Ocwen sued over mortgage abuses

State and federal agencies on Thursday filed lawsuits against Ocwen Financial Corp., accusing the West Palm Beach-based company and its subsidiaries of repeated mortgageservicing abuses.

Ocwen allegedly filed illegal foreclosures, collected excessive fees, mishandled loan modifications and misapplied mortgage payments, according to Florida’s offices of the Attorney General and Financial Regulation.

Meanwhile, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau inWashington accused the mortgageservicing giant of basic errors, such as ignoring customer complaints, sending inaccurate monthly statements and not properly crediting payments.

“Ocwen has repeatedly made mistakes and taken shortcuts at every stage of the mortgage servicing process, costing some consumers money and others their homes,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a statement.

News of the complaints sent Ocwen’s shares plummeting Thursday by nearly 54 percent on the Nasdaq. They closed at $2.49, down $2.91.

Thecompany said the accusations by the federal agency are “inaccurate,” “unfounded” and the result of a “self-serving conclusion.”

Ocwen said it’s the state

“Ocwen strongly disputes the CFPB’s claim that Ocwen’s mortgage loan still reviewing allegations. servicing practices have caused substantial consumer harm,” the statement said. “In fact, just the opposite is true. Ocwen believes its mortgage loan servicing practices have and continue to result in substantial benefits to consumers above and beyond other mortgage servicers.”

At year-end 2016, Ocwen serviced nearly 1.4 million loans with a total unpaid balance of $209 billion, according to CFPB.

The office of Florida At-