Consumer complaint received 2022-10-27
Company: Ocwen Financial Corporation
State: NV
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
This is the email I submitted twice to my mortgage company. All names and personal info have been removed. 

" To whom it may concern : Per the conversation on XX/XX/XXXX with a PHH Mortgage Services [ PHH ] representative, I am submitting the following documentation to cite an error on the side of PHH who has denied my application for assistance due to an existing lien. 

- A copy of the notarized Certificate of Redemption for the property at [ residential address ], attesting that the account is current and free of liens.

- Furthermore, a copy of the Tax Statement for the property provided to me by the County Treasurer 's Office. They advise that if PHH has further questions regarding this matter in particular to please contact [ name ] ; a delinquent tax team member for a [ delinquent tax team member ] at [ phone number ] I am also providing an additionally requested document : - A copy of the cover and signature pages of the Declaration of Trust for the [ homeowner ] dated XX/XX/XXXX. 


Since XX/XX/XXXX, I have attempted to seek assistance from PHH so that I may resume making regularly scheduled monthly payments, only to be met with endless obstacles, oftentimes contradictory policies and procedures, and yards of red tape from [ the mortgage company name ] directly. I will elaborate. 

In XX/XX/XXXX I, [ representative for the homeowner ] took over managing finances for the aforementioned property. It was at that time that I was made aware that PHH had stopped taking automatic payments from [ the homeowner ]. When I contacted PHH to inquire as to why this had occurred, no representative or associate could give me an answer. The words they all used were, " I don't know. '' To my knowledge, there was no reason on [ the homeowner 's ] side of things that this should have occurred. To this day, PHH has failed to provide an answer to this question. Ultimately the last PHH rep I spoke with at the time advised me to begin manually paying the monthly mortgage payments and we would be fine. So that's what I did. Throughout the entire global pandemic up until XX/XX/XXXX when PHH notified us the account had defaulted. By this point in time, [ the homeowner ] had moved out of the residence and thus full financial responsibility for the house, including the mortgage, fell to me, as [ the homeowner 's ] income became dedicated to her new place of residence. I myself, had only been back working, after being unemployed for 445 days, for just under 3 months. And so I applied for Mortgage Assistance Due to Covid. 

After months of waiting, finally in XX/XX/XXXX, I was approved for assistance and made 2 of the required 3 trial period payments which I was assured if I made would lock in the new mortgage rate. When it came time to make the 3rd payment in XX/XX/XXXX I called the automated system and was not allowed to pay. When I spoke with a [ the mortgage company name ] rep the next day, and I asked why I wasn't able to pay, they said they didn't know and would have to request clarification from another PHH department. During the time I waited to receive word, in the mail I received a new letter of approval. It gave a new amount I was to pay for 90 days that included a reduced mortgage rate but also an added amount to begin repayment to the escrow account that PHH had established. And so I contacted to confirm receipt of this letter. It was during this conversation with yet another PHH representative that I was told there was a second letter sent- a denial letter stating I was not approved for assistance- that was dated the exact same date as the new approval letter. I had not received the physical copy of this denial letter by the time of this conversation. So the PHH rep emailed me a copy while we were on the phone together. And when I asked the rep which of the documents was accurate, they said, " I don't know, '' and they were going to have to request clarification. After a few days I was finally able to get an answer. I was denied due to a " title issue. '' The PHH rep that I spoke to this time around couldn't tell me much more. They advised me to get in contact with the county treasurer 's office to inquire. This was baffling to me because in XX/XX/XXXX PHH had resolved the only lien on the property that existed and had since set up an escrow account to pay the property taxes directly to the county moving forward. So the " title issue '' that got me denied wasn't an issue at all. 

To recap, In XXXX, PHH deemed me ineligible for Mortgage Assistance Due to Covid because the original missed payments occurred prior to the start of the pandemic. But my ability to pay was in fact compromised due to the pandemic, When I applied for non-Covid related assistance I was initially approved then blocked from completing my 90-day trial payments by PHH because of a title issue. An issue that never was because PHH themselves aided with the property taxes months beforehand yet had not procured documentation stating this. ( Ultimately, I had to track down and submit the paperwork to PHH. ) And PHH now renders me completely ineligible for Loan Modification because I failed to complete said 90-day trial period, which again, I would have, but I was blocked from doing so by [ the mortgage company name ]. I was denied a repayment plan due to missing documentation and a lien on the property. Yes, we are still talking about the same lien that was resolved by PHH in XX/XX/XXXX and that I sent proof of redemption of in XX/XX/XXXX. That I have attached to this email. And as of today, XX/XX/XXXX, I was informed that I am not eligible for other types of assistance because of the type of loan this is. Meanwhile, through the weeks and months of constant communication with PHH often at my own initiation, PHH has refused to accept any payments of any kind. So the amount I am behind has multiplied exponentially and continues to do so making it all but impossible to catch up in one lump sum payment. Had I been permitted to pay whilst awaiting clarifications and application decisions, and processing times for documentation submissions my amount due would be significantly lower. 

All that said, it is still my goal to find a solution that satisfies both PHH whilst allowing [ the homeowner ] to maintain ownership of her property, as well allowing me, the now sole resident of the property, to resume monthly mortgage payments and ultimately stay in the home I grew up in.

I ask that PHH consider that their own web of actions, shortcomings with interdepartmental communications, and lack of communications with third parties has caused a chain of very avoidable events that has had a detrimental effect on a homeowner and their representative whom have done everything that has been asked for and maintained regular contact with PHH in their effort to do things the right way. Whose now only resident was truly severely impacted by the global pandemic, yet managed to make the mortgage payments every month throughout it, and would have continued to do so had the requested and needed aid rather then barriers been put forth by PHH Mortgage Services. 

I ask that PHH reconsider my eligibility for assistance, modification, and any other programs that would result in getting this account current and back on track. 


With deepest sincerity, Representative for the homeowner and primary resident at the property & The Homeowner '' On XX/XX/XXXX I spoke with another representative for the mortgage company and was advised that a letter of offer for payment deferral was being sent out. In XX/XX/XXXX I received said letter which was dated XX/XX/XXXX. It indeed said we had been approved for payment deferral. I called the mortgage company to confirm we wanted to accept the offer and was also placed on forbearance until XX/XX/XXXX in order to protect the account before we resumed payments on XX/XX/XXXX. Since then, I also submitted a small payment in XX/XX/XXXX, in an attempt to demonstrate a bit of good faith and overall intent to pay and thereby resolve this. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called the mortgage company for a separate reason but then also wanted to double check that everything else was set to go. The agent assured me it was and we ended the call. Precisely 20 minutes after that the mortgage company called me to notify me that said letter of offer of payment deferral was sent in error ... that the account was still under review. So in fact, we were not safe or have a long-term resolution in sight. 

For a year and 2 months, I have done everything I could, everything the mortgage company has asked of me to try and right this ship. The mortgage company has made mistake after mistake after mistake and I continue to look at losing my home. I'm exhausted and defeated. I want to get back on track. Where do I go from here? 

**Below there is an option to upload document, etc... I have extensive documentation about everything that has happened from XXXX XXXX present and can provide that if/ when the time comes. For now, my resources are a bit limited so I'd need more time to get it all uploaded.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief