Consumer complaint received 2020-10-13
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Account status incorrect
Company: Onity Group Inc. (CO)

OCWEN Unfair/ Inaccurate Reporting, Lack of Customer Support and Credit Hardship Explanation : This house was our primary residence from XXXX to XXXX at which time I was relocated for work to XXXX and we were unable to sell the house XXXX values had fallen due to local economic factors ( oil and gas ) so we chose to rent the property until values rebounded. Renters exited in XXXX of XXXX. Property placed on market in XX/XX/XXXX. Buyer proposed purchase contract accepted in XX/XX/XXXX with projected close date in XXXX of XXXX. Long story ( see email attachments from previous email below ) but external water facet was frozen when house winterized and then thawed and came on without our knowledge resulting in 56,000 gallons of water running down the foundation wall. This resulted in the house sinking and the foundation being compromised to the point were engineers deemed the structure unsafe to live in. All this occurred one day before closing on the sale of the home leaving the home unable to rent or live in with repair cost estimates being > {$150000.00}. We immediately contacted OCWEN and our insurance company about the event and OCWEN told us to work with our insurance company to process the claim. Our insurance company denied the claim and we notified OCWEN who told us they couldnt help us while the mortgage was in good standing. We notified OCWEN that we could not afford to continue to pay the mortgage on a home we couldnt live in or rent. OCWEN recommended we seek legal counsel to pursue the insurance claim which we did at our own cost. When asked about not paying mortgage they stated it was our choice but they couldnt help us at this point so we stopped paying mortgage and put our money into legal counsel. Multiple lawyer correspondence and a formal demand letter sent but insurance company still denied the claim. Notified OCWEN that insurance claim was denied again and OCWEN told us that they couldnt help us until our account was enough delinquent to trigger mortgage assistance department and recommended we contact VA to see if they could help since the loan was a VA loan. We reached out to VA who sympathized but could not help. We notified OCWEN of VA response and asked to be escalated to supervisors, other departments, and eventually asked to talk to the CEO of OCWEN which got us assigned to two specialists to help assist us. Contact with OCWEN increased as we went through the short sale process. Several delays with OCWEN processing application led to a few contracts being abandoned by buyers due to delays. The fourth contract was successful but involved us contacting OCWEN three times per week to pressure them to be responsive and it still took them 5 months to process. Below is a high level timeline : 1. XX/XX/XXXX home put on market for sale. 
2. XX/XX/XXXX water shut off and home winterized by contractor. 
3. XX/XX/XXXX buyer purchase offer accepted and home under contract. 
4. XX/XX/XXXX water reconnected and home de-winterized by contractor so buyers could complete home inspection which found no issues. 
5. XX/XX/XXXX final walkthrough prior to closing on XX/XX/XXXX completed and massive structural damage found throughout the home. 
6. XX/XX/XXXX water company investigation found external water facet on and 56,000 gallons of water recently flowed down foundation wall. 
7. XX/XX/XXXX OCWEN notified on structural damage and advised to contact insurance company. 
8. XX/XX/XXXX XXXX insurance contacted to start claim process. 
9. XX/XX/XXXX real-estate home re-inspection completed with massive structural damage found that was not on present during first inspection in XXXX. 
10. XX/XX/XXXX independent engineering firm retained and assessed that structure unable to support living in. OCWENXXXX XXXX XXXX of findings. 
11. XX/XX/XXXX XXXX denied claim. OCWEN notified of claim denial and inability to continue to financially pay mortgage. OCWEN unable to help as not delinquent enough to trigger hardship department but recommended we contact a lawyer to pursue insurance company as well as VA to see if they could help. 
12. XX/XX/XXXX legal counsel demand letter sent to XXXX. OCWEN notified. 
13. XX/XX/XXXX XXXX again denied claim and legal counsel stated next step was lawsuit but would be costly with no guarantee of success. OCWEN notified and unable to help with legal cost support. We demanded to be escalated to multiple supervisors and departments over days of phone calls. OCWEN assigned specialist to help and recommended short sale. Realtor retained to pursue short sale. 
14. XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX multiple OCWEN Hardship Applications, multiple Short Sale Contracts, extensive delays by OCWEN to process timely, request to escalate to CEO, and finally connected with a representative who was able to process the 4th short sale contract prior to buyer cancelation : a. XX/XX/XXXX OCWEN Hardship Application # 1. 
b. XX/XX/XXXX Short Sale Buyer Contract # 1 ( canceled due to buyer repair cost analysis ). 
c. XX/XX/XXXX Short Sale Buyer Contract # 2 ( eventually buyer canceled due to OCWEN processing delays ). 
d. XX/XX/XXXX OCWEN Hardship Application # 2. 
e. XX/XX/XXXX Short Sale Buyer Contract # 3 ( eventually buyer canceled due to OCWEN processing delays ). 
f. XX/XX/XXXX OCWEN Hardship Application # 3. 
g. XX/XX/XXXX Short Sale Buyer Contract # 4. Escalation to CEO, weekly scheduled appointments, and finally 3 times per week calls and emails to push OCWEN to process timely. Still took 5 months for OCWEN to process. 
h. XX/XX/XXXX OCWEN verifies all funds and transferred and account closed with no further obligation on us.