Ocwen, Assurant Force-Placed Insurance Settlement Gets Final OK

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On Monday, a Florida federal judge granted final approval to a class action settlement over allegations Ocwen Financial Corp. and Assurant Inc. imposed excessive force-placed insurance premiums upon mortgage borrowers, overruling all objections to the deal.

The force-placed insurance class action settlement was initially reached in April. According to court documents, approximately 400,000 Class Members are eligible for payment from the deal.

The force-placed insurance settlement resolves allegations that Ocwen and Assurant entered into an exclusive agreement to force-place expensive insurance policies on mortgage borrowers who were not covered by insurance. The force-placed insurance class action lawsuit alleged Ocwen received unauthorized kickbacks from Assurant through the exclusive agreement between the companies.

Force-placed insurance (also called lender-placed insurance or LPI) is flood, flood gap, hazard or wind insurance coverage that is placed on a borrower’s property by the mortgage lender to protect the property when the borrower’s insurance policy lapses or when the borrower fails to maintain a policy that is acceptable to the lender.

In approving the Ocwen class action settlement, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman disagreed with objectors’ argument that requiring Class Members to file claims was an unnecessary hurdle to recovery.

Judge Goodwin found that only five Class Members objected to the force-placed insurance class action settlement, and two of them have withdrawn their objection. Only 160 Class Members requested exclusion from the settlement. The judge also found that the financial compensation – about 12.5 percent of the Net Premium charged by Ocwen for force-placed insurance during the Class Period – was generous to Class Members.

“Unlike some consumer class settlements, this is not a low-dollar value or ‘coupon’ settlement,” Judge Goodman wrote in his final approval order. “In many instances, perhaps most, the Claim Settlement Relief will be worth hundreds of dollars to the average Claimant.” He stressed that this compensation is comparable to what Class Members may have received had they prevailed at trial.

Under the terms of the Ocwen force-placed insurance class action settlement, Class Members include: “All borrowers in the United States who, from Jan. 1, 2008 through Jan. 23, 2015, were charged by Ocwen under a hazard, flood, flood gap or wind-only LPI Policy for residential property, and who, within the Class Period, either (i) paid to Ocwen the Net Premium for that LPI Policy or (ii) did not pay to and still owe Ocwen the Net Premium for that LPI Policy.”

It is not too late to file a claim for the force-placed insurance settlement. “The Claim Deadline will not run until 60 days after the Settlement has been finally approved or any resulting appeal has been resolved,” according to the order granting final approval to the force-placed insurance class action settlement. The settlement website indicates that the claim filing deadline is Dec. 14, 2015.

To file a claim for the Ocwen and Assurant force-placed insurance class action settlement, visit www.LeeSettlementInfo.com. More information about how to file a claim is also available at the Ocwen, Assurant Force-Placed Insurance Class Action Settlement.

The Class is represented by Adam M. Moskowitz, Thomas Tucker Ronzetti, Rachel Sullivan and Robert J. Neary of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton PA, Aaron S. Podhurst, Peter Prieto and Matthew P. Weinshall of Podhurst Orseck PA, and Lance A. Harke, Sarah Clasby Engel and Howard M. Bushman of Harke Clasby & Bushman LLP.

The Ocwen, Assurant Force-Placed Insurance Class Action Lawsuit is Lee v. Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, et al., Case No. 0:14-cv-60649, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.