Ocwen to pay $100M penalty for homeowner violations

Ocwen financial office
Ocwen financial office

Ocwen Financial Corporation, once based in West Palm Beach, reached a settlement today with the New York Department of Financial Services related to a recent investigation proving Ocwen profited from managing and foreclosing on defaulted home loans.

Ocwen, which still has an office in West Palm, had about 360 employees there and 61 in Riviera Beach in 2012. As part of the settlement, the company will pay a penalty of $100 million to the DFS, and Ocwen founder William C. Erbey will resign by mid-January, after nearly 30 years of service.

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Erbey owns 20.7 million shares of Ocwen, 6.8 million of Altisource Portfolio Solutions, 2.3 million shares of Altisource Residential Corp., as well as thousands of shares of Home Loan Servicing Solutions and Altisource Asset Managment Corp., according to SEC filings. Shares in all five companies took a plunge today, the Palm Beach Post reported.

About a year ago, a federal complaint was filed alleging misconduct by Ocwen for “…premature and unauthorized foreclosures, violations of homeowners’ rights and protections, and the use of false and deceptive documents and affidavits, including robo-signing,”  according to a press release from the Florida Attorney General’s Office, resulting in Ocwen signing a $2.1 billion settlement. [Palm Beach Post] –Kristina Puga