“Ocwen settles lawsuit with state of Florida”

Author: Jasmine Castroverde | 16 Oct, 2020 | S&P Global

Ocwen Financial Corp. settled a lawsuit brought by the state of Florida against the company and its units Ocwen Mortgage Servicing Inc., Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC and PHH Mortgage Corp. for certain legacy servicing activities.

The agreement is filed as a proposed consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The proposed consent judgment, pending adoption by the court, resolves litigation filed in April 2017 by the State of Florida Office of the Attorney General and the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation.

Ocwen believes that it has sound legal and factual defenses to all of the state’s claims but concluded that it is in the best interest of its stakeholders to resolve the matter without admitting liability in order to avoid the further distraction and expense of litigation, according to the company’s news release.

The settlement includes a combined total payment to the state of Florida of about $5.2 million and an additional $1 million payable in two years in the event specific loan modification-related obligations are not satisfied during that time. In addition, Ocwen has agreed to certain late fee waivers, a targeted loan modification program for certain eligible Florida borrowers and certain non-monetary reporting and handling obligations.

Read the full article, by Jasmine Castroverde on S&P Global.