Consumer complaint received 2017-04-26
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: Onity Group Inc. (CA)

In  XXXX  of  XXXX  I retired from  XXXX   XXXX  military after 20 years of service. Though my income had decreased, I was pursuing other careers, meeting all my appointments with the VA, and was able to keep up with my mortgage payments on the property I currently rent. I began having difficulties throughout the year and decided to apply for a hardship program in  XXXX   XXXX  wi th Ocwen Loan Servicing. After acquiring all the necessary paper work ( proof of retirement income,     XXXX  awa rd letter, banking statements, renter 's agreement, renter receipts ) I successfully submitted my first hardship request on  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX  and was denied modification in  XXXX   XXXX  for " insufficient income to qualify for a hardship '' by 20 %. Needless to say I thought that was the definition of a hardship. After my  XXXX  was approved and my award increased I submitted my paperwork again. It was held up and required that I resubmit the paperwork with current signatures. By this point I had all the information readily available and was use to uploading the documents they regularly requested. On  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX  I logged on t o Ocwen 's website to see that my application for a loan modification had been approved and received a phone call from my " Relationship Manager  '' on  XXXX   XXXX , inquiring if I had received the documents to proceed, which he double checked and conformed that they were just mailed off that day. Surely I could n't have received them yet, bu t Ocwen is pr imarily a debt collector as is stated at the beginning of every phone call shortly after their slogan " where helping homeowners is what we do, '' so I was not surprised that he really did n't know much about its progress. When I asked why the interest rate increased he told me that it might change based on the current market. When I asked if he deals directly with the loan modification department he informed me he did not. When I asked to speak with the loan modification department he informed me that they do not discuss changes in the loan modification process over the phone. He also informed me that when I receive the modification documents, that I will have the option to appeal their decision. On  XXXX   XXXX , I called a Relationsh ip Manager ag ain to see if I could talk to a supervisor. I wanted an explanation to this modification decision and to see if there was anything else I might qualify for, seeing how the mortgage was going to remain higher than I was paying ( though it would be at a fixed rate and not a variable rate any longer ). The Relationsh ip Manager (  the information or rhetoric they give is the same regardless who you speak to ) informed me that the Modification is handled by the Underwriter in a different department, that they do not speak with customers directly, that I was welcomed to speak to his supervisor but there was really nothing else they could do. I am at an impasse, do I accept the new modification which will move my next payment due date b y two months and proceed to paying a higher mortgage rate of 4.2 percent which is n't really bad, or do I stick with my 2.6 variable rate   which will increase in  XXXX  to an unknown rate at this time. What I was seeking throughout this entire process was a lower, fixed mortgage rate that my current income could manage while in between jobs. I am on my way to catching up with my mortgage payments but I am still behind. This modification that they finally approved does not seem to help those undergoing hardships.