San Jose Short Sale Agent: Silicon Valley Foreclosure Prevention Specialists

Although there was much anticipation that HAFA would streamline the short sale approval process, it is still, at best, a work in progress.  Some Lenders  (Loan Servicers) have gotten better in streamlining their decision making process, while other s are still taking their sweet time.   Overall, it is getting better, but not to the extent it was anticipated.   And this is for HAFA approved short sales; we are not even talking about the other short sales.

There are still the traditional (non-HAFA – because they don’t meet all of the requirements) short sales which are not required to follow the standardized guidelines set out by HAFA.   Because these short sales fall outside of the HAFA standardized guidelines, they languish in the lawless world of  “short sale hell” where lenders linger and contemplate until buyers walk away after months from frustration of non-response to their offers.  There seems to be no sense of urgency to protect and preserve offers in hand; the bottom line is, if the buyer walks away and the property has to be put back on the market, the probability is that the subsequent offer will bring in a lower price.   It is in the best interest of the lender to quickly approve their bona fide buyer before they walk, but the negotiators often do not seem to understand this dynamic.

Everyone understands that the homeowner’s lenders have to do their own appraisal to ensure that the offer price is in line with current market value.  But how much time do you need to make that determination?   In a regular sale, the buyer’s own lender will send out an appraiser to make sure the buyer is not overpaying; this can typically be done in less than two weeks.  So why does it take the homeowner’s lenders to hire the same people, yet it takes them months sometimes from hiring said appraiser to reaching their own valuation to approve the sale?     It is not reasonable and something is broken.

Two Congressmen from states with high foreclosure rates have reached the same conclusion and are trying to pass a bill to remedy these needless delays.    Apparently they have heard enough complaints from distressed homeowners who were losing buyers and being needlessly forced into foreclosures.    The new legislation would force lenders to make a decision within 45 days of receiving an offer.    Short Sales are anticipated to increase in the coming months, so it naturally makes sense to free up the bottleneck and permit the decision making process to move forward in a more expedient manner.   Hoorah for Congressmen Andrews and Cooney on their bi-partisan effort!

Here is an interesting article about how the BBB (Better Business Bureau) rated the major loan servicing companies which handle loan modification and short sales.  It’s was an interesting read for me because I was having a lot of difficulties recently with Chase, they have been ruthless and unreasonable in their demands, especially when they are in junior positions.  It used to be that Bank of America was the bank that everyone doing short sales bad mouthed; but my feeling was Chase was getting up there.

I was far from surprised to discover that Chase had received an “F”  from the consumers who were dealing with them.  The interesting fact is that Bank of America, which used to be at the bottom has now received an “A+”!  I can attest to this change  as well, because with the implementation of Equator into their short sale business and with their executive, Matt Vernon’s, committment to change the way they approached short sales,  their level or service and the speed with which they handle matters have changed  180 degrees.   They are one of the best to work with right now.

Another interesting point that the article tackles is the bait and switch loan mods that we are beginning to hear about.  Homeowners being strung out for months on these “temporary modifications” and while waiting (and paying) getting foreclosed on without notice.  At first, these instances sounded like anomalies, but the frequency of these instances is increasing; thereby indicating some sort of concerted effort rather than mere fluke incidents.

See what grade your loan servicer received.

http://www.shamethebanks.org/jorge/bbb-f-grades-to-chase-litton-ocwen