Consumer complaint received 2018-07-26
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: Onity Group Inc. (NJ)

My issue is with Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC. I was approved for a modification and followed all of the guidelines and made my payments and then they failed to send the permanent modification paperwork. I followed up with them repeatedly to try and fix this problem but I fell between the cracks. I still tried to pay them but they refused to accept the modification payment and told me instead I needed to pay back all missed payments. I have spent over one year going back and forth trying to fix this problem with no success. I am now facing a foreclosure sale date on XX/XX/XXXX. it never should have come to this, I have a very good job and can document strong finances that would allow me to be able to afford a payment for a modification plan. The fact that I was approved for a plan, and then due to incompetence Ocwen did not follow through is leading to me losing my home. This is not right or fair. When I call in to try and find out what is going on with my case and my file I get transferred from department to department and no one can give me any answers. Then I receive letters twice a week from Ocwen telling me they can help and encouraging me to apply for assistance. Of course when I do apply, I go into limbo. 

A few years after purchasing my home I needed to do some repairs so I refinanced in XXXX. I was not aware until I got to the signing table that I had been the victim of a bait and switch and that I had entered into a predatory and toxic adjustable rate loan. My payment began going up, and both of my parents were very ill and I had to help to care for them and take a lot of time off of work in XXXX. During this time frame I was diagnosed with XXXX which made things even worse. Not long after my parents passed and I had to help manage and settle their affairs and cover costs. To make matters even worse, I lost my job in XX/XX/XXXX due to the recession. 

As soon as I began defaulting on the loan I attempted to work with the bank but found it difficult to navigate, so I hired an Attorney. Working with him there was no progress so I ended up hiring the Attorney who was helping us with my parent 's estate. In XXXX we were finally able to negotiate a modification, and I began making the monthly payments as agreed, even though they were more than 50 % of my monthly income. As it became apparent that this situation was not sustainable my Attorney reached out to Ocwen to question the terms of the modification. Ocwen 's agents admitted that an error was made in the calculation of the terms of the modification, and agreed to open a NEW application for a more affordable modification based on the correct financial information. This review ended up dragging on for almost another year. Eventually, I was approved for another modification and began making the monthly payments. By this time my financial situation had improved as I had a great and stable job. I was very happy to have put this behind me and made the payments as agreed as I waited for the permanent modification papers. These never came, and I soon drifted into a black hole. Despite repeated attempts to contact Ocwen, I have yet to make any progress on this issue. I call in and get transferred from department to department and often end up speaking with customer representatives who speak very poor English and are difficult to understand. I request repeatedly to have a review initiated on my case but get nowhere. At the same time I receive multiple applications in the mail to apply for help, but after I complete the applications and send them in it is like they don't exist. 

Ocwen is a bad company and I have read that they were fined billions of dollars by the Department of Justice and the CFPB for unethical foreclosure practices. They are still engaging in these practices, please investigate this situation.