Ocwen Loan Servicing takes home from handicapped because there’s equity

This is the story of Dina and Robert Giangregorio of Huntington Beach, California. Read on.

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Epilogue…

Dina called me to tell me her story this past week, and I’ve done my best to re-tell it to you in detail. However, you should also know that in the interest relative brevity, I’ve left out countless phone calls and the re-submitting of documents, but rather focused only on the lowlights of the couple’s experiences dealing with Ocwen Loan Servicing.

Now, I’ve heard stories like Dina’s… oh, I don’t know anymore… maybe a few thousand times, and not just about Ocwen, but also about EVERY SINGLE OTHER MORTGAGE SERVICER IN THE COUNTRY. How often do I hear a story like Dina’s, you might wonder. Not more than EVERY SINGLE DAY, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK AND 365 DAYS A YEAR.

There are a couple of key facts about Dina’s story that I think bear repeating for additional emphasis.

1. The couple fell behind for a reason that defines the word “hardship.” Being afflicted with MS can happen to anyone of us at any time. That this family has remained together and positive about their future is a testament to their love for each other.
2. They weren’t even asking for a modification, they were only trying to make up a couple of back payments when this saga began, but Ocwen wouldn’t take fewer than the three payments they owed at that time. All they needed was a second chance to get current now that their lives had stabilized, Robert’s disability income was coming in and Dina was back at her job. It was Ocwen that suggested that they apply for a loan modification.
3. If Ocwen had been honest with Dina from the day they had refused her one payment and told her they would move to foreclose, then per California law, the Giangregorio’s would have had 90 days from the date they received their Notice of Default, plus a couple of weeks after that, to make up the back payments and save their home. And I’d bet money they would have done it.
4. Instead Ocwen behaved just like a servicer. They deceived her into believing that they would modify her loan because of the hardship her family had endured, and then proceeded to torture her for over a year with empty promises and false hope… right up until May 19^th, when they finally verified that her home was to be sold on June 6^th. And even then, they told her to prepare for a phone call from one of Ocwen’s “loan specialists” that never came.
5. Ocwen could have lowered the couple’s interest rate from 6% to 5%, offered them a repayment plan for the handful of back payments and everything would have been fine. At the very least, Ocwen could have offered them a simple repayment plan for the back payments… that could have worked too.

Of course, there is one more thing of which the reader should be aware: The Giangregorios have equity in home; they are not “underwater.” The amount of equity is less than $100,000… but still… there’s equity. All other factors support a loan modification or repayment plan except that one: equity.