Lawsky, Warren closing in on the scavengers of Wall Street

Make no mistakes about this, in Ocwen, the regulators are taking on the ringleaders of the 1% and for once it looks like Wall Street are running for cover.

Benjamin Lawsky and his outstanding team at the DFS, NY have Ocwen in a bind. After careful research, DFS have highlighted various problems with Ocwen's processes that pushed borrowers into foreclosure. The DFS have also highlighted conflict of interest in Ocwen's relationship with Altisource.

To understand what the borrowers have been up against in Ocwen, I am quoting a case from the New York Post:
"Eartha Smith, 75, a former fire department nurse who retired on disability, tried to get a modification on her $131,000 home loan in 2009, according to her lawyer, Peter Gleason.
Gleason received a letter from Ocwen on either Jan. 18 or 19, 2010, demanding financial information, pay stubs, bank statements and tax forms in order to modify the terms of Smith’s mortgage, he told The Post.
But the letter — which Ocwen said should be returned “as quickly as possible”— was dated Aug. 29, 2009, according to a copy of the letter provided to The Post. That’s about five months before he received it, according to Gleason.
“They put us through hell,” Eartha’s daughter, Evette, told The Post. “She’s a senior — she can’t get a modification to own her own home.”
Evette, who has power of attorney for her mother, took a leave of absence from school to help her mother fight Ocwen.
Ocwen sent thousands of letters to clients denying them a loan modification and giving them 30 days to appeal, Lawsky’s office said. Those letters were backdated more than 30 days, making it impossible for homeowners to modify their mortgages and increasing the likelihood of default.
“Ocwen’s indifference to such a serious matter demonstrates a troubling corporate culture that disregards the needs of struggling borrowers,” Lawsky said.
The Smiths have made 16 appearances at Brooklyn Supreme Court since 2009, and are still fighting the company to get the interest rate on their home loan lowered to 4 percent from 6.75 percent.
“They’re playing games,” Gleason said. “If you miss a deadline in this madness, they turn around and say that defendant failed to respond, move toward a summary judgment, and move toward eviction.”"

The Scavengers Of Wall Street
--------------------------------

One day I received a call from a woman. She was trying to reach someone from my team at Altisource to check the progress of her "deed-in-lieu of foreclosure" request. When a borrower for some reason cannot be offered a loan modification and no short sale offer has been approved by the loan servicer, the homeowner can sign a deed transferring the ownership to the lender/investor and walk away hoping the lender does not pursue a deficiency judgment. However, there is one catch - a deed-in-lieu does not wipe out encumbrances like junior liens unlike a foreclosure so lenders prefer to foreclose on the loan unless the title to the property is clear.

I looked up the title report and found an HOA lien. I asked her if she would pay if I could negotiate a reduced settlement amount with the HOA. Her answer made me wish I hadn't asked. She said she was pregnant and left alone to deal with her fate. The HOA had, in the past, garnished her wages and she had no savings left to settle the HOA dues. She was poor but she was brave. You have to be brave to deal with a situation where you are about to lose your home. You don't know where you'll be living next. Perhaps under a bridge. Even if you somehow try to get back on your feet, you'll have judgments to deal with. There she was, this brave woman, not only about to face this ordeal all by herself but also about to bring a baby into a world where almost everything is linked to money and that was the one thing she lacked.

We were able to get the HOA to waive off 85% of the dues and Altisource to pay the remaining 15%. Altisource agreed to pay because it was less than what they would have had to pay to the HOA post foreclosure. She thanked us and walked away into an uncertain future, handing her home on a plate to Altisource Residential, L. P. (ARLP Trust).

You may think that deeds-in-lieu and foreclosures are means through which a lender recovers part of the money it has advanced. However, I knew something that many people didn't. Altisource had just managed to acquire her home for a lot less than what it was worth. It was not loss mitigation. It was a very profitable deal. Welcome to the worst side of the financial world. Allow me to introduce the scavengers of Wall Street.

The Men Behind Ocwen and Altisource
-----------------------------------------

William Erbey identified in the 80's that there was a segment of borrowers who were more likely to default than others. They were low income homeowners who were barely able to make their monthly repayments. William Erbey created ways, utilizing deliberately-flawed technology and other means, to push these borrowers into foreclosure and sell the foreclosed homes. When questions were raised about the software Ocwen used and how Ocwen were offering employees incentives to push borrowers into foreclosure (ex. Ron Davis' testimony in Sealy Davis vs Ocwen), he spun off the technology and real estate businesses into a new company, Altisource, and located it in Luxembourg.

Wilbur Ross is a member of and has served as the 'Grand Swipe' (ringleader) of the notorious Wall Street secret society 'Kappa Beta Phi'. Erbey purchased Homeward from Ross and immediately inducted him into Ocwen's board. They got along like a house on fire. Ross was a 'scavenger among scavengers' and had many political connections. It is quite likely that Ross's connection with Blackrock's CEO Larry Fink came in handy when Blackrock threatened to sue Ocwen along with PIMCO. Wilbur Ross was rewarded for publicly backing Erbey. In July, Ocwen repurchased shares worth $72.3 million at a price significantly higher than the present market price from Wilbur Ross. No doubt Ocwen management was well aware of the investigations against them and the impact it would have on the stock's market price. Despite that, company funds were used to reward Wilbur Ross.

Leon Cooperman has been termed as the 'Pope of the 1%' and holds no less than 2,584,007 shares of Ocwen Financial Corporation as per the 13F filed on 08/14/2014. “Lawsky should be ashamed of himself,” Leon Cooperman, founder of the investment firm Omega Advisors, has said in the past on the Ocwen issue. “He’s acting as a politician to advance his personal interest, not doing his job as a regulator.”

Another key man in all this is Orin Kramer, a major fundraiser for the Obama 2012 campaign in New York. Kramer introduced Erbey to various influential Democrats like Austan Goolsbee.

The New Yorker reported in its October 2012 edition about a dinner which included Al Gore, Leon Cooperman, Orin Kramer and Antonio Villaraigosa among others, "Kramer, the hedge-fund manager and Obama fund-raiser, was quiet, but others in the room were enthusiastic. Villaraigosa gave Cooperman his direct phone number. Barry Sternlicht, the founder of the W hotel chain, and an Obama donor in 2008, said that he agreed totally with Cooperman. Scaramucci, the organizer of the dinner, told me the next day that the guests had witnessed the “activation” of a “sleeper cell” of hedge-fund managers against Obama. “That’s what you see happening in the hedge-fund community, because they now have the power, because of Citizens United, to aggregate capital into political-action committees and to influence the debate,” he said. “The President has a philosophy of disdain toward wealth creation. That’s just obvious, O.K.? We talked about it all night.” He later said, “If there’s a pope of this movement, it’s Lee Cooperman.”"

You name the bank, from Wells Fargo to Citi, from BONY to BoA and they have a relationship with Ocwen. Top dogs like the Capital Group and Vanguard have a share in the Ocwen pie.

Clinching Evidence
---------------------

In his letter to Ocwen general counsel Timothy Hayes, Lawsky said an Ocwen employee had alerted a compliance executive to backdating problems about a year ago, and raised the issue again after being ignored for five months, yet the company failed to launch an appropriate investigation.

Lawsky, who runs the New York Department of Financial Services, demanded that Ocwen "fix its systems without delay."

This past June, a monitor discovered a 2012 letter, backdated 41 days, denying a loan modification. The company told the regulator over the summer it discovered the issue in April or May of 2014. It said it involved around 6,100 letters and it had changed its system to fix the problem.

"Each of these representations turned out to be false," Lawsky said in his letter.

Ocwen has faced more intense supervision from the New York regulator since February, when its proposed purchase of servicing rights on $39 billion of mortgages from Wells Fargo & Co was indefinitely halted.

Lawsky has also questioned Ocwen's business ties to affiliates, as has the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The servicer disclosed that the SEC has been looking into its restated financials as well.

The New York regulator and the SEC have been coordinating parallel probes, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person was not aware of any federal authorities looking into the backdating. Spokespeople for both agencies declined comment.

Michael Bresnick, former director of President Barack Obama's Financial Fraud Task Force, said the U.S. Department of Justice might become interested in examining whether the backdating violated federal civil fraud laws.

"A central issue will be whether this was simply an isolated mistake ... or part of a larger scheme to defraud homeowners," Bresnick said.

The CFPB, an agency started at the behest of Elizabeth Warren, is also looking into and discussing the future course of action as are the Attorneys General.

Elizabeth Warren has also written to the GAO seeking a study of the non-banking loan servicing industry and the threats posed to the consumers.

What happens next will be very closely watched. Will justice be served or will Ocwen manage to get away with another gentle slap on the wrist?

Learn more -
Kappa Beta Phi - http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/02/i-crashed-a-wall-street-secret-society.html

Cooperman's Dinner Party - http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/08/super-rich-irony

How Ocwen and Altisource function

The excerpts from Ron Davis' testimony in Sealy Davis vs Ocwen FSB, Deutsche Bank et. al. (2005) provided the court a glimpse of how business processes were set up to push borrowers into foreclosure and to sell more foreclosed homes at Ocwen.

The motive behind designing those processes was the management's greed. Business processes are corporate habits. Since the motivation remains the same, the processes have only changed slightly.

The REO department has been spun off into Altisource, while LRCs remain at Ocwen (now Ocwen Loan Servicing in India). The last I knew collectors were being paid up to INR 100,000 a month as a part of the ICP. REO staff at Altisource were also being rewarded substantially through ICPs. On the other hand when I was involved with foreclosure prevention activities (short sales, deed-in-lieu, refinance) Altisource refused to pay my team and me any incentives. Most Collections/Foreclosure Consultants/REO Asset Management employees would get very low salaries but very high incentives to motivate them to foreclose and sell more foreclosed homes. Transaction Coordinators were also paid substantial incentives so they would get deeds with forged signatures and errors recorded through Premium Title (a subsidiary of Altisource), let RHSS agents like David Judd make important decisions on transactions and allow payment of real estate commissions to Ocwen subsidiaries - RESS and REO Management, LLC.

Here are the key parts of Ron Davis' testimony:

Q.(Mr. Hilliard) Mr. Davis, while you were at Ocwen, would you explain to the jury the type of training that you received in regards to dealing with customers.

A. (Ron Davis) When I first hired into Ocwen, we just hired off the street. We didn't have a training class up yet. The time line I remember,training class was 1998, '99. When we went to Orlando, Florida,from West Palm Beach,their operation there and they had a training class then. That was for collectors.

Q. And while at Ocwen, would you from time to time be given bonuses or extra money that had a particular name?

A. We got ICP programs and then extra money called bumps.

Q. Would you tell the jury what you think a bump is?

A. What I think a bump is?

Q. What you think a bump is.

A. I know what a bump is.

A. A bump is like if you lost your home to foreclosure and we had a broker list to call brokers to buy the home, we would get a bump for that extra money because they bought it. And it's called third party take out. And Ocwen paid us extra for that.

Q. Do you have any information about whether Ocwen would send payments back to customers, reject payments after they requested the payments be sent to them?

A. Yes,we did. Sometimes--

Q. Could you explain that to the jury?

A. Well, the foreclosure department needed a minimum of three payments. If they wanted to send one to us, it was our discretion to take it or send it back. We could put them on foreclosure hold for that one payment and they would send us two more later on or whatever. But we would send it back to them. We looked in the system and seen there was equity in the home,we would reject the payment and it was in foreclosure anyway and there was not time to put them on a forbearance plan,and we sent it back. Or if we didn't receive the payment, got lost or sent back,that's what we did.

......

Q. (MR. HILLIARD) Can you explain to the folks what you meant when you explained to Mr. Madole if there was equity in the house,you would choose not to modify a customer's loan?

A. That's correct. Because if there was equity,and this is based upon all the LRCs, and there's 30 of us,and we would get a bump if it went to foreclosure. We didn't have to do modification. If they didn't come up with payments to put them on forbearance, we would not do that either. We would let it go to foreclosure, get a buyer for the home.

......

Q. Could you explain to the jury what the policy was in regards to representing forbearance as a possibility and foreclosure?

A. Again, our system allowed us to go in there and plug in the numbers for percentages of the house, what the loan to value was,what Ocwen got for the home, or if it was even being serviced by another lender. It was up to us. And we did it to let it go to foreclosure or come up with the money we were asking for, including attorneys' fees and costs for our bumps,extra money in our pocket.

Q. Are you familiar with whether or not there was a policy at Ocwen to make representations that forbearance was a possibility while unbeknownst to the customer proceeding to foreclosure?

A. Yes.

Q. There was a policy?

A. Yes. We had control over the portfolio. We had 250 to 300 customers in our portfolio. We could go in, check everyone out,see which ones had equity, which ones we would put on forbearance or modify. We only had to get an X amount of deals to get our money, big money,up to 10,000 a month for bonus money. And many did.

Q. How much?

A. It's 10,000 a month.

Q. What's the most you made in a month?

A. It was $7600. One month. I was overwhelmed myself.

Q. What was your salary?

A. It was 30,000 in '96.

Q. Go ahead. Finish.

A. So, by not knowing anything,I was off the street and took the position because they offered it to me. I was a collector two years. Before I got that offer, I learned from the rest of them how to do it and what to say. And we didn't treat the people very well but the money was pretty good.

Q. So,during the time that you were there --and were you a manager at some point?

A. Supervisor.

Q. Were you familiar with the prevailing attitude that exited while you were there in regards to misleading customers?

A. Yes. I was trained.

Q. What?

A. I was, like trained by the other managers and employees how to treat the people that's -- the loans we had.

Q. Tell the jury about what you know in that regard.

A. We would call the customers and ask them what bridge they were going to live under or the next cardboard box they would have to cut out,what curb they would be kicked to,because all the belongings in Georgia went to the curb. Hey, I wasn't like that, but I learned to take the money. That was our key,the money. We had never seen the people..

Q. Once you learned how to do it,would you tell these folks how you felt about doing that?

A. I came here for that reason,
kind of like to put myself at ease. I got away from Ocwen, resigned and went to another firm, an attorney firm three hours away to get away from being like I was.

......

Q. Do you have familiarity with that situation, sending checks--telling the customer to start sending a check to a different location.

A. Yes, lockboxes.

Q. What familiarity do you have in that regard?

A. They started out with four different lock boxes in different places. The payments were getting lost. So,they changed the lockbox but the customer wouldn't get the notice before the late charges were assessed. And some went to foreclosure.

.......

Q. Let me ask you that. Were you familiar while you were there with regard to the policy of Ocwen intentionally posting payments late?

A. We posted numerous payments late.

Q. Why?

A. One,the system wouldn't accept them. We had a new program put in and it was rejecting the payments and late charges were added. And then before foreclosure, more fees were added. And that caused a lot of problems.

........

Q. Did folks in your position -- were you called an LRC?

A. Yeah, a loan resolution consultant.

Q. LRC. Did LRCs, while you were there, also get money,kickbacks from brokers?

A. Yes, they did,as well as the REO department.

Q. Would you tell the jury about that?

A. The note that -- the customer would go into foreclosure would come to our department first. We would hear -- if we couldn't put them on a plan or we refused to put them on a plan and refused their monies,and again, if there was equity, it would benefit us. If they went to foreclosure, they would go to other department we knew. And most of those were ex-LRCs. It's called real estate owned, REO. They are the ones who got the extra cash and trips and shared it with us. They were managers as well as -- well, managers, I guess.

......

Q. Let me ask you again. in regard to the question I just asked, was it a policy of Ocwen's to sometimes represent to customers that they could get a forbearance agreement while at the same time secretly move that customer towards foreclosure?

A. Yes.

......

Q. You and your colleagues, things you saw and were permanently aware of, how were your customers viewed?

A. As D&E people. Poor. Not affordable homes.

Q. Why is that significant?

A. There is a portfolio full of equity homes to benefit us for extra money, the bumps and bonuses.

......

Q. And if Sealy Davis -- one of her issues in this case is that she was promised by Ocwen that they could lower her payments,is that a type of promise you have personally made in the past to customers like her?

A. Yes, I did. I would on some of the loans that had no equity --

Q. No. After you said "yes," I have to ask you another question. So, you did that?

A. Yes.

Q. From time to time, did you do it with no intention of fulfilling that promise?

A. Yes, I did. I couldn't find the payments, yes. So they went foreclosure.

......

Q. (Mr. Madole) You said that you personally, Ron Davis, would pick up a phone,call a borrower and say, "I will give you a forbearance plan."  And in your secret heart, you would say, "Ha, ha, no." That's the way you were?

A. That's the way we were.

.....

Q. (Mr. Hilliard) Let me ask you, who is Bill Erbey?

A. He is the owner of Ocwen Federal Bank.

Q. Did you ever attend any meetings with Bill Erbey?

A. Yes. Luncheons we would call it.

Q. During those luncheons did Mr. Erbey ever set out for you his view of how Ocwen should conduct business?

A. Yes. Due to the type of paper, again we're back to the D&E paper that he bought from HUD and other Loan Servicing accounts that these are people that have no money, probably won't have no money to get their houses back out of foreclosure. There are some that have equity which would help build your bonus structure,and that was at the Palm Beach Lake address.

.....

Q. While you were there, did Ocwen from time to time or folks who worked with customers from time to time doctor the comment history log?

A. Yes, we did. We changed the financials a lot.

Q. Explain it to these folks.

A. If the loan had, based on no equity, a lifeless loan, we would call it,we would change it to add more food, more electricity,any expense that would be for the home. If they put down cable,we would tell them we would erase it. That didn't count towards the affordability of their payment. So,we helped them with their financials based on the equity in the home, the amount of equity. That's what we did. 

Q. You mentioned some times you would call a customer how many times a day?

A. The dialer would call the customer. Automated dialer. Put headsets on, it would ring the phone six, seven times a day, because the program wasn't working correctly.  And got OTS complaints from the banking commission and the Attorney General and the consumer people because we harassed them too many times.

Ocwen playing mind games?

I couldn't help but notice Ocwen's hopelessly poor attempt at mind games via the article titled "A House With a Modified Loan Is a Symbol of Servicers’ Tug of War With Investors", yesterday, on the New York Times website. Ocwen, through its PR firm, Sommerfield Communications, attempted to convey to the reporter an image of Ocwen as a loan servicer who are desperately trying to help homeowners keep their home but are under pressure from investors to foreclose. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Let's begin with Ocwen's claim that they do a very good job of helping homeowners. Let's do our own research to see if that is true. According to the data made available by the Departments of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development, Ocwen approved 23% of the modifications they processed under HAMP since the program's inception. Compare this with Bank of America's 44%, CitiMortgage's 43% and Wells Fargo's 35%. When you see this you realize why regulators, borrowers, investors and foreclosure prevention activists are worried when a large loan servicing portfolio moves from a Wells Fargo to an Ocwen.

To put it very simply - Ocwen and Altisource's common shareholders like William Erbey stand to gain from Altisource's growth. The more the properties foreclosed by Ocwen, the more the properties they can sell on HUBZU.com and earn real estate listing commissions, Buyer's Premium, Web Technology Fee, Escrow and Title Fees, Property Preservation Fee, Closing Coordination Fees and more!

Investors have very little information about Ocwen and Altisource's dealings and must rely on information supplied by Ocwen. Investors naturally would like to avoid foreclosures because Altisource sell foreclosed properties at very low prices through their website HUBZU.com. The only beneficiary from foreclosure are Altisource, its subsidiaries and certain firms who regularly buy properties through Altisource with the intention of selling them.

Concerns have been raised that due to the fact that Altisource sell properties on HUBZU through their own listing agency, Real Home Services and Solutions, they fetch lower values compared to properties sold by local real estate agents. RHSS agents are located miles away from the properties they sell and are unable to provide much information to homebuyers about the condition of the property. It has been claimed that their inability to turn on utilities, in many cases, makes it impossible for buyers to obtain loan approvals to buy the homes.  It has been claimed that the Buyer's Premium charged by HUBZU forces many potential buyers to look elsewhere. Some homebuyers have claimed that their lender did not allow Buyer's Premium on the HUD forcing them to back out. It has been reported that some lenders refused to finance homes if the title company were Premium Title (an Altisource unit). Many homebuyers have complained that Altisource take too long to fix title issues and that the slow functioning of Premium Title leads to loan lock expirations and additional costs to the buyer, which at times are credited back to the buyer leading to lower net to the investor.

Ocwen, according to their Purchase and Sale Agreement, pay for the title insurance and related search fees should the buyer agree to use Premium Title as escrow and title company. This is a direct conflict of interest between the investors and Altisource. Investors see lower net due to the title insurance fees being slapped on them, while Altisource benefit from the same. Were Ocwen not acting in a manner that helps Altisource profit, they would provide the same terms to all title companies. Ocwen also pay out Property Preservation Fees and Closing Coordination fees to Altisource units on behalf of the investors.

Altisource also coordinate foreclosures, evictions and cash for relocation program on behalf of Ocwen. They carry out foreclosures in states like California through their subsidiary Western Progressive. Altisource employees execute Purchase and Sales Agreements and HUDs on behalf of Ocwen and its investors. Altisource make the all-important decisions that impact Ocwen and its investors. From accepting or rejecting offers to determining if repairs are to be carried out to approving HOA, utility and other payments, they pretty much determine the investor's net. Altisource also own Springhouse AMC, a company that provides property appraisal reports.

I don't see how the investors benefit from foreclosure. The only one winner is Altisource and in turn its shareholders like William Erbey, who also happens to be an Ocwen shareholder. What a coincidence!

Investors are naturally hurt and probably feel that they did not get a fair deal. I sympathize with them. It is my belief that Ocwen-Altisource are driven by greed. Those who are driven by greed are never fair to others. They deprive investors of the returns they deserve. They deprive real estate agents of the commissions they deserve. They deprive borrowers of the home they deserve and homebuyers of the service they deserve. What about employees? One employee termed his work experience with Altisource "an epic swindle".

(The author, Saurabh Singh, is a student of the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He is a Foreclosure Prevention Activist and a vegan. He is also a member of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals(India), Consumer Advocates in American Real Estate, UNITES Professionals and supports various charitable causes and crowdfunding.)

Designing your campaign to win justice for Ocwen-Altisource victims

Many have been hurt by Ocwen and Altisource. People who have lost their homes - families, single moms, children, senior citizens. Realtors have been hurt. Vendors, buyers, employees.... the list goes on. Those who are blinded by greed deny others what is rightfully theirs. If more money can be made by paying employees poorly, then why not? If more money can be made by squeezing something out of a poor realtor's commission, why not? That is how they think - those who are driven by greed. They snatch from others what does not belong to them - homes, ideas, intellectual wealth, customers... This is theft. This is a crime. It promotes social inequality. Victims experience sorrow and despair and many loose their faith in natural justice.

The victims of Ocwen-Altisource have thus far obtained little success. Most have given up. Some think they are too small to make a difference. Some think that no one will help them. Some just have to give up because it isn't financially feasible to fight Ocwen-Altisource.

Must we then give up? Should we not help our sisters who are on the verge of being forced out of their homes? Those very realtor friends who stood by us, recommended us, helped us in many ways now face a future of uncertainty as Altisource craft strategies to snatch their inventory. Move over Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock Holmes will now live in an Altisource rental home! Perhaps plans are in place to remake "The Apartment", with Baxter now living in an Altisource rental home! They have money, staff, attorneys, PR firms... what do we have?

We have the five powers. Faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and understanding. Using these we can help others and ourselves.

Are you too small to make a difference? "If you think you are too small to make difference, try sleeping with a mosquito." A small mosquito can cause a lot of trouble, even malaria. Have faith in your abilities.

When contacting regulatory authorities, attorney generals, congressmen etc. you will need to keep in mind that they are not Realtors or employees of Altisource. You may need to simplify Ocwen-Altisource's complex business structure and explain how it is designed to promote foreclosures. And you will have to do this repeatedly. Does your congressman know much about OMAT 1 REO Holdings or Blue Valley Apartments or HLSS or NewSource? Possibly not. Ocwen-Altisource have designed a business structure that can confuse even very experienced analysts. Government officials are busy people who may not know much about loan servicing and Ocwen and Altisource.

You may use information available here:
http://themisplacedphilosopher.blogspot.in/2014/02/how-ocwen-altisource-are-hurting.html

And here:
http://themisplacedphilosopher.blogspot.in/2014/02/you-may-take-your-ocwen-complaints-to.html

We will need to create awareness about Ocwen-Altisource among lawmakers, regulators, media-men and people in general. If you wish to help, spend 30 minutes in a day writing to people who matter in your state or to people at CFPB or DFS or media-men explaining how you have been hurt by Ocwen-Altisource's predatory practices. Explain how this will hurt your community. You will need energy. It comes from faith.

In India, if you submit rent receipts and proof showing investment in certain types of financial instruments, you can save on the amount of tax you are required to pay. I have never done that believing that the more tax we pay, the more we strengthen our nation. My friends at Altisource group of companies remind me that they are headquartered in Luxembourg and US Virgin Islands so they can save on taxes! They certainly don't think like me.

Please do spend some time to help heal the wounds people have suffered at the hands of Ocwen-Altisource and help prevent others from experiencing the same fate. If we are mindful, we can make a lot of difference. Concentration will develop. With concentration, understanding will develop. Looking deeply we will know all there is to know. To be free. To be happy and to make others happy.

(The author, Saurabh Singh, is a student of the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He is a Foreclosure Prevention Activist and a vegan. He is also a member of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals(India), Consumer Advocates in American Real Estate, UNITES Professionals and supports various charitable causes and crowdfunding.)

Ocwen and Altisource force friends to part

Ocwen and Altisource foreclose homes causing displacement, forcing friends to part.

How Ocwen-Altisource are hurting homeowners

Altisource spun off two companies - Altisource Asset Management Company and Altisource Residential in December, 2012. Altisource Asset Management Company (AAMC) acquires nonperforming residential loans for Altisource Residential, who intend to renovate and rent out as many properties they can acquire from the acquired loan portfolios. In turn, Altisource Residential pay management fees to AAMC.

The borrowers may want a loan modification or a short sale but that is not what will benefit Altisource Residential most. Altisource also do not have the financial strength of a Wells Fargo or a Bank of America to hold on to delinquent loans for long. Most borrowers won't qualify for FHA refinance due to high debt ratios or lack of sufficient income. Altisource Residential's motivation to acquire properties does not allow room for short sales. What benefits Altisource most is foreclosure.

Investors, like Altisource, buying NPLs to increase their rental portfolios is a cause for alarm because they stand to profit by pushing people out of their homes, said Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, a San Francisco-based tenant and consumer advocacy group.

“They should be modifying those loans to keep the homeowner in there, but it runs counter to their business model,” Stein said. “They shouldn’t be in the business of buying distressed loans for the purpose of foreclosing on people.”

Acquiring a delinquent loan is cheaper than directly buying the underlying security (property). Let me give you an example. Let's say there is borrower who owes Bank of America $100,000 on an FHA backed loan with a property worth $80,000 as the underlying asset. Bank of America file a claim with FHA when the borrower defaults. They stand to lose nothing as the loan is insured by FHA. Companies like Altisource acquire such loans in an FHA auction for amounts much lower than the property value. They can, however, turn this price difference into an advantage only if they can acquire the property. This typically happens through foreclosure.

Those properties which cannot be rented out will be sold through Altisource (RHSS) agents like David Judd on HUBZU.com. Mind you, the likes of David Judd don't get the listing commissions. The listing commissions go to RHSS - a unit of Altisource. Altisource also make money by earning escrow and title fees, property preservation fees, closing coordination fees and more.

In this manner, Altisource intend to acquire properties for a fraction of their cost and then rent them out or sell them, earning rental income, management fees, real estate listing commissions, escrow and title fees and more. Their entire business plan depends on their ability to ACQUIRE properties. Short Sales, loan modifications, forbearance etc. are obviously not as profitable. What makes business sense is foreclosure. Altisource have vested interests in promoting foreclosures. By promoting foreclosures and rentals, Altisource are working against America's stated policy of increasing homeownership. They are working against the interests of United States and its people.

In the financial year 2013, AAMC acquired 13500 loans. However, this is just a modest beginning.

(The author, Saurabh Singh, is a student of the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He is a Foreclosure Prevention Activist and a vegan. He is also a member of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals(India), Consumer Advocates in American Real Estate, UNITES Professionals and supports charitable causes and crowdfunding.)

Beware of new charges on your Ocwen account

Altisource PPI

Think. Act.

Stop Ocwen and Altisource!

Ocwen and Altisource, through a systematically designed process, induce foreclosures and then sell these foreclosed home on HUBZU.com so they can earn listing commissions, Buyer's Premium, Escrow Fees, Web Technology Fee, Property Preservation Fees, Title Insurance Fees, Closing Coordination Fees and more!

A Borrower's Breakup Letter to Lender

Dear Lender,

I will never forget how it felt when we first met. I had dreams and you had the means. It was as if we were made for each other. You promised to fulfill all my dreams. You promised we would have a beautiful home, a fancy car and money to send kids to college. That we would shop and vacation at exotic locations. You said you wanted me to live my dreams. I fell for your charms. I signed the promissory note.

Then, you changed. I thought you were true to me but you lied. I told you she was trash but you wouldn't listen. That really was subprime! You said I wasn't 'adjustable' and treated me like yesterday's jam.

I had to sell my jewelry and liquidate my savings to support your flashy lifestyle. It never was enough. The subprime trash took all you had. All that I had given you!

You now want to take my home and sell it on HUBZU. You may do as you please but I have had enough. I have learned how greed and desire cause hardships. You misled me but I have found the Way. I have discovered the Sutra on Eight Realizations.

http://www.fodian.net/world/779.htm

I will practice mindfulness and have few material desires. I have understood that if I desire for more, I will end up being a part of an economic system that exploits others. I have understood that happiness is a peaceful state of body and mind. I will practice mindfulness to cultivate a peaceful state of body and mind.

Goodbye, my love!
Borrower

The Most Viable Foreclosure Alternatives

We don't want anyone to lose their home. We don't want anyone to be forcibly displaced. There is no place for foreclosures and evictions in an intelligent society. They are symbols of moral, economic and social corruption. Unfortunately, they are of our own making. Our own craving for materialistic pleasures leads to consumerism and a system of governance that is more concerned about the health of its financial institutions than the health of its citizens.

In order to help home owners facing foreclosure,  the government of United States introduced HAMP. As of 04/30/2013, 18% of the home owners offered permanent modifications under this program had redefaulted and many were on the brink of default. The program itself is only available until 2015, so it does not really provide us a viable long term alternative to foreclose.

Some market partipants have, however, come up with some options that look like viable long term alternatives to foreclosure. I would like to discuss three of them.

The first one is an Assisted Short Sale program offered by Ocwen Loan Servicing in association with Altisource. The purpose of this program is to help fetch the best price for the property while ensuring that only minimum costs are incurred, encouraging the first mortgagee to approve the short sale instead of foreclosing on the loan. As a part of this program Altisource work on reducing costs by negotiating liens, judgements, HOA dues and other encumbrances and let the seller list the property on their online platform HUBZU.COM. This program is viable long term alternative to foreclosure because it addresses three major concerns of associated with a short sale - time, financial viability and finding a buyer. A short sale can be completed, in most cases, in less than two months from the date the seller opts for this program. Many short sales fail because the costs associated with them are high compared to a foreclosure (particularly in non-judicial foreclosure states). This generaly happens due to junior liens, HOA dues, judgements etc. The major strength of this program lies in the way it is able to deal with these issues. Finally,  HUBZU tries to find buyers. In case the seller already has offers, this a good opportunity to see if it is possible to find better offers. Overall, this looks promising and has folks at Altisource very excited about it. I hope firms other than Ocwen also get together with Altisource to design similar programs.

The second viable long term alternative comes courtesy real estate agents. Wherever and whenever possible a realtor may get an investor to buy the home through a short sale and rent it out to the seller with an option to buy. This would have to be disclosed to the lender at the very beginning. I understand that some lenders may not allow this. However,  wherever possible, this is a great way of letting the distressed home owner continue living in his home. This prevents foreclosure and displacement.

The third option is what can roughly be termed as "a deed in lieu of foreclosure in exchange for contract to rent". The first and the second options are great if you can find a buyer. However, there may be properties which may not find a buyer but have a home owner not wanting to be displaced. In such cases, wherever and whenever feasible, the home owners should have the option of offering the property via a deed in lieu of foreclosure to the lender or an REIT/investor (through the lender) in exchange for being allowed to rent the home.

The only fool-proof way to avoid losing material possessions is to not have them in the first place. Its not the loss of possessions that causes stress but our attachment to them. However, since we all have material desires ourselves, we can understand the stress others undergo when they are on the verge of losing material possessions. It is with this understanding that we must help others. Let us get together and end foreclosures. Let us say no to forced displacement. Let us push for viable alternatives to foreclosure.

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Saurabh Singh is a student of the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh and is currently employed with Altisource. All views expressed here are his personal views and are not necessarily  endorsed by his employer. The author does not guarantee the accuracy of any information contained in this post. Real Estate, finance, banking and online transactions are complicated and governed by various regulations and readers are advised to consult with certified professionals before making any decision.

Don't worry. I will be there.

The most valuable gift you can give others is your presence. This is the perfection of giving. When we are present we are practicing the perfection of giving. When we are present and mindful we can touch life. We can truly be of service to others.

Working for a real estate service provider I come across many people experiencing great anxiety and stress. Some buying a home for the first time. Some desperate to save their homes. Some trying to prevent a foreclosure.

People rely on real estate professionals to help them through what can easily turn into a nightmare. Most real estate agents are quick to highlight their acheivements, their qualifications,  the number of deals they have completed etc. Only a few say, "Don't worry. I will be there. It can get complicated and frustrating but I'll help you cope with it."

Being there we can do more. We do not have to be Governors or Presidents to make a difference. We don't have to be the CEO to bring about transformation. We just need to be present and mindful. When we are present and mindful we can penetrate the moment. We can heal. We can transform.

Your presence reassures a first time home buyer. Your presence gives confidence to someone trying to prevent a foreclosure. Offer your presence, your serenity, your freshness. These are more valuable than you can imagine.

I am happy to be with you. Lets see what comes along. When we are present, we are aware. We can experience. The food, the music, the love. We can experience life. We can touch happiness.

“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”