Mortgage was sold to Ocwen--what to expect?
Orlando, FL · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 282 votes
The mortgage on my personal residence was just sold by GMAC to Ocwen. I'm pretty nervous because there's tons of horror stories on the web about Ocwen (saying the payment wasn't sent in when it was, and many other mistakes). As Also I understand it the customer service is outsourced to India and leaves much to be desired in terms of communication and follow through...
Does anyone else here have them as your loan service provider? Has the experience been at least tolerable or a total nightmare?
I worked for Green Tree for 5 years in default servicing (Client Manager for FNMA book, SS & REO Facilitator), and just to clear things up, Ocwen most likely did not buy your mortgage. Ocwen is a special servicing company. They may have earned a servicing contract for your mortgage from the investor, but my bet is that your mortgage is either owned by FNMA or Freddie. Probably FNMA.
You should find out who the investor that owns your note is. Ocwen has to answer to the investor ultimately. If you are experiencing bad service from Ocwen, then go directly to a contact for the investor. They have special escalation proceedures to make sure that Ocwen services according to their contract.
Let me know if you have any questions about mortgage servicing.
NA NA - if you are late on your payment 30+ days, the investor should be throwing a HAMP mod at you.
I mailed my payment (for March) in a week ago and they processed the check electronically yesterday. Everything went smoothly. The check image didn't appear on my online bank account so I requested BOfA to mail me a hard copy.
My insurance is due March 3rd and I notified my insurance agent that the servicing was sold. Ocwen stated that they would be sending notice to the insurance carrier.
if you have no issues the servicer won't have issues. Ocwen is bad because they have bad loans. Keep your cancelled checks and do everything by the book. If you are refinancing they won't be your servicer and have nothing to do with the refinance expect the payoff amount.
@George P.
Paul C. advice was right on. By far the simplest of any other avenue to obtain that information.
However, if Ocwen is beign difficult you can bypass them entirely and get the info using readily available resources available to you.
One way is to conduct your own title search. You can do this yourself at the county land records clerk office; usually located in your circuit courts building. Many counties even have these records online saving you a trip. Find your deed and it should tell you who owns the note which is different from who is servicing the loan.
if your loan was assinged to MERS the way to find out who the investor is begins with the aformentioned Title search and follow the chain of title. When you obtain those records look for the Assigment of Deed of Trustee. Within the Assignment Deed it will identify the Trustee and how your Note is identified in MERS. Take that info to www.sec.gov and search your Trustee name in the Edgar system. Here you will find everything you need to locate your note asignment into MERS. Look for the prospectus, how the pool operates and it will even list the direct phone numbers to the Trustee.
A much slower way would be to send a Qualified Written Request (QWR) to the servicer. Do an internet search for a template request.
With some research, time and very little cost you should be able to get the investor info. Good Luck!
Well, I have a real story for you,
My grandma, had the same thing happen awhile ago. Long story short, they did all the paper work and their house payments went from I think $1059/month to about $700 I think. And their mortgage was reduced to I think $80k.
I hope that's relevant...
-Manuel
So our mortgage was sold from GMAC to Ocwen also, GMAC is getting out of the loan servicing business. I followed the instructions in the letter GMAC sent me and tried to login to my account, no dice, I called Ocwen, was told by recording that we have a high call volume call back later....hmm that's weird.
So I go to the regular company website which basically says, they specialize in servicing "at risk" loans, ok well than is not us, we both have about 790 fico scores, a very successful business and have never been late on anything in our lives.
So I try call again, now I get guy in India, he cannot find any account by our name or account number and I can barely understand what he is saying. I google around a bit and find these guys have like 10,000+ complaints about the terrible practices they have. As I read through the complains the majority are from people who needed a loan mod, or were behind, but then I start to see that maybe 15% are from people just like me.
My first payment is due March 1, I make it via ACH transfer on Feb 25th just to be sure there are no problems.
Wow after reading about them....this is a headache I don't need, I contact ING Direct (Capitol One now) to discuss loan options (have used them before) then contact my local bank (BMO Harris) and get better rates and deal from them. I only contact these 2 because I know they will service my loan, my first loan for this house was sold about 8 times in 4 years before it wound up with Ocwen.
It's going to cost me a little money to refi, but the rate is better than I have now so it will pay for itself in like 2 years. When I called my local bank, there was an audible pause from the mortgage banker, when I said I was freaking out because it was Ocwen.... she said she had probably had 10 calls in a week about them and trying people to refi away.
My point to all this is....run away screaming....get a refi now. It doesn't matter if costs you a few bucks to do, your sanity is going to be worth it. Regardless if your situation is like mine, or you need a mod, it doesn't matter these are not the guys to deal with on any level.
My mortgage person told me they are not supposed to be able to start any proceedings of any kind before 60 days when there is change over but that doesn't seem to stop them. I am fully expecting some kind of letter or phone call from them tomorrow (March 4) telling me how I am late in my payment!
Best of luck to you, run, run, fast....
hi hillary,
in my case, i can't refi because i refied 2 yrs ago with GMAC and under the rules they give you just one "free refi if you are under water".
my loan is around 120k, but the house would appraise for around 115k, so i'd need to put around 30% to get 20% equity.
btw, i was able to log into the ocwen account without any issues.
Hillary Hirche
Ocwen "Specializes" in "At-risk" loans. That doesn't mean that they don't service good loans too. A special servicing company like Ocwen makes more money to bring a delinquent loan current over keeping a good loan current so this is appealing to investors who are looking for portfolio performance.
Furthermore, you really have no control over the servicing rights of your loan being sold to another servicing company after loan origination if your loan is within the conforming loan limits (FNMA/FHLMC). You would have to refinance with a bank that has a portfolio program, or non-conforming type program, and they are usually going to have a higher rate than a standard conforming product.
When servicing transfers take place, there could be hundreds of thousands of loans that need to be boarded to the new servicer which means all past/present info/docs/etc. would need to be transferred as well. There are always user errors during this process. Although I would love everyone to refi with me, this may not solve their servicing problems in the end.
@Paul Cordero
Curious if you have advice for my situation.......
A couple of years ago - end of 2010 - we filed for bankruptcy (ch 7). Decided to let our home go in the process (loan was with GMAC), and stopped paying anything in Jan 2011. However, it's been over 2 years since we haven't made a payment and no word from anyone (not even a notice of default). We lived there for a year (with making no payment) and then moved and have rented it since. Our taxes/insurance are even being paid by the loan company (or someone.......as our insurance agent said the insurance is still good).
Since the value had dropped in 2010 to way below what we owed we were fine with just letting it go. However, home values in Portland have jumped back up and Zillow is saying it's now worth more than what we owe. As our financial situation has improved, we're actually interested in moving back in.
We had a loan modification in 2009, so our interest rate is at 3.8% right now (well, that's what the statement is showing that we just got from GMAC announcing the Ocwen transfer). But still haven't heard anything from Ocwen. The statement showed a negative escrow of $8k (apparently our taxes and insurance), but the "next payment" was blank and read it was due 3/1/2011.
Bottom line - I'm a bit nervous to try and initiate a conversation, and then end up moving us up to the front of the line. Got a good thing going on right now with renting the place (for $2k per month), and if this ship is going to go down, I'd like to ride that out as long as possible. That's been extremely helpful in getting us back on our feet after the bankruptcy.
However, we would actually prefer to get right with our loan and hold the property for the long haul (and then move back into it). The real question is how to do that. Being that the interest rate is fine - we don't need a modification. I just don't want to resume payments and end up getting screwed - i.e. we pay for a year and then they try to foreclose demanding back payments or something.
Any suggestions? Per one of your posts, it sounds like Ocwen would be motivated to bring the payment current. Any risks I should be wary of?
Jonathan
It sounds like I was one of the few who were happy to get the notice. I am so fed up with GMAC that if my mortgage was sold to "The Devil's Mortgage Service" I would still have been happy. There are so many issues going on that I was concerned that Ocwen wouldn't be able to straighten it out. I called Ocwen customer service today to discuss this. I was very pleased with the C/S person. I had visions of this being a huge improvement, but when I mentioned I was concerned that GMAC's records might not be clear, she said, "We are GMAC". That may not be literally accurate, but I understood what she meant. This is the second time I thought I was dealing with an independent company and it turned out to be GMAC wearing a different hat. What a disappointment.
Jonathan Haidle Probably not going to happen. In addition to the negative escrow balance, your modified rate doesn't exist anymore, after 2 years of no pmts. Plus add 2 years interest at probaly 10% (the accelerated interest rate is different than your underlying rate). Plus, they probably won't reinstate for the above monies, they would want full balance. Don't know the BK laws well enough to know if they Could let you reinstate.
Wayne Brooks - I've read over the modification agreement, and it doesn't appear to have any sort of disqualification clause. I've got a recent statement that still has the modified interest rate as the set rate. But that probably wouldn't stop Ocwen from trying to change it up. Although, we are financially not obligated for any of the debt - so if they try to play chicken with me, there's nothing they can do financially. Not sure if that puts me in a good negotiation position or not..... I supposed it comes down to who "wants it more" (do they want all the extra fees vs. us wanting the property). If they make it too hard to negotiate, then they can deal with the foreclosure and taxes/escrow and back payments.
Can't re-affirm the mortgage - too far out now. Is it possible to seek out another loan modification??
Paul Cordero - sent you a question earlier about my story, but then realized I didn't ping you right.
I deal with short sales, and don't know loan modification terms that well. But I imagine the BK ended any chances of that.
We have had our loan with GMAC for 10 yrs. We have a 15 yr fixed. No Missed payments, everything in order. Now we are sold to OCwen and I hear horror stories. We received a call from our insurance (State Farm) and they want to know the status of our foreclosure. What? I ask them what makes them think we are now or have ever been in foreclosure. They said they received a notification. Upon deeper inspection noone can seem to tell me who informed them of this, all payments have been made etc. I am thinking this may be something related to Ocwen and the escrow/insurance accounts not being paid?. We are taking no chances and contacted Chase bank to refi. We have excellent credit and are not taking any money out, paying no points and receiving an interest rate much lower than the one we had 10 yrs ago.
I still have no idea why State Farm thought we were in foreclosure. Any ideas? GMAC says we are up to date, Ocwen says we are up to date, our credit report says no missed payments....weird. But we are not sticking around with Ocwen to find out.
To answer a previous question Ocwen is the same as altosource. Ocwen services loans and altosource liquidates Reo assets. I have worked with both and almost everything is outsourced to India.
We bought "high" in '07 & got STUCK carrying previous residence (condo).
Eventually lost all $ carrying both mortgages & did chap7 fall, 2010 (unsecured debts only).
Condo finally went in a short-sale summer, 2011. I'm 2-3 mos late a few months now, & send a payment just often enough to reset the "clock".
My Freddie loan (serviced by Ocwen) is ~$380K @ ~7+%. House now worth ~ $250-270K. Is THIS possible:
1. Determine what a sheriff’s sale on this house could LIKELY fetch
2. offer to stay if my principle is is reduced to $50K over that figure. $50K MORE than they'd get if I left, right? Too crazy?
I WOULD make the necessary sacrifices to stay on-time IF the house was worth CLOSE to what we owe, but now I'd rather send just enough to stave-off foreclosure & have some $$$ for an emergency.
Sorry, but priorities are in survival mode now. We are past living like starving college-students to stay on-time for a loan $120K more than the house is worth...
Is it worth approaching the investors? Is my idea stupid? Sorry if I sound like a nut...desperate times call for desperate measures...just sent Ocwen a mort-mod package but I will be amazed if the endeavour is fruitful...
We make $150K/combined but FRUGAL living (never had honeymoon or vacation) plus medical, stud-loans & the $3700/mo payment is still too-tight.
"My Freddie loan (serviced by Ocwen) is ~$380K @ ~7+%. House now worth ~ $250-270K. Is THIS possible:
1. Determine what a sheriff's sale on this house could LIKELY fetch
2. offer to stay if my principle is is reduced to $50K over that figure. $50K MORE than they'd get if I left, right? Too crazy? "
Frank Beans, both are possible.
1. To determine how much your house will fetch in a sheriff sale, you can get a real estate agent to research how much are the shortsales that have closed recently in a half-mile radius of where your house is - provided that these houses are comparable to your house.
2. Principal reduction can be done (but there's no guarantee). You have to build a strong case for it. You can submit proof of market value and show them why it's in their best interest to lower your principal amount. You need to submit proof of hardship and other documentations needed in doing a loan mod. You do not need to hire a loan mod company, by the way. You can do loan mod on your own.
Well I appreciate the quick response! Sounds like it could pay-off if I put the time in. In Dec, 12 (just before Ocwen took over) I submitted a package thru a housing counsellor (because they had the ability submitted it electronically). Never heard a word about it...so I just submitted another by mail, this time to Ocwen. I know the investor doesn't want this house back...I want to work around Ocwen & get reach the investor to arrive at a suitable solution!
Hi everyone. My mortgage was sold to Ocwen in Feb '13 from AHMS. A year prior to my loan being sold to Ocwen I had done a loan modification and my loan was changed to a fixed APR and of course my APR lowered to 5% which was a percent higher than what was being reported in the news for interest rates. But I want to keep my house and took it.
MY first payment TO Ocwen was March '13. Since I had read all these horror stories I decided to have the monthly payment automatically deducted from my bank on the 1st starting April '13.
All seemed well until today I received a relationship manager notice from Ocwen dated 6/18/13. I was intrigued so I kept reading. I have been assigned a manager "who is responsible or monitoring my account, making sure that we have all of your critical information and carefully reviewing your situation. While we hope that your relationship manager will be able to assist you in finding and alternative to foreclosure". WTH.
I was current on my mortgage with AHMS and when Ocwen took over and according to my bank statements they have been taking money on the 1st of every month since April '13 even gladly took July '13 payment already. I receive statements from Ocwen with the correct monthly about due and payment received and balance is also correct. They have paid my insurance and property taxes so far.
I haven't been able to call since the call center was closed when I got home from work. What questions should I ask and what can I do. This is insane.
My house is underwater. I could sell it for $162K but I owe $320K. So do they want the property? Because really it's in a declining neighborhood where crime is on the rise and it's not a desirable area anymore. And currently my mortgage payment is 2,158.70 with an escrow account.
I signed up to relay my issues with Ocwen.
Our home equity loan was sold by GMAC to Ocwin last year and since then there have been problems. Almost immediately we started receiving notices that we didn't have insurance on our home and each time we called about it we were assured that there was no problem and that we wouldn't be contacted about it again. This went on for the short life of the loan.
A little over a month ago we sold our home and paid off the loan and since then we've received another notice about lack of insurance and one about a past due fee of $5.00. When I called about the insurance letter I got the same response I'd gotten for the last year, that the loan was recently purchased and their records were just not updated yet. I informed them that the loan had been paid off and should be closed and the response was that while they saw that the loan was paid off and closed, somehow their records weren't updated. Exactly what records was she looking at? Her records seem to show info that is contradictory.
When I called about the $5.00 fee they gave me the same story but with the added bonus of telling me they had not released the lien on the home because they didn't receive the documents that they received the day we paid off the loan. They've received these documents an additional time and still won't release the lien and tell me that we will continue to be charged the $5.00 fee until we send them the documents that they've now received twice.
I just got off the phone with them and my wife on another line to authorize my wife to speak with them and that was fun. They wanted the account number which I didn't have in front of me but my wife did. They wouldn't take the number from her so, while on the phone with the Ocwen representative, I had my wife read the number to me and I immediately read it back to her. After explaining that the loan has been paid and we are trying to close it, the representative begins telling me that the line of credit has been suspended and asks if I would like to discuss the suspension. I repeated that we are attempting to close the loan but I don't think that registered with him. I'm not sure what more we can do besides continuing to resend the documents and hoping that someone there actually reads them.
I have read online that occasionally Ocwen refuses to divulge who the investor is. Is there another method to get this out without going through the India call center?
We have (had)? a GMAC Heloc that was transferred to Ocwen. In May we received a letter saying it would end wiith balance due in Sept. 2018, we could draw up that time. In June we received letter saying balance would be due Sept. 17, 2013 (!) and we could draw up to that point. Then in July we received a letter again contradicting the previous saying that it would end in October and we could draw up to that point. At that point we wrote a check and it bounced! Calling Ocwen they say the account had been frozen! We asked why and they said it was because we had a bankruptcy! Well of course we were really upset since we have never had a bankruptcy and have credit score of ~800!. Further investigation with their department with access to GMAC info (a chore in itself to get to) the supervisor said that we were told this incorrectly-- that in fact it was because GMAC had had a bankruptcy! Further we called Ocwen and asked how to get the line unfrozen and what was the real time it would be ended. They said it couldn't be re-activated and couldn't say if it would be due in full in October. To learn more they suggested to send a fax to their research department stating the situation. Well it's been 3 weeks since sending it and of course we haven't received any thing back. It would be greatly appreciated If anyone has any suggestions on what we should do....
I haven't had any issues with them so far, except for them trying to sell me products (they called me on Sat morning trying to get me to do their home protection plan for $44/month -- um, no thanks!). I mail a check instead of doing an autopay because at least it seems like I have more of a paper trail if something goes wrong.