Consumer complaint received 2019-08-29
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: Onity Group Inc. (CA)

We have owned our home for 15 years and are facing foreclosure because of an accounting " error '' by our former servicer Ocwen. We received a notification in XX/XX/XXXX that they had made an error and undercharged us {$150000.00} over a period of 4 years and that we needed to immediately pay that lump sum to reinstate or they would initiate foreclosure proceedings against us. We tried to get some clarity and answers as to what happened and even hired an Attorney to contact them. Instead of explaining themselves PHH ( to whom the servicing had been transferred ) sent a  payment history showing that we had paid our mortgage as agreed for 9 consecutive years and then suddenly a charge of {$150000.00} appears in XX/XX/XXXX. We have tried to work this matter out with PHH and they have been difficult to deal with and we need your agency to investigate this issue with Ocwen and PHH, as it relates to Ocwen violating the Periodic Statement Rule ( 12 CFR Part 1026 ( Regulation Z ) which requires mortgage servicers to provide homeowners with prompt regular and accurate information on their mortgage loans. For over 4 years Ocwen did not accurately provide correct statements to us. 

We bought our home with a 100 % purchase loan through XXXX XXXX back in XX/XX/XXXX. Our loan was then transferred to XXXX and in XX/XX/XXXX during the recession and after job loss we applied for and were approved for a loan modification. There was a period of 5 years with a fixed payment of {$1800.00} with an interest rate of 2 %. After the 5 year period the modification stated that the loan would revert back to the original terms. We made all of our modification payments as agreed and the loan was transferred to Ocwen sometime in XX/XX/XXXX. As we got close to end of the modification term, we contacted Ocwen to discuss our financial situation. We informed them that we were still in a tough place financially and were not sure we could make the increased payment after the term ended. The agent at Ocwen informed us that they had no record of requiring any type of increased payment and that their system showed that we just needed to keep making the same payment we had been making before of {$1800.00} Our mortgage statements over the next four years continued to be mailed to us, listing the payment of {$1800.00} and we continued to make the payment and were considered in good standing on the mortgage. In XX/XX/XXXX we received a letter stating that Ocwen had made a mistake and undercharged us {$150000.00}. Initially their agents demanded that we pay this amount in a lump sum which was not possible. We were eventually able to initiate a review for a loan modification and eventually were approved with a monthly payment of {$5900.00} which is nearly half of our monthly take home income. The payment is so high because our principal balance was increased to {$750000.00} because of the 4 years of mistakes made by Ocwen. 

This is not acceptable and the way this matter has been handled is outrageous. Ocwen 's agents assured us that our payment was not changing or increasing. This ended up being a misrepresentation and a fraud. PHH should not be able to come in and take over the servicing of this loan and suddenly claim that this is all our fault and that our finances and life are going to be destroyed because of incompetence. We are not denying that we owe the principal payments owed for those 4 years. But we question how you can charge us interest on this amount. Ocwen did not just charge us interest in the 7 % to 8 % range, they adjusted it upward even though that was not part of the terms of the contract. We have documented this in statements Ocwen sent us right before PHH took over the servicing of the loan. We are good people who have paid our bills on time our entire life and suddenly through no fault of our own we are thrown into this disastrous situation. We need some oversight and investigation so that there can be a fair resolution.