Ocwen has outsourced their call center to India.  The front lines answer a question using a script, and is highly motivated to stick to the script and process as many calls as possible.  Getting a call escalated, no matter the justification, is virtually impossible.

My short sale began with another lender, and transferred to Ocwen with 30 days left until the trustee sale.  When files transfer, do not make an assumption that the short sale application will follow from one lender to the next.  I resubmitted the entire short sale application to Ocwen, along with the letter that informed the seller that the loan was being transferred.  When I made my initial call with Ocwen, the had not yet assigned a new Ocwen number, and needed to look up the loan using the seller’s full social security number.  Once that was provided, I was provided the new Ocwen loan number.

With all the documentation completed, the only item left to do was a valuation.  Ocwen does not order BPOs, instead they ask the listing agent to complete a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) excel file, and attach 4 color photographs for each comparable property.   The Ocwen rep explained to me that once the CMA is received, an answer would be available within 2-3 business days.  We had the listing agent complete the excel file, we produced a PDF file and submitted it to Ocwen.

As the trustee sale approached, it took no less than 5 calls to obtain a postponement of a trustee sale:

Call 1 –  Ocwen rep #1 told us that the file was headed to foreclosure because we had turned in an incomplete CMA.  I inquired as to why the file was marked as incomplete, and the rep said that the CMA was hand written, and that the color photographs were missing.  This was obviously the wrong CMA, so I asked the rep to open the file to verify, but the rep  only had access to the comments to the CMA, and not the CMA itself.  The rep said that I would be getting a call back within the hour from a manager.

Call 2 – My call was not returned, so I made another call.  Ocwen rep #2 also gave us the same response, missing information and that the file needed to be typed.  I explained that this was impossible since we submitted a PDF file created directly from the Excel file.  In addition, the rep said it was too late to process the short sale, and that Ocwen does not postpone trustee sale if the short sale was not processed in time.  I claimed that the delay was due to an Ocwen error, and that we should not be penalized.  The rep stood by the fact that Ocwen did not commit an error, claiming that he was looking at our CMA.  I asked him to verify two other fields, and he was unable to – indicating that we had caught him in a lie.  Instead of attacking, I expressed empathy and just requested that a manager step forward and handle this exception.  Again, we were told a manager would call within the hour.

Call 3 – No call was returned.  This time I spoke with Ocwen rep #3,  who seemed to empathize, and did not argue about with the facts we’ve presented.   She did hold to the company line, “There’s nothing I can do about this.”, and we agreed with her, and responded that there is someone in the department who would be able to handle exceptions, especially in the case where an Ocwen error has occurred.  Because we did not resist her constant repetition of the company line, and asked the open ended question “What can be done?”, she was able to provide us a name of a manager and transfer us to his extension where we left a voicemail message requesting a return call.

Call 4 – Still no call from the manager.  Calling back I reached Ocwen rep #4, whose first response was that the file did not have enough time to complete.   We then quoted the instructions we were given in our initial call, and the fact that his colleague confirmed that an error had been made, and that we were transferred to a manager.  The lesson here is that specific documentation earns you credibility, and the right to access to their escalation procedure.  We were put on hold for a manager, and after being on hold for 25 minutes, the call was dropped.

Call 5 – During the last hour of the day, we called in to explain that we were on hold to speak to a specific manager, and that we were dropped after 25 minutes.  Ocwen rep #5 confirmed that the manager was still in the office, but was currently on the phone.  We agreed to be on hold, and the rep got back to us periodically to see if we were still there.  After 30 more minutes on hold, we were able to reach a manager directly, and was able to resend the CMA file directly to his email address and enable him to order the postponement of the trustee sale.

Lessons

• Don’t make assumptions.  Be proactive in resubmitting files, especially if files transfer from one lender to another.
• When someone states: “There’s nothing I can do”, thank them, and them for the name of someone who has the authority.  There is always someone who has the authority.
• While a rep may intentionally lie to get you off the phone, to increase the purchase price, do your best to refrain from attacking, and to get back into collaboration mode.  Ask “How can we work together to complete the processing of the short sale application?”
• Documentation is important.  By logging the specifics of every single call, you are demonstrating your organizational skills and professionalism, standing out from the hundreds of impatient callers.  You earn the right to escalate, instead of being put back into the pending pile.
• Be persistent.  With each call, have a goal in mind as to the next milestone you would like to reach: getting an email address, phone number, manager’s name, or commitment for a return call.