I’ve had a few phone calls recently requesting information on an organization called Ocwen Bank. They have a couple listings in our local mls and when you call the 800# for info your call is answered in India. That in itself has raised questions as to whether the person giving out financial information from Punjab is a licensed Realtor qualified to give out that information. A second question has been raised about their ethics because when you go to their site to check on a property, they also provide a complete list of every offer that has been submitted on the property including gross and net sales prices. We are attempting to obtain answers on these and other Ocwen related questions as we speak.
Ocwen Federal Bank, or Ocwen Loan Servicing, is headquartered in West Palm Beach, FL. Licensed to practice in at least 12 states, Ocwen appears to be a legitimate financial services company specializing in servicing sub-prime mortgages with an impressive website. But a quick Google search might indicate otherwise.
Start with a site called Rip-off Reports.com and read through the voluminous allegations and complaints against this company. Seems Ocwen’s early claim to fame was landing a lucrative contract to manage and sell thousands of foreclosed properties for the VA back in 2003. By 2005 Ocwen had run up such a dismal performance record that they were being fined millions by the VA and subsequently lost that contract when the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that the “VA has not been satisfied with Ocwen’s performance”.
That didn’t stop Fannie Mae from outsourcing a mortgage modification pilot program to them just last month in spite of their VA performance issues and numerous lawsuits filed nationwide against the company. The lead-in for these numerous class-action lawsuits all read about the same including one filed in California in 2003.
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Ocwen Federal Bank Consumer Protection Class Action Lawsuit
Alameda, California – In a consumer protection lawsuit, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, with co-counsel, represents homeowners in California with loans serviced by Ocwen Federal Bank, FSB and Ocwen Financial Services, Inc. (“Ocwen”). The lawsuit, originally filed in Alameda County Superior Court in October 2003, alleges that Ocwen has engaged in a scheme of unfair, unlawful, and deceptive business practices in its “servicing” of residential mortgage loans in California.
Fraud Charges against Ocwen Federal Bank
Posted in Announcement, Economic Outlook, Real Estate Fraud.
– April 15, 2009
Ocwen , should be reported to the Comptroller of currency , Federal Reserve , *&* the Treasury *&* C.I.A
I’m in escrow on one of their listings. The agent who puts them in the MLS gives you, in writing, an agent’s inspection saying basically he’s never seen the house and has no intention of seeing it. That’s a violation of not only the Code of Ethics, but Real Estate Law. I’ve had to deal with India several times and the frustration level of dealing with unlicensed, unknowlegeable people I can barely understand, is off the charts. Actually there is nothing wrong with disclosing what the offers are according to the code of ethics. That’s the least of their problems.
Paula – we’re trying to get a handle on this. According to a couple of our agents who have contracted listings from them in the past, they switched to this new practice earlier this year. In light of some of their other problems, the listing violations are pretty minimal.
This doesn’t sound good at all…!! Please keep us all informed.
We had been doing BPO’s for Ocwen for over a year with the assurance that provided we kept our scores up we would be given the listings. We did recieve one listing from them last year which we sold. However when we went to ask for additional listings we were informed that Ocwen had decided to use a single broker in CA. David Judd, whom I’ve emailed and left phone messages for to no avail. Now India calls us a couple times a month to ask if we would sit a weekend open house for the listings Mr. Judd is representing… of course we decline, and then ask why Mr. Judd can’t do it (just for grins).. Definitely feel this is something that should be looked into.
As a Broker who has listed and sold numerous OCWEN properties over the past several years, it is obvious that OCWEN is attempting to phase the listing agents out. They continue to drop the fee they pay for BPO’s and they have continued to cut the listing fee (for those properties they have listed with agents) to 1.6%.
In my opinion, this attempt to move away from listing brokers/agents is going to fail. Properties will not be maintained properly, and they will see additional fines from Counties and Cities. I don’t like what this company is doing and while I wish we could “boycott” any of the listings from the Out of Area company (Judd I believe is the last name, with a 408 area code) boycotting and not showing may be detrimental to our clients, and a violation of our code of Ethics.
I am not sure what the solution is to this particular issue, but I am glad that the Board is engaged at this time.
My agents at Coldwell Banker Residential have complained to me that there are listings in our MLS that the India # states are not in their system and there is no way that an offer can be submitted until they show in their system. The agents are told that they must keep calling for updates. Although every seller is entitled to pricing strategy, it appears that one of their listings now has the published highest and best offer that is $120,000+ over list price. I encourage my agents to be cautious and absolutely disclose to potenial buyers the potential pitfalls of their pricing strategy and publishing highest and best offers.
I just closed on one of their listings. Yes there is only one agent (David Judd) that represents all of the California listings. I was told by him, when asking about the property I had in escrow, that I would have to call India because he has 900 listings and no way of knowing the answers to my questions. And I was also told that he does not step foot in any of the homes he lists. It was a night mare of a transaction!
Is there no one with a good word to say? We’ll keep you all informed. Thanks for your feedback.
I am an REO Broker and have been for over 20 years. I owned Key Properties last cycle. Connie and I go back pretty far. I worked for Ocwen until I fired them. They likely have one of two lic people working under a broker somewhere because if you work your way up the complaint ladder you eventually get to someone who speaks decent English. All the reps and tecs who actually conduct the RE day to day would have to be unlic in myopinion. They do not have a good enough grasp of the language to have passed a lic test. Go get em, they are HORRIBLE to work with and do not pay the broker back $$$$ spent, which, also my opinion, is by plan.
Linda Anderson, Broker
Please send in formal complaints to the Grievance Committee so they can check into this and determine if it needs to go to council!!
They are not doing anyone any good by just blogging about the problems. Take action for change!!!
This guy seems like the WORST Real Estate agents I’ve ever worked with.
He never answers the phone and he never call you back.
Buyers and Agents BEWARE!!!!
We just finished our Joint Fraud Task Force meeting and Ocwen’s name came up. The name is familiar to the Riverside County DA’s office.
I worked with OCWEN several years ago and listed and sold many properties…some minor headaches but no major problems. I moved brokerages and signed up again in Dec. I just received an email telling me I was “approved” and would receive REO listings after receiving training and completing BPO’s, CMA’s etc…. I called the 800# (India) and was told they no longer have training. Then he turned around and told me to send a blank email requesting a training kit….all this and they aren’t even listing with licensed agents anymore?
It sounds like they are only listing with one agent in this area – maybe for all of CA. I’ve spoken with several agents who ‘used to’ do business with Ocwen but who dropped out when they apparently changed their business model some months back. Good luck.
There is a new agent in town in Northern Cal…Larry Arman of Henderson Nevada has 119 listed, pending and sold since Mid March 09. Pretty good for a 73 year old agent whose office address is a house with a pool on a golf course in Nevada. I was given a cma recently and Larry came up with the listing at my price…what a coincidence. Looks like Ocwen uses agents for opinions and then gives the listings to an agent with a volume arrangement. If everyone stops doing BPO’s and CMA’s this will stop instantly.
I recently bid on a foreclosed house here in Oceanside, my real estate agent had to deal with the same “automated” system and the only person to talk to was in Bangladesh and didn’t know anything about the property.
We finally came to an agreement with the bank that owned the property only to have them come back (David Judd) and lie to me by claiming that they just received a better offer (for the asking price).
I find this to be either a miracle (the house had been on the marked for over 30 days with only 1 offer of less than HALF the asking price, 10 minutes after we agree to a price someone else bids higher???) or this David Judd is a greedy scammer.
Larry Arman has good connections with Jospeh Hillery (Director REO) and Margery Rotundo (Senior Vice President at Ocwen Loan Servicing ) . When I met him last time around he was flauting his connections . No wonder he is given to list all Neveda assets . For a 74 year old agent who hardly moves its a big task . Now we know who is getting rich becase of connections
I recently heard that they are doing the same thing down here in South Florida. I’ve been doing REO for ocwen for a little over a yr, and I just got off the phone with a customer service rep and he said that they have froze passing out listing assignments in Fl, NV, CL, and I think he said AZ as well.. Man there has to be some sort of law that prevents this kind of set up. My concern is that if we don’t try to put a stop to this that other servicers/banks will follow if there model works. Granted customer services is going to suck, but how is doing this going to effect there bottom line.
I have been selling their properties and with the new system they have altasource they are allowing buyer to bid and then they wants you represent that buyer without comission. Your listing agent comission is laready cut to 1.5%.
Good grief. The spun off their Ocwen Solutions (India). But Ocwen Financial still has a stake in Bankruptcy Management Solutions and Global Servicing Solutions. In general, “solutions” means outsource jobs Americans didn’t even know could be outsourced – like being a realtor. Same thing happening in health care.
I love the ‘Outsource Congress’ header. Couldn’t do much worse than we have right now and we could save billions of dollars too.
Anyone who would like to say a howdy do to Mr. Judd should call him on his cell 407-737-5483. Yes, he will get upset when you call as he is clueless living in FL about any of the listings that are in any of the MLS’s – a true virtual Broker along w/ his compadre Lawrence Arman. I realize his MLS violations are minimal but I venture to say when it finally comes down to it, someone will have to catch him on the RE law side or possibly the City ordinance side when it comes to maintaining some of these listings – some are absolutely awful & unsafe – Check out the burned home in Murrieta Oaks. We all would like to make money & there is plenty for all of us to do – David Judd needs to be relieved of his position – also check out his listings in NV, AZ, No Calif, TX, & FL – check too, the number of agents who are furious or whose clients have gotten screwed.
I am afraid that I will be screwed by OCWEN for a loan modification. Does anyone have any suggestions. I submitted my package to my original loan company in Aug of ’09 and they turned over to OCWEN in Nov. ’09. It is now Jan and I still don’t have an answer and to be frank based on all of the info I have been reading afraid of what they are going to do. Please let me know if anyone has any ideas
One the one hand OCWEN has a better than average record as judged by the government in successfully modifying loans. On the other hand I get more complaints about Ocwen, their India connection, their honesty and methods. I’ll be posting more info on this soon. Good luck.
Ocwen is nothing but a bunch of crooks.
I seem to be hearing that from more and more people these days.
My husband and I have exhausted our means of trying to communicate with Ocwen, because we can only reach India by phone, and no one at Ocwen will call us. They say they don’t received our mailed documentation for our loan modification, but we have sent it repeatedly by return-receipt USPS. They will take our home soon, and we are fighting like crazy to get a modification before they do. Help?
I hear more complaints on OCWEN than any other lender out there including BofA. Yet somehow when the national statistics are published, OCWEN shows as one of the lenders having the best rate of modifying loans. I don’t know how to reconcile these two polar positions. Good luck.
I am a Broker. I have submitted offers on behalf of client and have been out bid. That I can live with. Today, after checking the website, my client was awarded a property, so I thought. Under bid status it says Seller Accepted. Under Seller Response is say Accepted. I called the 888 number that takes you to India and they tell me it was a mistake, and my client was not awarded the property. This agency is a crock. My login still states all this accepted garbage! The only way to teach Ocwen they can not do business this way is to not show or buy their homes.
To those of you threatened with losing your homes: http://www.consumerwarningnetwork.com claims that you can record a form with the county recorder to keep the lender from foreclosing unless they can produce the ORIGINAL note that you signed. The website has a “How to” section. I, too, had an Ocwen/Altisource deal go sour this week and my clients are very upset! David Judd’s office sent me an email at 4:53 pm yesterday (according to the header in the email) advising us to submit our best and final offer (we were already the highest bid), and at 5:20 yesterday when I received the email, the listing was no longer available on their website. I called their office (India, of course) and was told they always give a minimum of 24 hours notice…yeah right.
Yet another example or Ocwen problems. I don’t know anybody who has ever actually talked to or met David Judd but he turns out to be the central figure in most of these transactions.
I would caution consumers that the ‘Produce the Note’ scheme is a temporary bandage at best. It has been floated out there for years, most notably by a congresswoman who has come under significant heat for disseminating sketchy information. It will not save you but may delay the process for awhile.
When I fell behind in my monthly home payments I was “approved” 3 times for a plan by an OCWEN Rep and then repealed 3 times. I sent them (per their request) $13,000 to bring my paymnents current only to have the payment returned and to find out after months of negotiations and additional fees that they don’t take “partial payments!” , I finally had to hire an atty for loan modification. Absolutely NO call was returned from Customer Svc or a “Supervisor”..is their a supervisor? I live in the State of Washington..is there someone specific file a complaint with? And what happens to people who cannot afford an Attorney?!
Same thing is going on in Michigan. Here, they are sending property preservation requests to realtors and expecting us to do all the work, preservation, cash for keys, winterization, bids on repairs, utilities, etc. They make it seem as though this is your new listing, but when it comes down to it, they are using only specified brokerages. The brokerages they are using are the biggest crooks or they wouldn’t be in bed with a company like this to begin with. They won’t even state who the listing broker is. This company needs to be fully investigated and stopped from continuing with the unlawful and unethical business practices. This is the same way the whole country is driven, the bigger the crook, the more successful they are, and the system of legality and ethics always takes a back seat to the crooks. Just like the whole foreclosure crisis. They force you into foreclosure and then make the everyday homeowner look like the slug on society.
Call Ms. Tara Williams. she Is a big executive with ocwen she has alot of power she saved my home from foreclosure when I drove to her home and spoke with her.
Her email address is tara.williams@altisource.com and her phone number is (713) 647-8990. her home address which is 8745 Turriff Street Houston, Texas 77055.
My home was sold from up under me while my modification was behind processed to Deuschte(maybe misspelled) Bank. So far I have been to 2 different courts finding eviction. They are trying to call me a “tenant of sufferance” or saying I established a landlord/tenant relationship once the home was foreclosed. Currently I have brought myself some time, but I wish to file in Texas or nationwide & get others to join me to file a lawsuit against these corrupt people.
Ocwen is nothing more than a bunch of street hoods, and crooks, they have added a curr-property inspection fee to my account which is nothing but a scam. Being a very parinoid person, my home has security cameras installed at ever angle, and even the drive way. I assured them that noboby has been to my home according to my records. I was then told that the fee would be dropped. But thats not good enough it really pisses me off that they can breech a contract at thier will on millions of home owners, but if a homeowner shorts them part of a payment we get pentalized with a late fee. This is more than likely one those companies that, we the american tax payer had to bail out not to long ago, now their stealing from us. Their nothing more than scum, Im sick of being taken advantage of by these corporate assholes, while they keep raping the american people.
Come on guys,they are not bad.I find their services good and they are working on it compared to last few months.
myagent went to a house listed by these guys and there was no key in the lock box. when he called the number it was in India and they tried to charge him $50 to show the house. scam central. It’s probably a money laundering operation or safe house.
I hear that time & again. How they can still be operating – and with government contracts no less, baffles me.
From: William M. Miller Phone No. (407) 417-1355
E-Mail wmiller130@yahoo.com
I have seen on the internet that it has a 48 page of info concerning the Ocwen Organization. I would like to add my story to your collections. Boy, do I have a story, over the last two years. That I, at age 72, an executive for over 40 years, until a severe illness took me down 4 years ago. I have offered every kind of sensible way to solve a foreclosure sale I have. But I cannot even get a reply to letters and large info packages. All I ever get back from them is the most hiddious standard letters that are not dated, not signed, no name for me to contact and the standard letter always shows that they have never reviewed what I had written about. So please let me know if there is some kind of class auction suite in the works that I can join OR if the others will join with me in one. Please send me all the paperwork.I need to join my voice.I do not need all the sheets.I have already copied from your site.If there are any suites going on please help me contact the attorney as I have some unbelievable information based on my experences of late
Signed, William M. Miller
130 Venetian Court
Sanford, FL. 32771
It’s my understanding there are lawsuits filed in almost every state Ocwen operates in. Since they are headquartered in Florida you are at ground zero and I would suggest you contact your local District Attorney or, better yet, the state Attorney General for information on how to proceed. Best of luck. In spite of their shortcomings, the US government continues to hand them contracts to process GSE foreclosure properties.
Realtors outsourced to India is outrageous and more than a legal issue, I see it as an issue of ethics and decency. I just cannot understand how they manage to keep business running, still profiting from the support of a customer base, when they have numerous lawsuits and complaints and records of fraud.
My Son and I have been reading all the stories (far ranging) Regarding the most unusual.inhuman Corporation that without a dout is the most incompetent and slothful organization that has ever been able to stay in business.That I at 72 involved in the business administration for 50 yeas.If Ocwen could be brought down and exposed would make ENRON honest and clean as a whistle.Dose you operation have a class action suit now in the works.If so I would like to join with the Ocwen stories as bad or worse than what is on your site exposure of Ocwen
As a Realtor Association we are not a party to any class action suit as we have not been directly impacted. However, as your reading may have pointed out, there is a class action suit in virtually every state in which they operate. Good .luck.
Atty Cabraser in Illinois has taken my name for a potential lawsuit against Ocwen… my home # is 412-298-9996 my email cgasparik@comcast.net
the more of us that are together the better this will be for all involved… tell everyone and keep posting… we need to organize… they are money launderers and thiefs… so is UDREN LAW who is their forclosure atty… they look at nothing as far as paperwork … it is a forclosure mill… this is allowed to be perpetrated on the american people.. this is what our govt is supposed to protect us from… NOT HAPPY MEALS and COCA COLA!!!!
Hi Gene, I just checked back into this blog to see if there’s been any changes in the Ocwen situation. I was motivated to do so after checking stats in the MLS and seeing that Mr. Judd closed 207 homes this past year just in areas 201-259 for $33M. I don’t know about other Realtors in the association, but I feel rather impacted by that. He has no agents listed under his license, lives in Florida and yet manages close to 1,000 listings in the state over the course of a year. Surely there must be something we can do about this. Perhaps if we all signed a grievance to the DRE they would give it some more attention. We all know the properties are not being managed properly. And I do understand that we should take action. I’m ready, who do I call about this? Thanks.
I honestly don’t know what the answer is or if there is one. Two years after writing that column I still get almost weekly input on this and another blog about Ocwen. I had a call just this past week from a guy in Denver who used to be an Ocwen agent. The stories he had! I’ll be updating this piece very soon with new info but the notorious Mr. Judd just keeps plugging along and Ocwen continues to get government contracts to service foreclosures. Amazing.
We had Ocwen take over for homeq svc back in September 2010. Since then this company has made our lives hell. Changing our numbers information for the HAMP program and we were denied but approved for an in house program almost double the original amount. Sending out modification letters with expired dates. Telling us that we are in review process and foreclosing on our property while telling us there is no sale date and they don’t foreclose in the review process. Sending us another modification that again was expired and told not to worry about the date, just send the money. All calls answered by India operators who tell you something different all the time. Is this a joke? We filed bankruptcy to stop the sale date and they are still telling us to send money for an expired mod. What can we do?
The only thing I can suggest would be to contact your local District Attorney as well as your state Attorney General. Depending on the type of loan you have you might also contact the folks at HUD.gov if you have an FHA loan. Good luck.
I am so frustrated for sending document after document and still no in-house modification. Lie after Lie Still no In.-house Modification No one speaking fluent English No one hearing fluent English still no in- house modification. The President’s program is only for people with good credit and not underwater. I was told I wasdenied the Hamp Program, and the. hope program told me I qualified for it. But the servicer Ocwen won’t let me get it. All I need is help to place the delinquent balance on the back of my loan ,and let me pay a reasonable payment every month . I don’t know why that is so difficult to achieve. I’ve been through one tragedy after another and I just want to remain in the home I purchased 11 years ago and after my ex- refinanced my home got the money out and left me for another woman and now I’m raising my children hoping they can stay in their same school they’ve been raised in since 2nd Grade. Saxon had this loan and made a mess and now Ocwen is covering up and perpetrating for Saxon Mortgage and they’re both are now being a predator on this Disabled Veteran Woman whose looking for someone to tell me the truth and help me truthfully . Without making false accusations about something Saxon lied to them about and I have paperwork to prove my point.
It’s a story I hear time and again and I don’t know how these people stay in business. If you haven’t done so yet, you should contact a certified HUD consultant in your area (they’re free) for any help they can give you. Then pass the info along to your state attorney general and your local district attorney. They are being sued in several states and your state might be one f them and looking for more victims. Good luck.
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/topics/avoiding_foreclosure
Ocwen took over servicing of our loan after New Century Mortgage collapsed and went out of business. We attempted to refi our loan and they lost our paperwork again and again. When we attempted to refi with a new lender, Ocwen required a “Loan Transfer” fee of $52,000. Needless to say, no-one would refi us. After our payment ballooned by several thousand dollars, we spent 1.5 years attempting a loan modification. Again, our paperwork was lost or not received. During this process, Ocwen wouldn’t take any loan payments so we fell way behind. We obtained an attorney, and Ocwen refused to respond to any of our attorney’s correspondence. Ocwen foreclosed on our property with little warning in February 2011. We just received notice they want us out in 14 days. Again, Ocwen refuses to correspond with our attorney. It looks like we’re headed to court. In the meantime, we’re terrified they’re going to “trash out” our home.
Good luck. It’s just one horror story after another with these guys.
Hmmmm so this all explains my bogus modification that they worked on for 5 months so they could steal my home. I was so nieve for 4 years. I had one issue after another and consistantly ask to speak to a person that understood english but obviously there are NONE!!!! Now I know why I had a few towel head thugs that kept coming to my door telling me I had to get out.
I’m a single middle aged woman that was scared and bullied by this.
What a great nation we’ve become. God help us all !!!!!
I despise Ocwen. Horrible to deal with on REOs and on short sales. Now to add insult to injury, Saxon mortgage just transferred their REO portfolio over to ….urrghhh Ocwen. This article I found sums it up well:
http://agentacceleration.com/saxon-moves-their-reos-to-ocwen-bad-decision/