Ocwen Financial exec on loan modifications
Ocwen Financial, one of the country’s largest subprime loan servicers, has taken a beating in recent years from homeowners and community groups for alleged predatory lending and aggressive foreclosing on borrowers who have fallen behind.
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, continues to stage protest rallies in front of the company’s West Palm Beach headquarters, demanding foreclosure freezes and a hold on evictions while more liberal loan modification are worked out.
But Ocwen claims it runs one of the most efficient and innovative loan servicing companies in the country and got in on the front end of the foreclosure problem before it ballooned into a crisis that tipped the economy into recession.
So far, Ocwen claims to have saved some 90,000 homes from foreclosure and boasts one of the lowest redefault rates of any servicer in the country, meaning that after a modification, more of the loans it manages stay current. It also claims to be able to finish the loan modification process in about 21 days.
Read more from the Miami Herald
Ocwen begins loan modifications under Treasury plan
Ocwen Financial Corp., a servicer of subprime mortgages, is among the first mortgage servicers to begin modifying loans under the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Home Affordable Modification Program.
The program, unveiled last month, allows at-risk borrowers to reduce their monthly mortgage payments in an effort to keep them from losing their homes. It creates a $75 billion loan modification program that would allow “responsible homeowners” to refinance to interest rates as low as 2 percent. Read more
Do I need a lawyer to get a loan modification, and if so, why?
Loan modification companies now occupy countless blogs on the internet, almost every commercial break on the radio and now even television commercials. Some are lawyers, some are not. Both groups seem to be spouting the same message to the same people.
Is this “boom” caused out of a legitimate need, or is it perhaps overly opportunistic individuals?
First, to preface, I am a licensed California Attorney and Real Estate Broker. I have respect for both professions, though I realize, like any profession, there are bad seeds among us. As an additional disclosure, my practice is geared towards consumer representation, specifically with respect to mortgage issues. Read more
