Ocwen Adds New Directors with U.S. Treasury, FHLB Experience

Ocwen Financial Corp. named two new members to its board of directors Wednesday, as the nonbank servicer works to repair its image in the eyes of regulators and investors.

Phyllis Caldwell and DeForest Blake Soaries, Jr. were named as new independent directors, Atlanta-based Ocwen said in a press release Wednesday.

Caldwell previously worked as chief of the Homeownership Preservation Office at the Treasury Department, where she oversaw foreclosure prevention initiatives through the Troubled Asset Relief Program and provided oversight of housing market recovery efforts. She has also served as a community development banking executive at Bank of America.

Soaries is a former New Jersey secretary of state and commissioner of the United States Election Assistance Commission. He currently serves as a director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and as senior pastor of a Baptist church in Somerset, N.J., among other positions.

Ocwen agreed to pay $150 million as part of a settlement with New York regulators last month. Ocwen's founder and executive chairman, William Erbey, also agreed to step down from Ocwen and a spinoff company, Altisource Portfolio Solutions — though he will receive $1.2 million in cash and other considerations in a severance package.

Meanwhile, California regulators are currently seeking to suspend Ocwen's licenses in that state, while Altisource recently announced massive layoffs and restructuring as a result of the scrutiny facing Ocwen, its biggest customer.