let me know immediately and I will try to respond to your request ( s ) within a 48-hour timeframe. Otherwise, I expect that you get a firmer grip on the facts and do the work you are required to do, namely the hiring of a Minnesota-Licensed Appraiser who follows the professional standards of the Appraisal Industry and is fully-independent of Ocwen. Alternatively, I am happy to provide an appraisal meeting the above standards and submit the Appraisal to Ocwen, including the review of the substantial improvement costs documentation that have been submitted to Ocwen or as another alternative, to simply revert to the use of the XXXX Appraisal performed by an Ocwen appraiser.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation