Is It Time To Pressure The Lenders?

A senior House Democrat threatened banks Wednesday that if they don’t volunteer to save more homeowners from foreclosure, Congress will make them according to Washington AP. Rep. Barney Frank had strong words for the banks about the help that’s really coming down for homeowners. Loan Modifications are not happening for most distressed homeowners and Short Sales are taking up to 6 months to get approved and closed making many buyers frustrated to the point of canceling the sale sometimes only days away from approvals.

Banks are countering with a line that they can’t handle the volume that’s coming through their system. Hey, I know, how ’bout hiring some qualified staff! Or maybe that would be just asking too much. Even their own employees are complaining that they can’t get through the workload.

Frank states that we might have to return to allowing bankruptcy judges modify the loans in their BK proceedings and requiring banks to lower the payments for homeowners. Great Idea! We need a little leverage to get the lenders to negotiate on loan mods. Any help will be highly appreciated.

Get the housing markets moving again and let’s just see how our distressed economy changes.

Kudos Mr. Frank. Love to hear from more of you on this.

Kudos to Wachovia

News from Wachovia. They could be setting a precedent in the Short Sale time line. They are currently running a pilot program in the Bay area as far south as Landcaster. So, it has not reached the LA area yet. The goal is to close a Short Sale transaction in 45 days. Did you catch that! 45 days from the time a Short Sale package is received. This system could change a lot in the industry and hopefully other banks will develop a similiar system. Paperwork is being decreased significantly and response time has been increased significatly. We’ll be watching to see which banks follow in Wachovia’s shadow. One catch. Since Wells Fargo has taken over Wachovia, hopefully it won’t change this policy back to the stone ages again.

Go Wachovia!…..

If you need more information on a possible Short Sale on your home or investment property, click here…

Short Sales taking up to 6 Months to Close

If you are looking at purchasing a Short Sale the time involvement can be up to six months. Many banks are trying to catch up to the wave of Short Sales and unfortunately are not properly staffed to handle the volume. I am experiencing heavy delays recently as more and more short sale get backed up in the system. The worst offender right now is Bank of America. It can take up to 2 weeks for a short sale package to even be processed into their system once you send it over.

 Buyers are looking for the deals and they can usually get a great price on a Short Sale as long as they are willing to wait. Your Real Estate agents should be preparing you and disclosing to you the entire process. It will save you headaches and frustration down the road. As more and more Short Sales take place I’m hoping that the lenders will staff up and move these transaction along.

Make sure your agent is following up weekly with the listing agent and asking the right questions to see where in the process your Short Sale offer is. If it’s taking way to long he should asking to escalate the file.

Stay tuned….

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