File Complaint with OCC

If you suspect your lender is using fraudulent loan or mortgage practices, you will want to file a complaint with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC’s job is to ensure banks are operating within legal guidelines and treating customers fairly. Each complaint submitted to the OCC must be investigated, and users can visit the official website to submit a claim or for more information.

It is important for homeowners facing foreclosure to note that banks and lenders cannot foreclose when there is an OCC complaint open against their institution. It often takes a long time for claims to be investigated, so filing a complaint can buy borrowers some time. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of homeowners have been wrongfully foreclosed on without knowing it. It’s very possible that you could even be a victim of foreclosure fraud yourself.

The best tool you have at your disposal in a foreclosure situation is information. Gather your documents early and be familiar with them. This is a practice you will want to keep up throughout the duration of the process. Keep any documentation that arrives between you and your lender, the OCC, the Foreclosure Trustee, and any other document you find relevant. Some of the documentation will need to be created yourself by taking vigilant notes, making copies, and printing e-mail correspondence.

You will want to have a notebook ready to take notes in case somebody contacts you concerning your loan or foreclosure case. When you receive a call, find out as much information as you can about who is calling. Make a note of employee names, ID numbers, when calls occurred, phone numbers, departments, geographic location, and what special actions the contact takes for you (such as mailing out information, agreeing to a follow-up correspondence, and so on).

Write down as many notes about the conversation as you can. You don’t have to transcribe it word-for-word, but detailed notes can only benefit your case. If the person you are speaking with seems to contradict himself or you don’t understand something, ask them to repeat it until you do. Make a special note of this in your log. It is your right to understand information that comes to you. The more data you collect, the stronger your case may be. Even one slip-up by your lending institution can cause a court to find them fraudulent.

Record early, and record often. Knowledge is power when it comes to legal manners, and foreclosure is a complicated process. Refer to your notes and documents frequently so you are ready to address any question that comes your way. With the right efforts and a good amount of diligence, you can prevent wrongful foreclosure or make the effects less drastic.

One comment

  1. I am facing foreclosure within the next week, I had to terminate the lawyer I had because, it seemed he was working to gather information for the plaintiff, so I have been working on my own, I have a lot of paperwork including a mortgage payoff letter and all the closing documents from Lend America, GMAC and now Ocwen who is suing me. One attorneys office filed the lawsuit and all the correspondences were to another. I asked for the names and addresses of the shareholders and they gave me Ocwens’, whom I am sure is just the servicer or should I say debt collector. I recently received a letter stating that the ownership of my loan was sold to EverBank in Florida.

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