Consumer complaint received 2023-09-17 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Private mortgage insurance (PMI)
Company: Ocwen Financial Corporation
State: GA

Complaint narrative:
I purchased my condo a few years ago and since then its been sold 4-5 times. Each time, it's relatively smooth and issue free process. Mostly I just need to provide the new mortgage holder with a copy of the flood insurance certificate from my HOA as that does not transfer. 

My mortgage was sold again in XXXX of XXXX  to PHH mortgage, and this new mortgage company is the worst I've ever dealt with. 

First, they declared that my flood insurance was inadequate. None of the other 4-5 mortgage companies found my flood insurance to be inadequate. I contacted PHH in a timely manner and provide the flood insurance certificate multiple times, along with a cover letter in which I did the math and showed them that the coverage was sufficient. Their overseas agents did not know how to read the flood certificate and were only including the primary coverage while there is also an excess policy. Despite all this, they still purchased flood insurance using my escrow funds. 

I filed a complaint with the XXXX  and only after that did they cancel the policy and refund the amount. 

Fast forward late XXXX / early XX/XX/2023. I get a notice that my monthly payment increased 500 %. Yes, you read that right. They increased my monthly payment from around {$1000.00} to {$5100.00}. A mistake like this is unacceptable from such a large business, and I called PHH in a timely manner to let them know this needs to be fixed. 

While they fixed the payment amount, PHH is now charging me PMI in the amount of {$55.00} per month. After calling back, the representative stated that I need to pay PHH {$190.00} to request an appraisal to remove the PMI. 

This is ridiculous for multiple reasons. First, I have not paid PMI in years. One of my prior lenders removed PMI from my monthly payment as they found my loan to value to be below 78 %.

Second, based on the two most recent sales comps from my condo complex ( all units are the same square footage ), my loan to value is 49 %, give or take. 

Third, I have an email from PHH dated XX/XX/2023 in which theyre trying to sell me a cash out refi. In this email, they stated their estimate of the fair market value of my unit ( and the fine print indicates this estimate is indeed their own internal calculation ). Using this fair market value number gives me a loan to value of 57 %, still well below the 78 % threshold for PMI. Why are they starting to charge me PMI if their own internal calculation indicates Im well below the loan to value threshold? 

PHH needs to remove the PMI from my monthly payment, and refund any PMI that Ive already paid. 

As an aside, I believe PHH is trying to nickel and dime their customers due to mortgage sales being down and this behavior is shameful. They have already been sued by multiple state attorney generals and need to be more diligent and above board.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation