It's Sunday morning and over tea, I decided to do some intensive research on OCWEN. And it is not pretty. There are horror stories of OCWEN misapplying people's payments, actually losing their payments, charging fees out of nowhere. And all of this has caused people to literally lose their homes.
I am pretty worried and plan to be very careful about documenting what the payment is for.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
OCWEN on the web
The web is an amazing place. The depth and breadth of resources available is incredible. It is a destination for recreation, investing, travel planning, bill paying, communication....and for me, last night, a place to connect with my new loan servicing company - OCWEN.
I find their site easily enough: http://www.ocwencustomers.com/ . Looks professional. But, I'm quickly stymied because I can't login because I have no 'userid'. Understandable because we're only hours into this relationship. I hesitate to call them again given the past wait time but decide to give it a try. And to no one's surprise, they are closed. Completely understandable. I'd rather play Scrabble with my wife than listen to their hold music.
I still wonder how $2000+ got credited to our account.
I find their site easily enough: http://www.ocwencustomers.com/ . Looks professional. But, I'm quickly stymied because I can't login because I have no 'userid'. Understandable because we're only hours into this relationship. I hesitate to call them again given the past wait time but decide to give it a try. And to no one's surprise, they are closed. Completely understandable. I'd rather play Scrabble with my wife than listen to their hold music.
I still wonder how $2000+ got credited to our account.
Hello OCWEN.
I received the letter all home owners hate: "Effective on November 16, 2009, the servicing of your mortgage loan will be transferred to OCWEN LOAN SERVICING, LLC."
And so it begins anew. This is the fourth company that our loan has been transferred to. I received the letter in late October, 2009. I made the monthly payment as usual to my old servicing company. And then last night on my way home from work on the train, I received a robo call from OCWEN telling me that "there had been a change in my account" and that I needed to call. It is Friday night, Nov 20th and I figure with nothing else to do but commute, this would be the perfect end to a perfect week. So I called.
An automated system answered and I have to say that it was very good. Besides the obligatory message about "OCWEN being a debt collector....", there was a very helpful menu which I quickly navigated through. And there was some relatively cheery music as well. So I settled in on hold and listened to the cheery music. 10 minutes....15 minutes....20 minutes passes. By this time, I've walked from the train to the ferry and am headed for Whidbey Island. And I'm still on hold. It's actually funny. I put the cheery music on speaker phone to play for one of my commuting buddies. He agrees...not bad at all.
There are the usual announcements about them appreciating my business and please continue to hold. And then it ventures into the bizarre: "...if I'm interested in receiving $500 in valuable coupons...." A queasy feeling comes over me wondering why a mortgage servicing company is peddling coupons. Mental note - better check the web when I get home regarding OCWEN.
No one is answering. It's getting to be a joke. Literally 30 minutes have passed and I'm now off of the ferry and on an Island Transit bus headed home. I've probably listened to 40 or 50 cycles of the cheery music. And then, lightening strikes! A human voice comes on the line after 34 minutes and 57 seconds. We connect and engage in a brief conversation about my loan. Brief because I'm approaching the interior of Whidbey Island on the bus and know that I'm about to lose coverage. I tell her this and our conversation quickens. She's nice enough. I probably speak with her for 3-4 minutes before the call is dropped. I update my contact information and confirm some other details and then find out that a mystery payment has been made to my account on November 19th in the amount of just over $2000...and then the call drops as expected.
I pocket my phone. I wonder why a $2000 payment was made to my account. I resolve to check out OCWEN on the web when I get home. Queasy indeed.
And so it begins anew. This is the fourth company that our loan has been transferred to. I received the letter in late October, 2009. I made the monthly payment as usual to my old servicing company. And then last night on my way home from work on the train, I received a robo call from OCWEN telling me that "there had been a change in my account" and that I needed to call. It is Friday night, Nov 20th and I figure with nothing else to do but commute, this would be the perfect end to a perfect week. So I called.
An automated system answered and I have to say that it was very good. Besides the obligatory message about "OCWEN being a debt collector....", there was a very helpful menu which I quickly navigated through. And there was some relatively cheery music as well. So I settled in on hold and listened to the cheery music. 10 minutes....15 minutes....20 minutes passes. By this time, I've walked from the train to the ferry and am headed for Whidbey Island. And I'm still on hold. It's actually funny. I put the cheery music on speaker phone to play for one of my commuting buddies. He agrees...not bad at all.
There are the usual announcements about them appreciating my business and please continue to hold. And then it ventures into the bizarre: "...if I'm interested in receiving $500 in valuable coupons...." A queasy feeling comes over me wondering why a mortgage servicing company is peddling coupons. Mental note - better check the web when I get home regarding OCWEN.
No one is answering. It's getting to be a joke. Literally 30 minutes have passed and I'm now off of the ferry and on an Island Transit bus headed home. I've probably listened to 40 or 50 cycles of the cheery music. And then, lightening strikes! A human voice comes on the line after 34 minutes and 57 seconds. We connect and engage in a brief conversation about my loan. Brief because I'm approaching the interior of Whidbey Island on the bus and know that I'm about to lose coverage. I tell her this and our conversation quickens. She's nice enough. I probably speak with her for 3-4 minutes before the call is dropped. I update my contact information and confirm some other details and then find out that a mystery payment has been made to my account on November 19th in the amount of just over $2000...and then the call drops as expected.
I pocket my phone. I wonder why a $2000 payment was made to my account. I resolve to check out OCWEN on the web when I get home. Queasy indeed.
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