Consumer complaint received 2015-07-02
Product: Mortgage — Other mortgage
Issue: Loan modification,collection,foreclosure — 
Company: Onity Group Inc. (VT)

The loan was an 80/20 loan used to purchase the property XXXX with the same company, Option One Mortgage, sold to AHMS, sold to Homeward Residential, acquired by OCWEN. 
The Original Date of First Delinquency on the loans for the property was in XXXX XXXX. 
The property was later foreclosed upon, of the date of that I am unsureCountless times of requesting modifications with the servicer of the loan beginning in XXXX, we were refused at the initial point of contact with a customer representative every time. We were never allowed to speak with management for review or consideration or recommended to fill out an application to submit a request. We encountered such things as " You must live in your house for at least five years for us to even consider a modification '' " You owe too much on the balance to even be considered for a modification '' or " We do n't really do that for people '' " Im sorry but there is nothing that we can do for you. " In XXXX after we fell way behind, Homeward Residential began foreclosure process on the property. My husband received a sum of money from an inheritance and he offered a sum to bring the delinquent balance current and do a modification. Homeward Residential agreed to temporarily suspend the foreclosure and do a modification. While in the modification process, they directed us to stop paying on the smaller 20 % portion of the mortgage and just bring the 80 % portion of the mortgage current. There was no forgiveness of any debt. They reduced the interest rate very little. The payments were barely reduced. At the end of the process, as a complete surprise, they tacked all of that delinquent mortgage that they told us not to pay, onto the loan, extending the debt even further. 
we requested if there was any way to rework another modification, and they refused and we had to eventually let them foreclose on the property. 
I do not have details of the foreclosure, and our understanding of the process was very limited. But I do know that there is no public court judgment against for a deficiency balance after the foreclosure was complete. 
A balance of {$31000.00} is on our credit reports being serviced by XXXX XXXX XXXX Debt collectors for Homeward Residential ( a subsidiary of Ocwen ). The trade line reports as a current mortgage due with a past due balance and has been reporting late every month for the last XXXX years, since first defaulting in XXXX. 
In XXXX We received small payments as part of the agreement for the XXXX settlement with Ocwen who owns Homeward Residential whom was servicer of our loans. 
After being informed we would be included in the National Mortgage Settlement with Ocwen, I wrote to the Credit and requested that the foreclosure status listing from Homeward Residential be removed and delinquent balances be removed from the reports. The foreclosure listings were removed, but the balance of {$31000.00} listed with XXXX XXXX XXXX ( who is servicing the collecting of the debt on behalf of Homeward Residential XXXX remained and the credit bureaus would not remove the listing. 
I have recently been trying to negotiate with XXXX XXXX XXXX to settle the balance, even though I do not believe we owe this debt after the abusive practices suffered from the servicer before and during the foreclosure. XXXX XXXX has informed me that they do not own the debt but that Homeward Residential owns the debt and they are servicing it on their behalf and are only the collectors. XXXX XXXX agent XXXX who is assigned to our case, has given me counter offers but told me they can not remove the trade line and or remove the late payment postings with no real explanation as to why, and I believe they are trying to strong arm us into just paying with no real benefit to us.