In we saw the troubles coming down the line after a general contractor made off with the clients money and didn't pay any subcontractors (we were one of the many subcontractors). This was an immediate $10,000 loss to our income from the self-employed construction business we own, not to mention the debt of the materials we had on our business credit account that had to then be paid by us. We attempted to take legal action, but the GC filed bankruptcy. We were left with three months of income lost, immediately, and could not retrieve it in any way. When the economy went bust, and the housing market took the greatest dive, our livelihood took the exact same dive, as we are in the home construction business and this ended immediately. We were doing anything we can to stay afloat, (repair, additions, patchwork, etc.), but when we got behind in taxes and missed our homeowners insurance payment by a few days, an escrow was placed on our home, adding nearly $350 more per month to our payments that we were already struggling to pay.
We hold a third of the homes value in equity, and have from the beginning because we built the home 2/3rds of the way out of pocket and only financed the finish work. We contacted our then servicing company, Saxon Mortgage, who advised us to file for a modification after our attempt to refinance was denied. We did so, four times in two years, with each resulting in stories of non-reciept of the application/no document submissions/etc (all of which were bogus) until hiring an attorney when the debts finally caught up with us and we were a month behind. Per our attorney's advice, we placed all further payments in escrow with the attorney. Two months later, we recieved notice of foreclosure proceedings. The modification we hired the attorney for became a battle of foreclosure prevention.
During the year we battled the foreclosure, we continued to reapply on numerous occassions, through our attorney, for a loan modification. When the HAMP program came into effect, we finally saw a light at the end of what had been a very long, dark tunnel.in December we were approved for a 3 month trial mod which would become effective January and we paid all the trial payments in full and on time, despite the fact that the trial mod was for $100 more than our original loan payment that we had already struggled with (before the escrow went on). We've made extreme sacrifices (like groceries, education, etc.) to ensure we made those payments. On April 6, we were approved for a final modification through Saxon, saving us approximately $400 each month, due to the lower interest, and inclusion of the taxes and insurance excrow into the new loan payment so we would no longer face that challenge. This would have been a great relief. We were told both over the phone and via USPS to expect the final documents within 30 days. However, our loan was "transferred" to Ocwen, and the transfer occured on the 29th of those 30 days of waiting.
At that point, we couldn't even reach Ocwen until we got some welcome letter providing us with a new loan number. When we finally received those, we contacted the company, who indicated they needed additional documentation "to verify Saxon's decision". Now, in my research, I have come to find information indicating that both Saxon and Ocwen are owned by the same parent company, indicating to me that Saxon's decision would be based on the same terms that Ocwen would base a decision, as they would both be guided by the same mastermind. Maybe not, but that's my assumption.
Less than a month after the transfer to Ocwen, the foreclosure proceedings were dismissed in June due to the April 6 approval letter and an agreement between legal counsels (theirs and ours) that there was no reason the matter would not be resolved and an approval being given, a final mod was immenent in both legal opinions.
Six months into a trial modification, Ocwen continued to request additional documentation. Their records continued to reflect our home was in foreclosure (despite the dismissal on record and discussed on multiple occassions between us and Ocwen), they claimed our payments were running a month behind, and they continued to request additional documents. All requests were always sent, and payments continued to be made on time according to the trial mod agreement. We submitted proof of payment on three separate occassions, and our attorney submitted them as well on one occassion, via email and fax, with one email showing a read and received receipt (Outlook). Despite this proof, they continue today to claim we run a month behind. Ocwen indicates this may be due to innaccurate documentation from Saxon, which should be resolved regardless following our providing proof of payment.
In June, we received a letter that we had been denied for a modification (despite already being approved by Saxon) due to failure to submit required documents. We contacted Ocwen to ask what they did not receive. We were informed they never received the signed trial mod agreement (which should have been provided by Saxon, as we was required to send that back signed in the initial phase) and other documents Ocwen had never requested. We disputed this, informed them again that the foreclosure had been dismissed and the trial was only for three months with the possibility of a fourth month and that it was already far past that time frame. We were advised to submit the required documents and disregard the denial, given the "unique circumstances" and Ocwen would continue to review. A week later, we received a new letter indicating a denial again, due to lack of documentation. When we contacted them, we were informed they never received copies of our drivers' license. When we asked how we could provide them information never requested, they again stated "Send it in and disregard the denial under the 'unique circumstances' " and they would continue to review our loan.
However, we received notice that our payments would now return to the original loan terms as of September, (nine months after the beginning of the trial, thousands of documents later that we submitted, with no justifiable reason why we have been denied) and that their records indicate we remain in foreclosure. We can only assume this is an indirect way of saying we are still denied the modification. Had we received the final mod contract by Saxon prior to the transfer, we could have submitted those and had the terms Saxon promised us. However, Saxons' "failure" to do their work prior to reassigning the loan has led us to these new games by Ocwen.
We feel we should be paying the terms Saxon approved us for, but instead, we now must continue to submit payments that will ensure our next course of action is bankruptcy. The goal of the bank, in our opinion, has all along been to take our home, as it is one of the few to hold equity even in a sheriff's sale, and one of the few left in their portfolio's to potentially bring in a profit rather than a loss, as we still have a lower mortgage than the current value of the home. This is rare today, given the steep losses in property values, and our home is the candy they can't resist. Sadly, it's true in this case that they would be taking candy from a baby, as they would be taking the home from not just us, but our two young children, and this home was supposed to be a future asset for college/retirement. What comes next, we don't know, but we won't go down without a fight. If anyone knows of how we should go about fighting this deception, we are ecstatic to hear from you.
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