Locked ownership and permissions FTP and edit Theme problem

I've been customizing the Theme (wherever it's not possible through the control panel) directly via the template files, but whenever I have a new theme folder, I have to keep contacting the web hosting co. to unlock the folder. I was told by the hosting co. that it wasn't a permissions problem, but an Ownership problem, so they have to keep changing 'ownership' definition to unlock the themes. However, when they do that, I can no longer save the changed theme via the 'Edit Theme' on the control panel. When I try to save I see a flash of text appear and dissappear on the screen and the theme is not saved. So I have to save it as a different theme name at which point I have to contact the hosting co. again to unlock it if I want to do more modifications to the template or the css or any file I want to FTP on the new theme. Having to go back and forth is a pain. Is there a way around this? Thank you.