Consumer complaint received 2020-03-24
Company: Ocwen Financial Corporation
State: IA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, I am in need of assistance. My homeowners insurance is not being paid in the amount of {$3500.00} since XX/XX/XXXX by my escrow account and now they have placed a forced insurance policy of {$2600.00} on my account. 
I am including e-mails from myself to my insurance agent for a timeline and review of what was happening. Also, all the documents that XXXX XXXXPHH has been sent. I am including my divorce decree and 3rd party authorization as well. 
When I first went to obtain new homeowners insurance, there needed to be an inspection which did not actually occur until XX/XX/XXXX so although the new policy was in effect from XX/XX/XXXX the billing and emails did not actually happen until XX/XX/XXXX. It came to light that this policy was not going to be the right policy and I switched to a different policy starting XX/XX/XXXX ( through XX/XX/XXXX ) but maintained continuous coverage. 
The problem : The deed of the house is in my name, xxxxx xxxxxxx, and the loan to the house is in xxxx xxxx name ( x-husband ). I have been divorced since XX/XX/XXXX and immediately had the deed put in my name. This has been a very frustrating experience and I have spoken to many people who are unaware of what to do. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I called XXXX XXXXPHH to clarify that the home now belonged to me and that I needed my homeowners insurance premium paid or they were threatening to cancel the policy on me. At the same time, XXXX XXXXPHH was sending threatening letters that they were going to add a forced insurance policy that the escrow would have to pay. The first 45 minutes of my call was with a gentlemen telling me that I had to assume the loan. I finally asked for his supervisor. While I was on hold waiting, I XXXX  fixed rate mortgage assumption. The internet said a lot of loan interest fixed rate mortgage loans are not assumable. That was upsetting that the mortgage loan servicer was trying to send me a packet to fill out to assume a loan that he should have known was probably not assumable. I spoke to a supervisor and explained that I should be recognized on the loan and she said no, only the original borrower. Then I said that I had even signed a loan modification agreement in XXXX saying that I would be legally responsible for the debt since they used my income to approve the loan modification. I even spoke to that supervisors supervisor, nobody would help. At that point I asked what country and time it was. The person was in the XXXX and it was 5 am there ( middle of the afternoon where I was ). I gave up. Then I XXXX  Fair Lending, the HUD handbook, as well as a few other things to find out a way to be recognized on the loan so I could get my homeowners insurance paid and not have another policy forced on me. 
I called XXXX at XXXX of XXXX  Iowa XXXX, he is listed as a HUD approved counselor in XXXX XXXX where I live. He did not know what I should do. He gave me information to call the Iowa Attorney General office at XXXX which I did and left a message with xxx, an XXXX. I also called Making XXXX XXXX XXXX and spoke to xxx client id # XXXX under xxx xxxxx who gave me to xxx from XXXX XXXX, he told me that my loan modification agreement did not make me a borrower and was unable to help me resolve my problem. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I called xxxx xxxx, field office director for HUD XXXX. I was directed to HUD XXXX FHA at XXXX xxxHe escalated my claim to try and get help. I had no idea if the loan modification was FHA or not. I received a call back from xxxx at the Attorney Generals Office. She told me to get the loan into my name as soon as possible because the homeowners insurance had to also be in xxxx name since he was listed on the loan. She made me feel like I was trying to scam someone. I have paid my mortgage on time every month for years because we had come close to losing our home and it was very stressful! I was trying to get recognized as a party to the loan and she did not know how to help me. 
Due to my call with xxxxx, I spent the weekend ( XXXX XXXX ) getting balances for every credit card, loan, and student loans that I had to pay. I then used some money to pay down some debt to figure out if I might be able to refinance the house into my name. I have too high a debt to income ratio to qualify. I am currently helping XXXX of my children financially to attend college. I had hoped to pay off all of my credit cards but I recently had a roof leak and the quote to fix it is $ XXXX, my daughters car broke down due to the engine and I had to buy her a different one so she can drive back and forth to the XXXX college 10 miles away. I am just simply unable to do a refinance at this time. Again, I pay everything on-time every month. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I sent two letters to XXXX XXXXPHH regarding my homeowners insurance and getting it paid. They had already been sent proof of insurance on XX/XX/XXXX but sent me a letter says the insurance was not in XXXX name, the original borrower, so they would not accept it. I sent additional information. 
After more emails with my insurance agent I sent in my 3rd party authorization form to FHA to try to determine the type of loan modification. I was being told it was only a piece of papera formand meant nothing. It could not help me be recognized on the loan. They sent an email back with additional information. That is how I found the CFPB. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I called XXXX XXXX/PHH to find out if they had received my letters that I sent out on XX/XX/XXXX and possibly had made some changes to my account. They had not and I was informed that the insurance made a payout to XXXX XXXX Co on XXXX in the amount of {$880.00}. This is not my insurance company. Before I called I had looked on the CFPB website and saw the successor in interest ruling in XXXX. When speaking to the gentlemen I asked him why they never told me about this and why I am not recognized as a successor in interest and he had no idea what I was talking about. He said he would send me a packet to fill out. When I asked what the package was he said is was to assume the loan. I told him no that is not what I am doing. He had to put me on hold then came back and said he would send me a letter and it was computer generated so it would be XXXX business days before I would receive the letter saying what I needed to send in. I asked if there was someone there that could read it to me so I could send whatever information that they needed today because I owed almost {$3600.00} and it was very overdue. He said no. He put me on hold for XXXX minutes waiting to talk to the Homeowners insurance department to find out what the {$880.00} was. I hung up and called back and was on hold for another hour and a half until a message came on and said that they were sorry they could not connect me to a representative and they hung up. 
At this point, I feel that you are my last hope to resolve this situation. With the successor in interest information on your site, I believe that I qualify. I received my home in my divorce ( divorce decree p 5 of 6, part 7, second paragraph ). It also says that I should not have had to actually say the specific words successor in interest for the mortgage servicer to help me. They should have sent out a packet of information to confirm me when my insurance agent sent them a copy of the county tax site online that listed me as the owner of the home and her explanation that I received it through a divorce back on XX/XX/XXXX. Had they done that, I would not have been forced to pay for an insurance policy in my x-husband name and my insurance policy would have been recognized and paid in a timely manner. 
Please help me to obtain successor in interest status with my mortgage servicer so that they will recognize me on the loan and pay my insurance bill. Please help me get the forced insurance removed and any portion usedreturned as they did not follow the rules/guidelines. I could have been confirmed prior to a forced insurance policy had they followed the rules. 

Thank you for your assistance,

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation