The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered Ocwen Financial Corporation to provide $2 billion in principal forgiveness relief to homeowners through the next three years as part of a larger settlement agreement, Reverse Mortgage Daily reported yesterday. The mortgage servicer announced a settlement agreement yesterday with the CFPB and state officials resolving allegations it mistreated consumers and committed “systemic misconduct at every stage of the mortgage servicing process,” according to the Bureau. Ocwen, the parent company of Liberty Home Equity Solutions, has been accused of failing to record borrowers’ mortgage payments in a timely manner, and improperly forcing them to purchase costly homeowners insurance policies. Terms of the agreement include a commitment by Ocwen to service loans in accordance with specified servicing guidelines and to be subject to oversight by an independent national monitor for three years. The mortgage servicer must also pay $127.3 million to a consumer relief fund that will be disbursed by an independent administrator to eligible borrowers.
