Consumer complaint received 2025-07-18 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — Trying to communicate with the company to fix an issue related to modification, forbearance, short sale, deed-in-lieu, bankruptcy, or foreclosure
Company: Ocwen Financial Corporation
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
We are submitting this complaint due to the prolonged and unresolved mishandling of our mortgage, escrow, and mortgage assistance application with PHH Mortgage, which has spanned over 7 months, caused financial hardship, repeated delays, and now negatively impacted our credit. 

Background : In XXXX  and XXXX, our previous mortgage company, XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( serviced through XXXX ), failed to pay our full property taxes for two consecutive years due to an incorrect escrow analysis. This error caused a balloon tax payment in XXXX that created a significant escrow shortage of {$14000.00}. 

The mortgage company paid the back taxes all at once in XX/XX/XXXX, which, combined with tax increases and insurance increases due to federal disaster damages ( Hurricane Beryl ), nearly doubled our mortgage statement from {$2000.00} to {$3800.00} per month in XX/XX/XXXX, as they distributed the payments over 1 year. This was not due to our fault, but service errors. 

XX/XX/XXXX I began requesting deferred or adjusted payments to spread these payments over 60 months instead of XXXX, to ease the hardship. But on XX/XX/XXXX, our mortgage was transferred to another company, PHH Mortgage, and I was forced to restart the process from the beginning. I also started the Mortgage Assistance Application process as an alternative resolution that was offered at the time. I would later be told ( in XX/XX/XXXX ) that they would only spread payments over 36 months, not the requested 60 months. 

Since XXXX, we have submitted multiple versions of the Mortgage Assistance Application after conflicting information from PHH reps about our info placed in the wrong place and later requests that it should be where we first entered it, requests to change the date because their review processes take so long they become " outdated '', requests for an additional signature where there is no formal place to sign, later requests stating both of our signatures need to be on the doc, etc. 

I have also sent all required documents repeatedly, including requested monthly pay stubs showing wages we receive from the business we own, payroll records, bank records with income deposits, and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 

For the last 6 months, PHH has repeatedly claimed documents are missing or outdated, often due to their team not reviewing documents in a timely manner so they continue requesting the same documents, claiming the documents they have are not current ( in the last 2 months ). After questioning this never-ending request for the same documents, now they are starting to state documents are " blurry '' or unclear. One rep admitted internal system issues with documents losing quality when they are uploaded into their system, even when we submitted high-quality PDFs.

Each time we re-send a document the same day it is requested, PHH restarts the review window. When asked for timelines, I have been told the review window is 5-days, 14-days, and 30-days, by different reps over the phone and in writing.

This has happened multiple times since XX/XX/XXXX, causing a never-ending review loop that I have tried addressing several times. On XX/XX/XXXX, we even received a " complete application '' letter, which meant a 30-day final review window would begin. But exactly 30 days later, we received a call on XX/XX/XXXX, once again asking us to clarify our income. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from PHH saying we had " missing documents '' and we were told our Mortgage Assistance Application date was old/expired, and they requested we send an application dated with the current date. This made us believe that PHH wanted to make it seem like they were reviewing applications in a timely manner. I resent the new dated application that day, but on XX/XX/XXXX received another call saying it was " not clear '' and to resend it again. This time I asked to speak to someone who could address the ongoing issues and was told I would receive a call on XX/XX/XXXX so someone could address them. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, we received a call, but instead of addressing the ongoing issue of having to repeatedly send the same documents again and again, the rep began listing 6 new things that were missing, blurry, or wrong with the documents we had submitted/resubmitted per multiple requests. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told a supervisor would call within 24 hours to address my concern. I never received a call from a supervisor. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a generic email that is sent to customers requesting a status of the modification. It did not address the concerns I requested to be addressed. And the letter further stated : " We would like to confirm that your application was received on XX/XX/XXXX, and currently, the account is under review for a modification. As per our standard process, please allow sufficient time for the review process to be completed ''. This statement confirmed our suspicion of why PHH Mortgage asked us to send our Mortgage Assistance Application again, but dated with the current date. With that change, they could once again state that they were reviewing in a timely manner and resetting the review clock once again. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX, the date I am filing this complaint, we received another call from PHH stating clarification was needed regarding our income, despite having clarified this in writing and by phone multiple times since XX/XX/XXXX, including in the last calls in XXXX. I once again resent this clarification immediately via email as requested but I am no longer confident that this will be the last time this and other info is requested. 

Because of XXXX XXXX XXXX 's XXXX analysis error, increase in taxes, increase in insurance, then the transfer of our mortgage to PHH Mortgage , causing both companies to try to pass this issue into the other 's hands with no party taking responsibility to help us resolve this, and because of PHH Mortgage 's ongoing delay and failure to resolve our various requests for help, we have had to start paying mortgage payments late. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, we received notice that PHH reported us to the credit bureaus, which has caused a major drop in our credit scores for the first time, despite the fact that we have been actively working with them in good faith throughout this process and in financial hardship further exacerbated by their servicing failures. 

We have over {$60000.00} in Hurricane Beryl home repairs, are recovering from a federally declared disaster, and have clearly communicated that, in addition to communicating that we plan to sell the home before year-end XXXX, which would resolve the escrow shortage entirely. 

Yet PHH continues to delay and stall, demand repeated resubmissions, harm our credit, and threaten collections while the application is still pending review, which they can not do in a timely manner. 

This process has taken a massive emotional, physical, and financial toll on our family and our small business, as it has been extremely time-intensive to continue this process for months. It is unsustainable and clearly not in compliance with federal servicing standards or RESPA. 

PHH has not confirmed a clear timeline, complete status, or offered a resolution on our situation or application, even though our file was last marked complete on XX/XX/XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation