Ocwen Financial Reaches Deal With California Department Of Business Oversight

(RTTNews) - Ocwen Financial Corp. (OCN) said that effective January 23, 2015, Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC or "OLS", a wholly owned subsidiary of Ocwen Financial, reached an agreement with the California Department of Business Oversight or the "CA DBO", which will result in the CA DBO withdrawing its notice of hearing to suspend OLS's license in California.

OLS and the CA DBO entered into a Consent Order pursuant to the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act with the CA DBO to reflect such settlement. The Consent Order addresses and resolves the examination disputes between the CA DBO and OLS, and does not involve any accusation or admission of wrongdoing with regard to OLS's servicing practices.

As per the terms of the Consent Order, OLS will pay the CA DBO a penalty in the amount of $2.5 million plus their costs associated with the examination within ten days of the effective date of the Consent Order. OLS also agreed to cease acquiring any additional mortgage servicing rights or "MSRs" for loans secured in California until the CA DBO is satisfied that OLS can satisfactorily respond to the requests for information and documentation made in the course of a regulatory exam.

In addition, the CA DBO will select an independent third party auditor to assess OLS's compliance with laws and regulations impacting California borrowers for an initial term of 2 years, extendable at the discretion of the CA DBO. OLS will pay all reasonable and necessary costs of the Auditor. The Auditor will report periodically on its findings and progress and OLS will submit to the CA DBO a written plan to address and implement corrective measures and address any deficiencies identified by the Auditor.

Failure to meet the requirements of the Consent Order could result in additional regulatory action by the CA DBO.