In re Marino (Ocwen Loan Servicing v. Marino), ___BR___, 2017 WL 6553691 (appeals Nos. 16-1229, 16-1238) (B.A.P. 9th Cir. Dec. 22, 2017)
In re Marino (Ocwen Loan Servicing v. Marino), ___BR___, 2017 WL 6553691 (appeals Nos. 16-1229, 16-1238) (B.A.P. 9th Cir. Dec. 22, 2017).
BAP upheld Bankruptcy Court ordering Ocwen, the servicer for mortgage company, to pay $119,000 in monetary sanctions to bankruptcy debtors, Christopher and Valerie Marino, for Ocwen’s violation of debtors’ bankruptcy discharge, by Ocwen’s continuous confusing contact with the discharged debtors by the mortgage servicer was appropriately sanctioned at $1,000 per violation notwithstanding the servicer’s formulaic and contradictory disclaimers in some of the correspondence. Debtors, Christopher and Valerie Marino, surrendered their real property in their chapter 7 bankruptcy. After they received their discharge in June, 2013, the court granted the mortgagee relief from the automatic stay and closed the case. From June, 2013, through April, 2015, Ocwen, as servicer for the mortgagee, sent nineteen letters stating the amount owed on the debt as the “amount you must pay,” and providing payment due dates. Some of the letters contained the disclaimer that, “if you have received a discharge in bankruptcy, this notification is for informational purposes only and is not intended to collect a pre-petition or discharged debt.” Ocwen also made approximately one hundred calls to the Marinos seeking payment on the discharged debt.