Ocwen Financial Corporation [1], a Florida-based financial services holding company, is partnering with New York-based charitable organizations to host a trio of borrower outreach events beginning Wednesday, June 6. Ocwen previously participated in numerous similar events during 2018, meeting with more than 550 Ocwen customers and working to help New York area borrowers and homeowners who were struggling to make their mortgage payments.
Ocwen currently services more than 68,000 loans in New York. For this round of June borrower outreach events, Ocwen is joining forces with three local organizations: Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, Inc. [2]; Community Housing Innovations [3]; and Neighborhood Housing Services of Brooklyn [4].
The announced June events kick off Wednesday morning, and include the following:
- Wednesday, June 6, 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET, at NHS Brooklyn, located at 2806 Church Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. For more information call 718.469.4679.
- Thursday, June 7, from 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET, at the Crowne Plaza, located at 66 Hale Ave., White Plains, New York. For more information visit the event webpage [5].
- Saturday, June 9, from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET, at 2475 Westchester Ave., Bronx, New York. For more information call 929.268.3790.
Attendees will be able to meet with Ocwen Home Retention Agents as well as HUD [6]-approved counseling agencies to learn about their options that could help lower their mortgage payments and help get them back on more stable financial footing.
“Despite a better economic environment, the high attendance rate at our previous New York events demonstrates that many borrowers still have difficulty meeting their mortgage payments,” said Jill Showell, SVP of Government and Community Relations at Ocwen. “Working closely with seasoned non-profit housing counselors, Ocwen’s goal is to meet in-person with as many borrowers as possible to find responsible solutions to help families remain in their homes and part of their communities.”
During Ocwen’s Q1 2018 earnings report [7], the servicer spotlighted its initiatives to help borrowers avoid foreclosure. According to Ocwen, the servicer reported 11,598 loan modifications during Q1, 17 percent of which included debt forgiveness totaling $59 million. Ocwen also reported a decrease in loan delinquencies from 9.3 percent as of December 31, 2017, to 9.0 percent as of March 31, 2018. Ocwen said this decrease was “primarily driven by loss mitigation efforts.”
The servicer has also seen some significant personnel changes in recent months. In April, Ocwen announced [8] that Glen Messina would take over as the company’s President after Ron Faris announced his retirement. Only last week, Ocwen EVP and CFO Michael Bourque also announced his impending retirement [9], having accepted a position with another financial services company. Ocwen reported at the time that they had begun a search for qualified internal and external candidates to fill the CFO position.
To learn more about Ocwen’s borrower outreach events, you can click here [10].