Mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial Corp. failed to ensure that its efforts to comply with a 2012 mortgage-abuse settlement were sufficiently independent from the company’s managers, an independent monitor said, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Joseph A. Smith Jr., a watchdog charged with measuring mortgage firms’ performance under the 2012 settlement, said yesterday that he has directed accounting firm McGladrey LLP to examine Ocwen’s work after an Ocwen employee alleged that the company’s internal review of mortgage-servicing practices wasn’t truly independent. After the 2012 settlement, firms were required to form review committees to oversee their adherence to the pact. Smith will release a report today on Ocwen detailing and validating problems originally raised by the unnamed Ocwen whistleblower. Smith also will review other mortgage-servicing firms.
