Ocwen Federal Bank, FSB Not All Money From Payments Not Applied and Mysterious Legal & Late Fees ripoff business from hell Orlando Florida *EDitor's Comment

After looking at my monthly statement, I noticed that the dollar amounts to where the monies were applied did not add up to the total amount of the payment.

I called Ocron (sorry, Ocwen)and I got switched to Customer NON-Service over to their new operations in India.

Not only could I barely undersatnd this person, he had no clue what I was talking about. I explained that I noticed a discrepancy, and was informed that they are now, after 6 years of being in a forbearance agreement with them, placing $70 per month in a suspense account until it reaches the amount of one full payment.

Then that payment will be applied against the loan. I asked why? This is taking me longer to pay off the arrearages while they earn interest on the money. It had never been done before, why has it started.

This clown rudely tells me to read my forbearance agreement. It is all written there. I agreed to it and signed it. I demanded to speak to his supervisor because I WAS looking at my forebearance agreement and there was NOTHING about a suspense account in there.

I get transferred over to someone back in the States, and he informs me that they started to do this six months ago. Great, thanks for letting me know. Why hadn't it shown up on my statements before? The usual dead air space followed by "I don't know".

The extra amount I am paying is to cover the interest arrearages caused by HUD ONLY. Not make an entire payment that includes principal and taxes. I again asked why this was started, and he told me the same thing. I informed him that the forbearance I was holding in my hand, which is an exact copy of what I signed and sent them has NO provisions for this. Isn't that a deceptive practice.

He then pulls up my account and starts to belittle me. Telling me that I am a poor customer with a slow paying record. Sorry, my payments are made on time. It is not my fault it takes them weeks to post them. It is not my responsibility to make Los Angeles and Orlando communicate, and because they have lost so many payments, I know spend almost $5.00 a month sending them certified, return receipt requested.

Funny, since I started with the certified letters, my payments are posted within 24 hours of when the receipt is signed. Coincidence? I think not. I begged to differ, but the poor performance was on there part, not mine.

Then he informs me of fees I knew nothing about but they are charging me interest on. If I was such a good customer, why did I have over $1,000 in legal fees?. Legal fees for what? He said that every time I get a "friendly reminder notice" of a late payment, it is sent from their attorneys' office.

Funny, every single time I've gotten one, it's been on Ocwen letterhead, in an Ocwen envelope and postmarked "Orlando". Where was there a law firm involved. No answer. Then there are several hundred dollars of late fees I was never notified about. I asked why they never showed up on my statements so I could pay off the ones that were rarely MY fault.

Again, the standard reply of "I don't know". He asked if I wanted a copy of my monthly payment history to prove *I* was at fault. I said sure, and he hung up on me. Three weeks later I got the best example of creative accounting I've ever seen. Repeatedly, payments posted anywhere from 5 to 21 days AFTER they cleared my bank.

I went again and looked at my account on their web site. The suspense account shows a zero balance. So where is all this money they are holding? It shows no late charges. So where are they coming from on paper, but not on the web site. Oh, I forgot. Their disclaimer states that they make no claim of the validity of the data there and that all of it is subject to interpretation. So why have the damned site if you can't believe anything on it?

I have been waiting for 3 months now for them to send me anything that would allow me to pay off the late fees that I am being charged interest on. My phone calls go unanswered as do my letters which I know they've received. I feel like the interest I am being charged on these fees, that I found out about by accident, are just short or loan sharking or extortion.

I would suggest to anyone that has an account with them, in forbearance or not, to ask for a complete accounting of you loan. Who knows what hidden charges you may discover if you attempt to refinance to get yourself out the the private hell they've put you in, and then find it impossible because of these hidden charges that will suddenly show up.

Elizabeth
McHenry, Illinois