Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE: OCN) received top ratings for how it manages compliance under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), a boon for the company following recent downgrades to its mortgage servicing quality.
The non-bank mortgage servicer announced last week that it received 3-Star ratings, the highest possible, in all categories in the quarterly compliance review report issued September 5 by Making Home Affordable-Compliance (MHA-C), the compliance agent responsible for evaluating and reporting to the U.S. Department of Treasury on participating mortgage servicers’ HAMP compliance.
The range of categories evaluated in the report relate to processes and controls, including reaching out to investors who own mortgages, soliciting borrowers who may be eligible for HAMP, evaluating borrower eligibility, processing documents, underwriting loan modifications, along with maintaining strong fraud controls and quality assurance.
“We’re proud of achieving this significant milestone for Ocwen, which demonstrates that our infrastructure and processes are robust and support best-in-class service levels for borrowers,” said Ocwen CEO Ronald Faris in a written statement. “We remain focused on continuous improvement in all of our business processes and will continue to invest in and develop our people, technology, analytics and compliance systems.”
Since January 2008, Ocwen has assisted more than 450,000 families keep their homes via sustainable modifications through both HAMP and non-HAMP programs—the most of any other mortgage servicer, the company stated.
Partnerships with housing advocacy groups nationwide have largely attributed to the successes the company has achieved, particularly with the Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF) which works closely with the Treasury on programs to aid struggling borrowers.
“The Homeownership Preservation Foundation commends Ocwen for their industry leading mortgage servicing best practices including their use of principal reduction and their partnerships with HUD certified private, non-profit housing counseling groups to help distressed homeowners stay in their homes,” stated David Berenbaum, CEO of HPF.
The report is a slice of positive news for Ocwen, who last week saw its servicer quality downgraded by Moody’s Investors Service due to ongoing regulatory probes into the company’s operations.
However, the recent Treasury report highlights Ocwen’s efforts in assisting homeowners with mortgage modifications through customer service is not to be discounted.
“This new Treasury report affirms Ocwen’s proactive and long-standing commitment to achieve the highest level of customer service and the positive impact that their best practices have both in the community and to their portfolio,” said Berenbaum.
Written by Jason Oliva
