Ocwen Financial Comments on Conclusion of Mediation With the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
06 January 2021 - 10:30PM
Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE: OCN) (“Ocwen” or the “Company”),
a leading non-bank mortgage servicer and originator, today issued
the following statement in response to the mediator’s notice that
the Company’s court-ordered mediation with the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) had concluded. The parties
were unable to reach a settlement related to the lawsuit filed by
the CFPB in 2017 against the Company regarding certain legacy
servicing activities.
“We are disappointed that settlement discussions with the CFPB
did not resolve this matter, in particular since we have resolved
all state regulatory actions filed against Ocwen in April 2017,
most recently through a settlement reached with the State of
Florida in October 2020. We engaged with the Bureau in good faith
throughout the course of mediation and numerous related discussions
and took all actions in an attempt to reach a fair and reasonable
resolution. We remain steadfast in our belief that the CFPB’s
claims regarding Ocwen’s past servicing practices are
unsubstantiated and the Bureau’s settlement demands do not reflect
the merits of this case. While we remain committed to attempting to
resolve this matter prior to trial, our pending motion for summary
judgment filed on June 5, 2020 supports our position on this
matter, and we will continue to vigorously defend ourselves going
forward.”
The Company increased its legal and regulatory accrual related
to the CFPB matter by $13.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020
resulting from its efforts to resolve the matter in mediation.
About Ocwen Financial Corporation
Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE: OCN) is a leading non-bank
mortgage servicer and originator providing solutions through its
primary brands, PHH Mortgage and Liberty Reverse Mortgage. PHH
Mortgage is one of the largest servicers in the country, focused on
delivering a variety of servicing and lending programs. Liberty is
one of the nation’s largest reverse mortgage lenders dedicated to
education and providing loans that help customers meet their
personal and financial needs. We are headquartered in West Palm
Beach, Florida, with offices in the United States and the U.S.
Virgin Islands and operations in India and the Philippines, and
have been serving our customers since 1988. For additional
information, please visit our website (www.ocwen.com).
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. These forward-looking statements may be identified by a
reference to a future period or by the use of forward-looking
terminology. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by
words such as “expect”, “believe”, “foresee”, “anticipate”,
“intend”, “estimate”, “goal”, “strategy”, “plan” “target” and
“project” or conditional verbs such as “will”, “may”, “should”,
“could” or “would” or the negative of these terms, although not all
forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking
statements by their nature address matters that are, to different
degrees, uncertain. We are in the midst of a period of capital
markets volatility and experiencing significant changes within the
mortgage lending and servicing ecosystem which have magnified such
uncertainties. Readers should bear these factors in mind when
considering such statements and should not place undue reliance on
such statements.
Forward-looking statements involve a number of assumptions,
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially. In the past, actual results have differed from those
suggested by forward looking statements and this may happen again.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, uncertainty relating to the future
impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including with respect to the
response of the U.S. government, state governments, the Federal
National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan
Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac, and together with Fannie Mae,
the GSEs), the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie
Mae) and regulators, as well as the potential for ongoing
disruption in the financial markets and in commercial activity
generally, increased unemployment, and other financial difficulties
facing our borrowers; impacts on our operations resulting from
employee illness, social distancing measures and our shift to
greater utilization of remote work arrangements; the adequacy of
our financial resources, including our sources of liquidity and
ability to sell, fund and recover servicing advances, forward and
reverse whole loans, and HECM and forward loan buyouts and put
backs, as well as repay, renew and extend borrowings, borrow
additional amounts as and when required, meet our MSR or other
asset investment objectives and comply with our debt agreements,
including the financial and other covenants contained in them;
increased servicing costs based on increased borrower delinquency
levels or other factors; our ability to collect anticipated tax
refunds, including on the timeframe expected; the future of our
long-term relationship and remaining servicing agreements with New
Residential Investment Corp. (NRZ), our ability to execute an
orderly and timely transfer of responsibilities in connection with
the previously disclosed termination by NRZ of the PMC subservicing
agreement, including our ability to respond to any concerns raised
by regulators, lenders and other contractual counterparties in
connection with such transfer; our ability to timely adjust our
cost structure and operations as the loan transfer process is being
completed in response to the previously disclosed termination by
NRZ of the PMC subservicing agreement; our ability to continue to
improve our financial performance through cost re-engineering
efforts and other actions; our ability to continue to grow our
origination business and increase our origination volumes in a
competitive market and uncertain interest rate environment;
uncertainty related to claims, litigation, cease and desist orders
and investigations brought by government agencies and private
parties regarding our servicing, foreclosure, modification,
origination and other practices, including uncertainty related to
past, present or future investigations, litigation, cease and
desist orders and settlements with state regulators, the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), State Attorneys General, the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Justice
or the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and
actions brought under the False Claims Act regarding incentive and
other payments made by governmental entities; adverse effects on
our business as a result of regulatory investigations, litigation,
cease and desist orders or settlements and related responses by key
counterparties, including lenders, the GSEs and Ginnie Mae; our
ability to comply with the terms of our settlements with regulatory
agencies, as well as general regulatory requirements, and the costs
of doing so; increased regulatory scrutiny and media attention; any
adverse developments in existing legal proceedings or the
initiation of new legal proceedings; our ability to interpret
correctly and comply with liquidity, net worth and other financial
and other requirements of regulators, the GSEs and Ginnie Mae, as
well as those set forth in our debt and other agreements; our
ability to comply with our servicing agreements, including our
ability to comply with our agreements with, and the requirements
of, the GSEs and Ginnie Mae and maintain our seller/servicer and
other statuses with them; our ability to fund future draws on
existing loans in our reverse mortgage portfolio; our servicer and
credit ratings as well as other actions from various rating
agencies, including the impact of prior or future downgrades of our
servicer and credit ratings; as well as other risks and
uncertainties detailed in Ocwen’s reports and filings with the SEC,
including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2019 and its current and quarterly reports since such
date. Anyone wishing to understand Ocwen’s business should review
its SEC filings. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of
the date they are made and, we disclaim any obligation to update or
revise forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Investors: |
Media: |
June Campbell |
Dico Akseraylian |
T: (856) 917-3190 |
T: (856) 917-0066 |
E:
shareholderrelations@ocwen.com |
E: mediarelations@ocwen.com |
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