Ocwen NYDFS
Consent Order

Over a period of several years, the New York Department of Financial Services (“the DFS”) the government agency responsible for regulating state-licensed mortgage loan servicers in New York, participated in regulatory examinations of Ocwen Financial Corporation and Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC (“Ocwen”). These examinations identified inadequate information technology systems and violations of New York state laws, among other items.

In December 2014, Ocwen entered into a settlement (“Consent Order”) with the DFS. The Consent Order provides $50 million to be paid to current and former Ocwen-serviced borrowers in New York who were in the foreclosure process between January 1, 2009, and December 22, 2014. These payments compensate borrowers for the insufficient servicing practices that DFS identified.

Receiving a payment does not mean you suffered financial harm. By cashing the Consent Order check, you are not waiving any current or future legal claims against Ocwen. You are free to pursue or continue to pursue individual claims against Ocwen whether or not you cash the check.

You could be eligible to receive a payment even if a foreclosure sale of your home was not completed and even if your loan was later transferred to another mortgage servicer.

The Consent Order and the DFS press release are available on the Links Page.

The borrowers on any home mortgage loans in New York for which Ocwen filed a foreclosure action or completed a foreclosure sale during the period January 1, 2009 through December 22, 2014 are eligible for a payment in this settlement.

To validate the legitimacy of this settlement, go to the Links Page to view the Consent Order as well as a Press Release issued on December 22, 2014, about the settlement with Ocwen.

The New York Department of Financial Services, or NYDFS, is Ocwen’s state regulator. NYDFS is the New York state agency that supervises and regulates New York mortgage bankers and mortgage loan servicers. More information about NYDFS is available at www.dfs.ny.gov.

Epiq Systems is a third party payment administrator retained to issue payments and provide assistance to eligible borrowers. Epiq is providing these services under the supervision of the New York Department of Financial Services, Ocwen’s state banking regulator. For more information about Epiq, you may visit www.EpiqSystems.com. All of Epiq’s costs for the Ocwen NYDFS Consent Order are paid separately by Ocwen. Borrowers are never charged either directly or indirectly for Epiq services as part of the Ocwen NYDFS Consent Order.

This payment you receive in this settlement is not a loan. You are not required to repay this amount.

Receiving and/or cashing a check from this Consent Order does not automatically change the terms of your mortgage loan(s), including your obligations related to payment, modification or foreclosure. Accepting a payment will not affect, stop or delay the foreclosure sale date. Please continue to work directly with your servicer. Accepting a payment will not affect any other effort you are making with your servicer to prevent a foreclosure sale. The payment is not intended to replace current active efforts with your servicer.

No. Ocwen will not take any steps against you for cashing your check in this settlement.

Any information you provide to the payment administrator will not be used by Ocwen related to collection, default, litigation or any other related activities.

You are not providing Ocwen any release in exchange for cashing your check in this program. If you are currently a party to a lawsuit involving Ocwen, you may continue your lawsuit.

You are free to consult with an attorney at your own expense to discuss whether to cash the check.

Yes, even if Ocwen did not complete the foreclosure on your home, the foreclosure process may have started. For example, the foreclosure process may have begun but then ended when payments were brought up to date. You may have also entered a payment plan or modification program. If the home was sold or a deed in lieu process was completed before the servicer foreclosed, your loan may be eligible to receive a payment.

Yes, so long as the payees on the check were borrowers on the loan at the time of the foreclosure or at the time the foreclosure complaint was filed, your loan may be eligible to receive a payment.

Under the Consent Order, two types of payments are available to current and former Ocwen-serviced borrowers in New York:

1. $10,000 for each home foreclosed upon by Ocwen between January 1, 2009 and December 22, 2014, as set forth in Paragraph 24(b)(i) of the Consent Order; and
2. The balance of a $50 million fund distributed equally for each foreclosure action filed by Ocwen between January 1, 2009 and December 22, 2014 in which Ocwen did not complete such foreclosure, as set forth in Paragraph 24(b)(ii) of the Consent Order.

If taxes are required to be withheld from your payment, the amount of your check could be less than this amount.

The first checks are scheduled to be mailed in January of 2016. Additional check mailings will occur in the months to follow.

You are not waiving any current or future legal claims against Ocwen by cashing the check. You are free to pursue or continue to pursue individual claims against Ocwen whether or not you cash the check.

Please mail or email proof of your address such as a copy of a driver’s license, bank statement or utility bill. Please send scans or copies, not your original documents. You can email the information to info@OcwenNYDFSPayments.com or mail to:

Ocwen NYDFS Consent Order
PO Box 4655
Portland, OR 97208-4655

To correct or update your name, complete and return a Payee Name Change Request Form. The form lists the documentation needed based on the reason your name has changed. For example, if your name changed as result of marriage, submit a copy of the marriage certificate or your signed Social Security card along with the form.

This form cannot be used to have another borrower’s check issued in your name.

To have a copy of the form mailed to you, please call 1-877-541-3110 or email info@OcwenNYDFSPayments.com.

To have your check reissued, please call 1-877-541-3110 or email info@OcwenNYDFSPayments.com. If you need to update your address or name before the check is reissued, make sure you provide all necessary documentation.

If the check has been torn or damaged and cannot be cashed, mail the damaged check back to us with a note requesting a replacement check. Once we receive the damaged check with your request, it will take about 30 days to mail you a replacement check.

Ocwen NYDFS Consent Order
PO Box 4655
Portland, OR 97208-4655

Yes, to request separate checks, you may submit the Split Payment Form yourself without your co-borrower’s signature. Each borrower on the loan will be mailed a proportional, or pro rata, share of the original check amount, even if your co-borrower does not sign the Split Payment Form.

Split payment checks are generally mailed 30 days after the form has been validated. If you provide a different mailing address on the form, we must validate the mailing address before mailing the check. This is to prevent fraud.

If the original check is not returned, new checks can be issued once the void date on the outstanding check has passed.

To have a copy of the form mailed to you, please call 1-877-541-3110 or email info@OcwenNYDFSPayments.com.

If the borrower is deceased, you'll need to fill out a payment reissue request form. We have two different forms available, you only need to return the form applicable to your situation. Do not return both. Complete the Sole Surviving Spouse Payment Reissue Request Form if you are the sole surviving spouse of the deceased borrower and are also a co-borrower on the loan. Complete the Deceased Borrower Payment Reissue Request Form to request that the payment be reissued to the deceased borrower’s estate, heir, or next of kin.

To have a copy of the form mailed to you, please call 1-877-541-3110 or email info@OcwenNYDFSPayments.com.

The rules of the settlement do not permit a check to be reissued to a third party representatives.

We cannot provide any advice on how the payment may affect your bankruptcy or your related obligations with respect to this payment. Whether or not your bankruptcy is still active, your payment may be an asset of your bankruptcy estate. You should contact the attorney who represented you in the bankruptcy proceeding about the payment and your potential obligations related to the bankruptcy. If you filed for bankruptcy without an attorney, you should advise the trustee assigned to your case about the settlement payment.

If we identify an active bankruptcy related to a borrower on the loan prior to mailing a payment, we will mail a “Notice of Payment to Debtor” to both the trustee and debtor’s counsel (or debtor, if pro se). This Notice provides background information on the Consent Order and specifics about the payment amount to be issued. The trustee and/or debtor’s counsel have an opportunity to give direction on how we should issue the payment.

If your bankruptcy is Chapter 7: Unless we receive alternative instructions, we will make the check payable to the borrowers on the loan and mail it to the debtor’s counsel (or debtor, if pro se) when one or more borrowers is a debtor in an identified Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

If your bankruptcy is Chapter 13: Unless we receive alternative instructions, we will make the check payable to the borrowers on the loan and mail it to the trustee when one or more borrowers is a debtor in an identified Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

In either case, the trustee or debtor’s counsel can respond to the Notice of Payment to Debtor in writing and direct us to issue the payment in another way, so long as we receive the response within 45 days of the Notice of Payment to Debtor. Note that if the check will be issued in a name other than the borrowers on the loan/debtor, we must receive a Form W-9 listing the Taxpayer Identification Number for the payee on the check before we can issue the payment.

Unless the payment is subject to withholding, we have not removed taxes from the payment amount. If you are subject to withholding, we notified you in advance prior to mailing your payment. If we withheld taxes from your payment, we sent you a separate withholding notice with an explanation of the amounts we withheld.

If we did not withhold taxes, your entire payment may be subject to taxation as income. At tax time, we will report necessary amounts to the Internal Revenue Service and mail you the appropriate tax form or forms. We cannot provide any advice on your specific tax situation, and neither can Ocwen or the New York Department of Financial Services.

Your entire payment may be subject to taxation as income. At tax time, the payment administrator will report necessary amounts to the Internal Revenue Service and mail you the appropriate tax form or forms. The payment administrator, Ocwen, and the New York Department of Financial Services cannot provide any advice on your specific tax situation.

Tax reporting of payment components complies with tax regulations. If you do not want the payment reported to the Internal Revenue Service, you have the option to reject the payment. This is called “disclaiming” the payment. Whether or not you cash the check, we may be required to report the payment to the IRS. The only way to ensure that the payment is not reported is to (1) not cash the check, and (2) complete the payment disclaimer process.

Tax reporting is for the year the payment was issued, even if the compensation was calculated based on activity from prior tax years. It does not matter when you cash the check. For example, if the payment is issued in 2016, then we will report any necessary amounts to the Internal Revenue Service on 2016 tax forms mailed in early 2017.

We cannot provide any advice on tax liability or effect on public assistance, and neither can Ocwen or the New York Department of Financial Services. If you believe that accepting the payment may affect your public assistance benefits, you have the option to reject the payment. This is called “disclaiming” a payment.

You cannot disclaim the payment and cash the check. You must do one or the other. If you cash the check, we will report any required amounts to the IRS even if you complete a Payment Disclaimer Form. If you disclaim the payment, we will not report information about the payment to the Internal Revenue Service.

You cannot disclaim the payment and cash the check. You must do one or the other. If you cash the check, we will report any required amounts to the IRS even if you complete a Payment Disclaimer Form. If you disclaim the payment, we will not report information about the payment to the Internal Revenue Service.

To disclaim your payment, complete and return the Payment Disclaimer Form with the original check.

To have a copy of the form mailed to you, please call 1-877-541-3110 or email info@OcwenNYDFSPayments.com.