In doing more research on Ocwen, the company that collects out mortgage payment every month (I refuse to call them a mortgage company because they are nothing more than a glorified collection agency), I have discovered another area in which they screw over the typical hard working home owner. Loan modification. The definition of the term loan modification is simply this, 'A modification to an existing loan made by a lender in response to a borrower's long-term inability to repay the loan. Loan modifications typically involve a reduction in the interest rate on the loan, an extension of the length of the term of the loan, a different type of loan or any combination of the three. A lender might be open to modifying a loan because the cost of doing so is less than the cost of default.'
Now don't get me wrong, many people have been able to apply and be approved for a loan mod with success. However, that being said there are that many and more that have not had the same 'breathe a sigh of relief' result. Before I go any further if you are looking to do a loan mod please, please, please I beg you, make sure you know that you are dealing with a reputable home lending agency/bank that is qualified to look into your situation and can perform the process legally.
Okay, now here's my problem with companies such as Ocwen, Saxon, and Nationstar, they are nothing more than debt collectors. They cannot perform the services that they advertise regarding loan modification. Sure they say they can, they give you the requirements to see if they apply to you, they provide the paperwork for you to fill out and send back. You then do everything that is required of you to apply, then you wait....and wait.....and wait.... No response, no reply. Many of the complaints that I have read share the same common thread and that is once the application has been sent in, they never hear back and when these unsuspecting people call to find out the status of their mod they are shocked to find out the company does not have anything on file regarding the mod or the agency states that they are 'missing' items that you know you sent in. This now becomes the cycle - missing paperwork, re-sent paperwork, missing paperwork, well you get the idea. Not to mention getting through to someone in customer service is nearly impossible and once you do, you can't understand a word they're saying. It's a vicious cycle.
The horror stories are simply amazing. I read about one family that (also a victim of Ocwen's modification process), was foreclosed on while they were still under review for a mod, others have been waiting a year or more to see their mod be approved/denied, and in some rare cases when a mod has been approved it actually increased the amount of a person's monthly mortgage!
We are still battling with Ocwen on our mortgage payments. My husband and I have gone through all the statements they sent us, all our bank records, matched one to the other, made copies, sent them via delivery confirmation to their research department all to receive a response that says (paraphrased) 'We are still right and you are still wrong, and you are still 2 months behind in making your payments'. Nope, we're not. If they really took the time to look at the 'book' we sent them they would see that we're current. Obviously they haven't. Along with that not so helpful letter was a stack of paperwork to apply for a loan modification. I can't begin to tell you how many of these we have received in the last year, but I dare say it's enough paper that I would wallpaper my bathroom with it. In speaking with a representative in Ocwen's Home Retention Department (that's where we are sent automatically when we call and enter our loan number. Gives you the warm fuzzies, doesn't it?) he demanded we fill out the mod paperwork due to our financial hardship. We told him that the only financial hardship we have is that Ocwen will not recognize all of our payments. He was not amused.
Needless to say, the saga continues...
