Bookkeeping Error Leads To Loss Of Home To Foreclosure Despite No Missed Payments; Ocwen Then Backpedals, Rescinds Sale After Local Media Intervenes

In Houston, Texas, KTRK Channel 13 reports:

• [O]ne couple found themselves facing eviction, through no fault of their own, until Action 13 Consumer reporter Jeff Ehling got involved. The family made their payments but mistakes were made by the mortgage company that lead to foreclosure and could of had a family out in the streets had we not gotten involved. Bill and Pam Marquis faced a nightmare no homeowner wants to go through. "They foreclosed on us," said Bill.

• The Marquises say the trouble started when, without their knowledge, their mortgage was sold from one company to another then a third. It was a fact the couple only discovered after calling their original loan company. "That's when we got word that they sold the note to Cinlar, and we called Cinlar, and they said they sold the note to Ocwen," Bill said.

• After calling Ocwen Financial, the family got another surprise. "They said we do have your note, everything is on file, but you are very delinquent," said Bill. The Marquises then learned the company had the wrong address for their home, and because of that, the mortgage company's delinquency letters never made it to them. The couple says even though they were making payments every month, Ocwen Financial saw the couple as being delinquent by several thousand dollars due to an apparent mix-up involving an escrow account.

• "They thought that we did not have our own insurance, that they were covering our insurance, but they were not, we have our own outside insurance. And we had already paid our taxes and they said, 'No, we paid your taxes and you owe us escrow on the taxes,'" said Pam. Despite months of trying to get a solution, the family says just this week they were given an eviction notice. The family was told they had 15 days to leave the property, which includes the burial site for the ashes of Pam's mom and sister.

• "When they told us we were going to lose the house, it was just devastating, It just tore me up," Pam said. After we talked to the family, we decided to contact Ocwen Financial and spoke with an executive vice president who told us they would look into the Marquis family eviction. One week later that VP told us, "The erroneous data point from the prior loan company seems to have caused much of the confusion. We did notify the borrower today that the foreclosure has been rescinded." Now the company says the family can stay in their home.

• "I really believe you saved our house," Bill told us. The couple says they tried for months to get their mortgage problems fixed, but it took our involvement to get that foreclosure notice rescinded.

Source: Mortgage mix-up nearly costs family their home.