Consumer complaint received 2018-06-26
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: Onity Group Inc. (OH)

In XX/XX/XXXX my brother and I purchased an investment home with our parents. My parents owned 45 %, I owned 45 % and my brother owned 10 %. In XX/XX/XXXX, our father passed away. We continued to make the payments even though it was a hardship due to the loss of our father 's income. In XX/XX/XXXX, our mother passed away and it became an extreme hardship for my brother and I. As of XX/XX/XXXX, we had made payments in excess of {$750000.00}. We understand that most of that was interest because of how the loan is amortized. We went to Ocwen Loan Servicing and told them we wanted to do everything we could to keep our family investment as it was the right thing to do and we had so much already invested. We were told to file for a loan modification. We filled out all the paperwork right away and it took over a year for them to receive everything they needed. They kept telling us they didn't receive documents even though we sent the documents certified mail. They would tell us one page was missing which was not the case because we scanned everything into one PDF and also emailed the files so if they received one page they received all the pages. The house at the time of loan modification application was appraised by a realtor ( comp basis ) of {$720000.00} but our balance was ~ {$840000.00}. They would not accept payments during the application process but they added late fees and penalties every month. Now they tell us we owe over {$960000.00} after paying for 10 years on an original note of {$990000.00} we only get credit for {$25000.00}. We purchased the house for {>= $1,000,000} so we had a $ {$330000.00} home equity line of credit on my parents primary residence which we had to sell at the time of my mother 's passing in order to pay off this debt. My brother and I now owe this to our remaining XXXX siblings in order to buy them out of my parents share. The original monthly mortgage amount that was paid for 10 years was {$6200.00} without escrow. We paid our property taxes and insurance on our own. We made all these payments on time until both of our parents passed away. After 14 months from the date of application for the loan modification Ocwen Loan Servicing gave us a trial 3 month payment plan. We asked for the terms and they refused to give them to us. They said you make these payments and then we will calculate your final modification. We made the 3 payments of {$6300.00} and then received the final modification to sign. They reduced the interest rate from 6.5 % to 4.125 % and left the maturity date the same. They started the loan over so we lost the benefit of having already paid the first 10 years of an amortized loan which is when the most interest is paid. They also added a balloon payment in the amount of {$430000.00} at the end of the 18.5 years. We were not aware of the balloon payment until after we made all our trial payments. I had to argue with them because the first payment for the trial payment was applied to the previous balance and not to the trial plan payments. We had over 50 calls during this process and it was never clear about what they were doing to help us. We told them that we would do anything they needed for us to keep our home but we could not keep paying at these rates. They told us we had 5 options : 1 ) Foreclosure, 2 ) Short sale ( they would accept under {$700000.00} ), 3 ) Accept the loan modification with the balloon payment, 4 ) Make payments at 6.5 % and over the next 11 months the payments would be over {$18000.00} per month to catch the loan up and then it would be caught up and we would pay {$7000.00} per month for the remaining 18.5 years, 5 ) Pay the remaining balance in one installment. We explained to them that we are applying for the loan modification because we are in distress. We feel that they have been deceiving all along. We paid the full flood and hazard insurance out of pocket yet they added those amounts into the past amounts owed because they thought they paid them. We sent them proof from our insurance company and showed cancelled checks and they still kept those payments on our debt. It is unbelievable how bad they have treated us. We have done everything we can to keep our home and will continue to do so. Right now they said they will not accept payments from us until we sign the loan modification agreement but it will be like starting over when we have already paid over {>= $1,000,000} which includes what we owe on the other equity loan. We are good people that have always worked hard and did the right thing. All we are trying to do is to keep our family investment that we made almost 12 years ago with our parents that are now both deceased. We are asking for help to require Ocwen Loan Servicing to treat us fairly so we can keep our home. We are upside down on this house. We have told them we are willing to continue to pay for the next 18.5 years but we need the terms to change. We were requesting the principal balance be reduced to what they said they would accept on a short sale which is ~ {$680000.00}, the interest rate to be reduced to 3 % which they alluded to when we applied, and allow the loan to be on year 12 of the amortization schedule so the high interest payments don't start over. They told us if they short sale it then they would accept less than {$700000.00} ( they mentioned {$680000.00} ). All we are asking is that we get the same opportunity that a new person could come in and just get without any previous investment since we have so much invested already and have the desire to pay the loan. 
Please help us keep our family home. 
Thank you for being here to help. We appreciate any assistance you can provide. 

In Gratitude, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX