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BANK OF AMERICA - Who Are These Guys? And, Why Are They Killing My Short Sale Transactions?

Greetings from Chicago, folks!

Normally, I am not one to vent on this Public Forum. But, as the immortal actor Peter Finch made famous in the 1976 film, "Network," . . .

"I'm Mad As Hell, and I'm Not Going to Take It Anymore!"

Over the last two years, our Chicago Real Estate Team has closed roughly one dozen short sales, from banks, large and small, across the U.S.

Several accepted short sale transactions have not closed. In these situations, either the buyers have refused to wait for bank approval, or the seller simply threw in the towel and gave up, waiting for foreclosure to come.

Coincidentally, the unsuccessful transactions each had one commonality.

At least one of the loans involved was held by . . . you guessed it . . .

THE BANK OF AMERICA!

A good example of that Major Financial Institution's troubled priorities comes from one listing we have in the Southwest Suburbs of Chicago.

In multiple offers, the seller accepted an close to his asking price. With strong down payment. No home sale or close contingencies. No inspection issues. In other words, ULTRA-CLEAN!

The buyer was afirst-time homebuyer - and wanted to take advantage of the Fed $8,000 First Time Homebuyer Income Tax Credit. It seemed as if he had plenty of time!

The transaction chronology has proven most troubling -

July 6th - Contract Accepted by Seller

July 13th - Contract Submitted to Lender. It took nearly a week to get the proper fax number (no Overnight Delivery accepted, originally-provided fax number was incorrect, as well as a preliminary approval on my SELLER'S financial credentials completed).

July 14th - Receipt Generated by my fax machine indicated my 103-Page Fax was received by BOA.

July 21st - July 30th - Bank says they never received, they informed my that resending the fax again would only delay the process, and delivery by any other method was not an option at this point.

July 31st - I finally received a helpful clerk out of their Plano TX office, a Ms. M, providing an email address to which the package can be sent. "Don't tell nobody," she intoned. "Or I might get in trouble!"

August 4th - The BOA Automated System says my package is received - but don't call back until Thursday, September 17th - six weeks later - to check status, or my approval will be delayed.

August 5th -I called anyway. The package seemed complete, said the live clerk. However, since this is a Freddie Mac Loan, a special Loss Mitigator/Negotiator would have to be assigned, and these Negotiators are "Very, Very Busy, you know."

August 7th,11th, 13th, 18th, 20th, 25th, 27th, and September 1st - Essentially, the same story.

September 3rd - spoke with an another clerk. Remember the September 17th date. If no action by then, they will escalate the file to an EMERGENCY!

September 8th, 10th, 15th - Call back on the 17th, just like the automated message said.

September 17th - The bank JUST RECEIVED my package. I WAS IRATE- but had to bite my tounge, lest I incur the wrath of a low-paid clerk sending my file to the Shredding Department.

September 21st, 23rd, 25th - The File has Been ESCALATED - but "Please Be Patient," said the clerk. Emergency Escalation can take as much as 10 business days! (Geez - what happens if the building is on fire?)

September 28th - SUCCESS!A Loss Mitigator has been assigned - a Ms. Lambert, in Richardson, TX. I receive an office phone and an email. I call her, and receive a pleasant voice mail, she will call me back right away.

September 29th - no call, another voice mail. Same pleasant greeting!

September 30th, October 1st, October 2nd, October 5th, October 6th, October 7th - Twice each day, same greeting. Each day, another call to main BOA Short Sale number. They can't provide a supervisor. They can't provide an alternate number . . .

BECAUSE THIS REP HAS UP TO 15 BUSINESS DAYS TO RESPOND TO ME! Most, I am told by the gatekeeper clerk, take the full 15 days, some several days longer.

If I do not hear back within the allotted time. We can escalate to an EMERGENCY. Again - 10 more business days!

AND . . . Ms. Lambert is simply a Stage One Negotiator. A Stage Two Negotiator, with a bit more power and authority, will likely take another 30-45 Business Days to Respond, and another 30 Business Days to Approve, or Dis-approve!

Add up all the days, and the weeks - and this particular short sale will likely close sometime during April, 2010! Perhaps!

If the buyer waits that long, that is.

Because, if the buyer does ditch, they will have to start the process all over again, unless, at the Loss Mitigator's sole discretion, and, if the timing is perfect, we can substitute another offer.

Folks, many of the Short Sale Transactions I have worked on are difficult. Lengthy. But most eventually get done!

But Bank of America seems to make their transactions IMPOSSIBLE!

Their objectives, it seems - 1. Completely trash the seller's credit, and 2. Foreclose anyway!

This can't be just me! Have you had a similar experience with the venerable Bank of America?

Please share!

Extra points for a possible solution, or some devine inspiration, at this point!

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

Posted by Dean Moss - Dean's Team Chicago Real Estate Team on 10/07/2009 07:04 PM

Comments (70)

Short Sale Transactions and the Bank of America Prove Most Difficult in the ActiveRain Channel

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Originally posted at: "You've Caught the NET!": BANK OF AMERICA - Who Are These Guys? And, Why Are They Killing My Short Sale Transactions?

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70 Comments on BANK OF AMERICA - Who Are These Guys? And, Why Are They Killing My Short Sale Transactions?

OCT

I had the same experience with BOA it took my buyers from boc to close exactly 7 months. Thank God they were patient. I have had and heard of several other same experiences with BOA not being on the ball. It is like they want to foreclose. I wish you luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll tell you that BOA does not do things legally. They have in house appraisers that have inflated appraisals on properties they lended on and then the buyer finds out later the property isn't worth half what they said it was. You have to watch them.

Now I was told that things really slowed down when they took over Countrywide and that's the reason why their response times have been so delayed. Supposedly once the takeover is completed then things will speed up but I wouldn't hold my breath. Good luck!

OCT

I take it that this is a Countrywide loan. Let's see:

1.Countrywide now BofA does take a long time

2. 104 pages is way too much for a short sale package. They like it to have it simple as they have to go through the entire imaging system.

3. July 31st- She's lying. They all can do this but don't unless it is necessary. Push them and they will do it for you. Did she also tell you to make seperate attachments for the HUD, purchase contract, etc.?

4. August 4th - Another lie. When you go through the prompts and it asks "Are you calling on the status of your loan" say "No" or press 2. You will get transfered to home retention then have them transfer you to worthless short sale support.

5. August 5th - True. The good news is that a government negotiator, regardless of their phase, can take the file from start to finish.

6. September 21st, 23rd, 25th- The sad part is that it gets escalated to the short sale support manager only.

Ok...I am too tired to continue! ;) You are right that they take a long time.

Very scary that these large banks seem to muck up this ever-popular process. Shame, shame.

Hello,

1st I wanted to say I 100% feel your frustration. My company has maybe...1800+ short sales with BOA. There process is horrible. It is everchanging. They've restructured the loss mit dept at least 3 times in the last 2 years.

The facts:

1. BOA consummed Countrywide who oned 1 out 3 mortgages in the USA. (HUGE!!!!)

2. BOA portfolio wasnt the cream of the rop loans to begin with...

So when you have a lender that has a slew of bad loans to begin with coupled with the fact that they consummed CW who we all know was the leader in..."oh you have a pulse??? please sign right here for you million $ mortgage"

Wait!!!! did we all forget???

BOA recently took over TB&W loans as the Feds raided there Ocala, FL headquaters....

so you have a lender who couldnt handle there own bad loans, take on the largest lenders evern larger pool of bad loans.... then bury themselves even deaper with tb&w...??

HMMMMM....Tarp funds anyone?>>>

Ive had a file there escalated 38 times.....DO you know what worked??? Email and mail the entire corporate staff!!!

I could have shaved well over 1billion in loss for this company, they dont seem to care....

Steve Shatsky wrote a great post about this same subject. His post was in response to another just like yours. I personally won't have anything to do with them anymore with all their nonsense in our area over the last year. Yours is just another example of their incompetance. Supposedly they 'understand the problem' and are escalating their response times. Yeah sure.

Bank of America. The name itself implies that it is a Bank for All the People. A Bank that would jump hoops to make an American citizen proud to do business with it.

But it is not any of these. I wish it would change the name. I have had 2 short sales this year with Bank of America. Both have failed. I follow the procedures to the T and have even had discussions with their top Short Sale personnel. Their short sales department is an abomination.

I have a short sale listing that was assigned to 3 negotiators within a period of 2 days. The 2nd negotiator told me she would be the one to carry it through all phases of the process. She countered the $200,000 offer at $259,000. The buyer wouldn't budge. The next day it was assigned to a 3rd negotiator. After leaving several voice mails, he finally sent me an email saying that the offer was rejected and that I needed to bring him an offer closer to $275,000. So, now I'm listed at $259,000 based on the 1st negotiator's counter and now it appears I have to raise the price to $275,000. What? In this depressed market, I have to RAISE the price? Point is, I live in the neighborhood and happen to know that the fair market value is currently $235,000. So, I sent an email to the head of Short Sales and she is out for a week.

What would you do? I'm completely frustrated and am to the point where I'll never accept another Short Sale listing if BOA is involved, and buyers will be advised by me not to make offers on BOA short sale listings.

Same experiences here in California. Can't get them to budge. They can't even move on a full price offers!

My client says that BofA told her that they would be better off foreclosing because their loss would be partially covered by govt. funds or write-off that would not be possible if they accepted a short sale. Has anyone else heard this from their clients? Any one willing to share a good contact number for someone at BofA that will help a short sale go through. I too am frustrated by the fact that it was a bank appraiser who told my clients that their home warranted such a large loan.

I have read in the news that mortgage companies are letting these short sale transactions die because they MAKE MORE money from the fees and fines associated with the home falling into forclosure...

It is just GREED all over again...plain and simple.....

=-P

Because of all of this I just assigned a short sale to a company called Access Loss Mitigation in California that my broker (Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas Ft. Worth) has recommended to handle the short sale.

It costs me over 30% of the commission for their help but if it closes, it is worth it to me. Let them deal with B of A.

So far, they seem to be very professional.

I am continually surprised that NOT ONE seller has threatened to sue BofA for a forced foreclosure. I understand that a debt is still owed but if a proven hardship is in place and we have qualified buyers , a competent CMA is established and maintained, our client has cooperated fully with releasing VERY private information then what is the holdup? Workload is not a valid excuse and management at BOfA is charged with addressing that since the do receive Federal dollars!! Also food for thought-----what happens to our homeowners information?? Social security numbers, name of family members and their socials, etc???? If the info is falling through the cracks, who picks up the papers and where does it go??? Lenders such as Chase and BofA are responsible for our housing value declines. Why can't they fix the issues that they started?

I had 3 offers come in at different times. The first buyers backed out because they want to recieve the first time homebuyers tax credit. As a result of them backing out, BOA started the whole process over again. The Buyers of the second offer have backed out. And now the third offer has backed out. A negotiator was never assigned. They're telling me the whole process will take 30 - 45 days.

Been there with B of A. Their short sale department is horrible. Worse, while we're waiting half a year for an answer, B of A CONTINUES with foreclosure. Many a client has had a full price bone fide offer on their home only to lose the home to foreclosure because the Short Sale Dept didn't have their act together. Hard for all - we work MANY hours to try to see these transactions close, and ultimately all may lose. Including the bank who can't turn around after foreclosure and sell for what they bought it for at auction!

I don't want to hijack your blog with a link to mine ... but I just posted a B of A short sale war story on my blog this morning, with an excerpt from the letter our associate wrote to the Chairman of B of A. Anyone who wants to read it can click on my name below to find my blog. :-)

Also Ruben Garmyn posted the Bank of America Short Sale compliant address yesterday. I would imagine that's a real "dead letter box".

Is Class action necessary with B of A?.

It could be alleged since the acquisition of Countrywide home loans a regular occurrence (which some may infer to as internal policy) the delays of the short sale process may be a huge source of income for Bank of America..

as we are aware.. B of A is not only a bank but also a loan servicing company.. and the understanding is , each month the servicing company collects the servicing fee regardless of the receipt of payment from the property owner. the payments are made by the company they are collecting for. Add to that the foreclosure filling fees.. big collections on that also and we notice that Bank of America boasts a 14 Billion dollar profit this year so far. mostly made up from loan servicing fees.

Like many others i too have been under the daily battle with bank of America , this year I have closed ZERO short sales with bank of America. that's non at all not because I don't know how ive closed many short sales in the past. I am down to a few short sale files and can honestly say after 17 years of running a successful real estate practice I am sickened by the flippant attitude of the loan servicing companies. Namely B of A. The country is being brought to its economical knees on the backs of the tax payers. Whilst phenomenal profits are being reported by the Banks! All this in a one year turn around.

So who has the right to complain and to whom? the buyers? is it fair to the buyer to be strung along? the buyers agents ? Probably more complaints are being filed against the listing agents on short slaes trying to hold them accountable for third party actions. The sellers? T he same argument against the sellers, a short sale is not a right, its a courtesy. the same courtesy of 750billion dollars in bail out money? the holders of the notes? here is where i would like some clarity.. why aren't the note holders screaming directly into the loan servicers ears they 'ARE as MAD as Hell!

What a mess we are making of America, what a sad era our children and grand children will learn about in the years to come.

Active rain is the freest thinking platform from the foot soldiers, exceeds that by the NAR who appears to have as much backbone and stance in this train wreck as a wet blanket.

When my so called active short sales are wrapped up, one way or another i will throw in the towel on short sales and my career. disgusted and disillusioned but ready to champion any worth while cause that exposes the tragedies of those that have and continue to fleece America.

I urge active rainers to continue writing to your congressmen.. I also understand that others of less character will continue to use active rain as a leveraged soapbox by offering the magic bullet on 'how to close a B of a short sale in 30 days or less.

It's time to rise up as a group its time to put our own personal gains to one side, and be a voice that echoes through the country saying we are as MAD AS HELL and are NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!

LETS START TODAY, RIGHT NOW. LET US GATHER SIGNATURES. GATHER LETTERS FROM OWNERS. BUYERS AGENTS BROKERS , ALL THOSE EFFECTED. ONLY WE AS INDIVIDUALS HAVE THE POWER TO MAE A LAST DITCH EFFORT TO AVOID THE NEXT TSUNAMI.

We are tired, we are frustrated, our income has dropped, and we don't have a leading voice. take your whispering and join others proactively start to gather those names , signatures,, stay on active rain take the time to write of your progress .. others will join. it will snowball. your voice will be heard. and then, you will look back in years to come and be pround you did more,, you tried,

Real estate agents are a creative group. lets show them.. lets show them what we CAN do

I wish you all well

CHRIS@NEVADAHOTPROPERTIES.COM

I am closing on a Countrywide/BofAm deal tomorrow that has been under contract since the beginning of February!

I have another Countrywide/BofAm deal that has been under contract since May that I am losing the buyer on shortly. With this second deal. we just got the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection involved. We will find out shoty if it helps.

I have had very similar experience, similar timeline, went to foreclosure after we lost two deals. the first buyer walked away after 4 months of waiting for them to even assign a stage one negotiator, the second buyer stayed in the game for 5 months until the property was lost at a Sheriff Sale. Interestingly enough, the property is on the market now, still unsold as an REO, 11 months later, at a price lower than our short sale would have netted the lender. B of A too big to fail? Maybe they are just to big to succeed?!

You are not alone with your experience. Many will not longer accept listings that will require short sales with Bank of America. One of their officers advised us months ago not to submit short sale requests since only 5% were reaching settlement.

I have had the same bad taste for B of A. They first off made a refi loan to the owners and did not close legally so the old loan was not registered anywhere as paid. When they took it back the second attorney (maybe the same one, I don't know) did not clear that up. When we came along in NC they wanted us to close with a CPA and no attorney! Do I have stupid written on my head? After contacting my closing attorney we find all of this out about the title and it took over three months to clear up past the closing date. I guess I should concider myself lucky, I have heard of much longer waits. But my clients were first time buyers and young and very stressed.

I just keep my fingers crossed that I never have to deal with them again. But luckily I have a fantastic closing attorney and he really did a bang up job getting them to move for us. It never would have happened withut his fiesty disposition.

Class action sounds pretty good. Close them out even better. I hate B of A.

We do alot of Short Sales and we have one lady on hand that has negotiated them for over 9 yrs. She knows the buttons to push and when. BoA has changed things up, but they also are working at streamlining the process more. They even have a new website to manage the SS process. So they are making steps, but that doesn't help the overwhelmed negotiators.

Here are a couple things to remember:

1. Be nice to the negotiator. Most do get paid by the hour, and get a small bonus when completing a file. They obviously can make things horrible if they want (ie... put your file on the bottom!)

2. Banks don't have to do a Short Sale... Let me say that again... THEY DONT HAVE TO... (currently) They are a BUSINESS... Their business is to loan money, and collect their monthly payments. It is NOT their fault that buyer's lied on an application, or lost their job, or even that their loan adjusted. Was the Buyer not told that they bought on an ARM? That A-R-M stood for adjustable rate mortgage? Buyers were greedy to start, so they bought more home at the lower rate. Anyways... the Bank is there as a business. They ARE there to make a PROFIT (gasp). Legally, they have every right to deny a SS that makes them above and beyond what they would get as an REO. (although that would go against their profit goal I have had it happen on some of my SS that got denied) The terms in their loan contracts do not say "We will do a loan mod or SS for you if things get rough." No, they say "We have the right to take your property as collateral."

3. Financially, SS approval is about netting more than they would as a REO. Thats it.

So yes, you are correct that their goal is to foreclose (sort of). Right now they have a non-performing asset on their book and they need to get convert it somehow. If it costs them less time and financial loss to foreclose, then fine. That is their business decision. They DO have a well-oiled foreclosure process. They KNOW what they need to do on those. They DON'T have that yet for SS. But they are working on it. Because yes, they do realize they can limit losses by doing so.

Now that I have defended them... (which is odd for me) I do totally agree that they need to get a system down to streamline things. We (agents) are not here to scalp them, we just want to help the seller and buyer put a good deal together prior to the foreclosure. And we just want someone who can facilitate that.

Thanks to Ruben Garmynfor the complaints address. I think that I will write a letter right now. I think that we should ALL write until their boxes are full every day.

yeah, BOA is terrible on the front-end when loaning money, and even worse on the back-end in the modification process. But, to their credit, I haven't found a lender that has made this process easy. They're overworked and understaffed, and just have generally bad practices and methods for handling these files. Very frustrating!!!

I just had a property I listed foreclosed bu BOA on Tuesday after working with them for 6 months on a short sale. Same situation with me. I thought we were getting close to approval but the call came from the negotiator that they had foreclosed instead. I agree that the seemed to want to put off the short sale as long as they could to allow foreclosure. I will probably stay away from BofA short sales.

It is obvious that BofA is still trying to connect with Countrywide and where the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.

You are 2 months out from a final written notice.

15 days equals 15 business days add any legal holidays 3 weeks plus

I just received written approval to close in three weeks, almost impossible with a VA loan Bof A wouldn't grant the extra week until three days before their COE date and 5 days from the scheduled TD Sale date. I did get the extension but it falls on Columbus day, which we all know you can't fund or record on a legal holiday!! So back to the drawing board in hopes of squeezing one more day out of them! Lord knows I have waited patiently for them for the last 11 months!

Hey Dean,

We just closed a BofA short sale two days ago, and to say it was painful isn't a fraction of it. We will be writing a blog, but we feel your pain. The first thing you need to realize is- they don't care. The second thing is that their rules, regulations and time frames are MUCH more important than any old client. Third, there is no such thing as customer service left at BofA. None. You will never get to speak to the actual person that can help you. Ever. No amount of emailing, screaming, crying, or begging will change that. Just realize it will take longer than you think and be so impersonal it is just a machine you are trying to reason with.

Good luck!

We had similar experience in Upstate NY with Country Wide, we helped the sellers draft a letter to the NYS Attorney general general documenting their frustration along with a copy to Country Wide and the banking commission. Within weeks CW offered to rewrite the loan for a lower amount and commission rate. Good luck

Steve

Thanks, folks - wow, looks like this is a real problem.

Anyone have a suggested contact, by any chance. There has to be an answer somewhere!

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

As an agent, my instinct is to not take on a client who will be needing a BoA short sale. Oh no, I just remembered, my home loan is with Countrywide/BoA. I think I need to refinace somewhere more friendly in the event that I have unforseen bad times and I am forced to have to negotiate with them otherwise I am screwed.

Their Taylor, Bean, & Whittaker Takeover - more reason for additional delays and lack of service. As if they need yet another reason to delay!

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

Their Taylor, Bean, & Whittaker Takeover - more reason for additional delays and lack of service. As if they need yet another reason to delay!

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

They just foreclosed on a home I was trying to get sold for over 9 months! By the time they approved the value it was worth 40k less. When Erminda Leach (yea leech, blood sucking leach) told me that she would close our file and then for me to send the new offer and that she would assign it to herself, do a new appraisal and then submit if for approval. Well this never happened and they foreclosed on us. Like you I am sick of the way they pretend to help you just to foreclose anyways. I am looking to partner up with an attorney that can help us fight back. Our seller is suing them and at the very least they will not be able to sell the home.

Oh Dean, I feel your pain! My buyers finally gave up on their short sale purchase after 5+ months. I put them into another contract the very same day on a "real" house that could actually be SOLD rather than a BOM house. The seller's agent was so disgusted with the whole process that she just went over and yanked the sign without bothering to tell BOM. They finally called her maybe 6 weeks after my buyers bailed -- and they were looking for more paperwork! Hello! We'd been awaiting their approval paperwork forever! If it were me answering that last call from BOM, I would have said, "Congratulations, Bank Of Mission Impossible! You just bought yourself another house and bankrupted yet another seller! Thanks for making the American Dream a nightmare for the buyers, sellers and agents. Another day's good work done. Now go on ahead and celebrate with all of your government bailout money." Don't get me wrong, I am sure there are lots of good people working for BOM that are horrified at their behavior and I laud them for staying in their jobs and trying to make things work.

As for me, I won't work with any property that is a short sale through BOM. I already know it would only be yet another Bank Of Mission Impossible "transaction"!

You are absolutely correct. My last successful Bank of America short sale took 5 1/2 months for them to give me an answer. By the time I got the approval though there was less than 5 days before their date the closing could be held. If we wanted to extend there would be a per diem fee to be paid by the buyer. They did. From start to finish, just over 6 months.

I presently have another short sale with them. We received a good offer based on my CMA and using short sale comps. Unfortunately the BPO agent used brand new builders inventory as comps and gave them the same value. The brand new homes have multiple upgrades such as granite, celing fans, stainless appliances including refrigerator and a washer and dryer, upgraded tile, etc. My listing is a few years old, has no refrigerator, washer or dryer and the other appliances are the cheapest possible. The carpet was eaten by the seven dogs so must be replaced, along with the wood moldings that the dogs also ate. The counters are formica and the flooring the in wet areas are made up of cracked tiles. Total repairs just to make it liveable are approximately $30K. Bank of America closed the file due to the offer being way too low. We have asked for a review and they said it would take approximately ten days to process our request to reveiw, then will need an additional 15 - 30 days to make a decision on whether they would open the file again. Then of course if they accept the review they will have to do another BPO or appraisal and then then we wait again.

It is funny that in so many articles Bank of America states they have made the short sale process easy for Realtors. Maybe they have done it for one Realtor in the country because in my estimation they are the absolute worst of all lenders.

Dean, I feel your pain. Been through the same process. Buyers on my Countrywide/B of A deal finally walked after 5 months. At that point, frustrated sellers pulled their home off market, get this, AFTER B of A's home retention department told them "they might now be eligible for a loan mod". Well, I just talked to them again, and B of A, despite promising several times, HAS NOT SENT THEM THE LOAN MOD PACKAGE after 3 more months of calls. So maybe we go back on the market again. This bank does not deserve the huge government bailout they got and should be ALLOWED TO FAIL. I hear CEO Ken Lewis is now out. Thank god.

I feel your pain on this one...I have several offers with them right now and they are barely moving!! Your comments are very similar to my experiences!! I am now telling buyer agent's that my SS listings with BofA are taking about 6-7 months to close!! You have to manage expectations on the front end! Maybe they would get their act together if 300-400K REALTORS pulled all of their cash and savings out of BofA??!!

Just think from an Investor who does shortsales to own, rent, flip, other... I get tired of waiting 3-12 months trying to help home owners save themselves by doing a short sale only to fail (we have a dedicated team that does nothing but short sales nationwide). The jerking around by loss mitigators on deals is extremely depressing but they do not care once it goes to foreclosure...thats a different department!

I cannot tell you how many times I've seen the bank lose more money and netting less by failing to approve a shortsale. I've even seen sister companies (bank and bank's mortgage department example) that will not talk to each other on who gets what on the 1st and 2nd mortgage. If only senior management knew of this stupidity! Our median in Oklahoma is about 140K and have seen banks loose an additional 30K just because they couldn't accept our offer 6 months ago, so it goes to foreclosure, and we buy it at a cheaper price...now that's DUMB. Trust me, i like paying less, but i would rather complete the short sale in a timely manner so I can move that property...and actually help struggling homeowners!

Of course, all this to say...we do more REO's now until lenders can get their acts together. Unfortunately, most of the real estate will go into bulk sales and/or note sales while the individual small investor or bargain home buyer will loose out. And just think, the less properties we can move, the less income for real estate agents. We all suffer because of short sale policies.

Look on the bright side: A lot of competition is knocked out because they cannot adjust so perhaps things will get better for those who can navigate though the system and improve processes.

Ron

Wow! Reading everyone's posts makes me glad that I have not had to deal with anything like this yet. Thank you all for the enlightening discussions, ideas and education. After 32 years in this business and all sorts of market conditions, this one is by far the scariest. Good luck to all of you for a better market in 2010.

I have had a short sale going on with B of A since March. Same run around as everyone else. They have done 5 BPO's because they can't seem to keep track of them. I attended a seminar with the head guy of B of A . He knows the problem but put in a favorable light by saying that they now have a web site, since July, for the new short sales. We are supposed to be able to go there and get all of the needed information and not have to talk to anyone. In the past when I had a short sale that went on and on I went to the mortgage company's web site and clicked on "Investor Relations". the first page is all of the CEO's, managers and so on with their email's.. I sent a hot email to every one of them and got 2 responses from managers that same day. And 2 the next day. We had approval 5 days later. I don't know if B of A has that available any longer but it's worth a try.

We are no longer a Free Market Society. Banks are an extension of the government. This is the same service you get from Social Security, the post office, etc. Wait till they get your health care.

Dean, we have similar situations with Bank of America here in Boulder City, Nevada. These scenarios are unbelievable, given the sophistication of our business world. Seems to me one of two reasons for BofA's lapses. Number one, the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing, read INCOMPETENCE. Number two, the don't care.

I have had the same experience with BOA and now Suntrust seems to be on the same route. No reponse and no action. All My Buyers have Walked, and all my Sellers for these Banks have just decided to let the homes go....Short Sales are just not worth the TROUBLE!!

Dean, I haven't read all the other replies but here's my story - IDENTICAL to yours except our client's offer was received in May. According to the friendly customer service reps we have a Stage 2 negotiator assigned but neither I nor the Realtor have heard from her.

I'm in full agreement that the borrowers/homeowners have gotten themselves into the mess but given what I've seen from BofA's process there is very little motivation I can see to even pursue a short sale with them.

My clients are 0 for 4 on closing a shor sale purchase. All eventually cancelled and moved onto other properties.

No need to say it again....but I will- B of A is HORRIBLE!! They are even messing up timelines on purchases that aren't short sales (yes there are a few out there). When I have a buyer that says they are using BofA I REALLY try hard to get them to switch to anyone else. Make sure your clients are aware that you are not the one messing things up. Good Luck!

Wow, and I thought I was the only one. Your story is almost identical to mine. Offer was submitted in June, still waiting for a response.

This property had a tenant in it and now they are gone. The place needs a trash-out and yard work. The tenant did not return the key but I have a garage opener the tenant left with the neighbor. The seller lives out of state.

I have no intentions of paying for any yard work, trash-out, or rekeying until I have a definite that the short sale will be accepted. The seller is broke and most likely does not wish to invest money into the property.

My listing is expiring. I'm wondering if I should just give it up?

Today's Short Sales are tomorrow's foreclosures. Is there really anyone out there who believes the banks care? If I am lucky, I'll close a short sale that has taken 11 months to negotiate. Two loans on the property and which one held it up? The second lien holder. Surprise! It's BOA!

Cash buyer who has hung in there forever and now the compressor has given out and the buyer may walk. Oh, well. I'm sure the bank makes a lot more money on the foreclosure.

you know there is a great blog I reposted on the FDIC share loss agreement that encourages bank to foreclose and delay the whole process etc etc it really sheds a lot of light

Solution:

Boycott all BoA loans that are a short sale. Make them foreclose on everyone or take DIL's

I've heard of these things happening but OMG, I'm finding out everything I've heard is absolutely true plus more!! I'm listing my first short sale tomorrow, and the lender is guess who....Countrywide/BOA!!! Maybe I should cancel the appointment!

I have had the same type of frustrations with BofA myself. I have a buyer waiting for a response since March, and unfortunately, several sales trying to go through. I have been escalated to the office of the Chairman because of a long and successful business relationship with BofA, but it is still taking time. They are now in the process of converting all their files to online files through REOTrans, at least in CA, so I have to wait and see how long that will take and if it will help or hinder the situation. They lost our 100+ pg package twice.

Being the eternal optimist, I have hopes that these sales will be expedited soon, and am thankful to the local loan center manager for trying to help me. BTW, I went through the escalations dept. at CitiMortgage, as well, and just got the run-around and lies. Very frustrating. It seems like I got a lot of short sales at about the same time, but will certainly reconsider doing this again. Am having problems with a credit union right now who wants the sellers to sign a promissory note for $40,000 on a $60K note. If they had $40K, they wouldn't be losing their home, would they? Hard to keep your clients interested in the process when it would be so much easier to just walk away. Also heard that if the bank delays the process and it results in more tax liability for the seller (such as if the home has been rented out), the bank can be sued and legal precedent is that they can be found liable for the extra money.

I have had two Short Sells going on with B of A since April 21 2009, My Buyer is paying cash for both of them, (it's a duplex) There is no loan involved, No inspection or appraisal needed for my client, His offer is full asking price with no contingencies, and he is paying his own closing cost for both.

It is now October 8th and B of A is no closer now then they were 6 months ago... How they do any business is beyond me... They have ordered 5 BPO'sand an appraisal's for these properties a long with multiple sellers income verifications and financial's due to the amount of time B of A has delayed this...

I would think that B of A would want to get two properties off there books simultaneously with one cash buyer... aaaaaauuuugh, how frustrating I swear I'll NEVER do ANYTHING that involves B of A again... I generally don't like short sells anyway, and I know at this time it's the nature of our business to have to deal with them... But B of A has made it impossible to do any business with them at all.. I feel your pain Dean......

I am amazed , personally i beleave i am on the black list for BoA ,They dodn't approve anything. After they cut the commissiona i said they couldnot because it as a fannie mae loan and they gave guildlines to the banks not to cut the commissions unless they are over 6% they did anyway and i sent complaint to fanie mae and cc the negotiator. I realy don't think it did anygood to stand up against them because they just get more bail out money. and yes they do make more off a foreclousre than a short sale. once they input the apn the feb gives them there mony on the loan. then theyu sell the foreclosure and keep that money too great and our socialist government still thinks they are to big to fail.

Dean, I just did six deals for loan modification with BofA in under one month. One sale right now that is with them and Keller Williams Lincoln Square is approved with them as the third party authorization because of the volume I do to help Realtors and people with their loans.

You sent a 103 page fax. why 103 pages?

Was the short sale approved prior? When did you submit your third party authorization?

Just because you get a receipt from our fax machine doesn't mean that BofA received it! Is every page that you send have the Loan #, Address, Borrower's name, Last four digits of their SS# on a place where they can thumb through easily? (suggestion: bottom right hand corner of each page).

Look at Agent Metrics when you are valuing properties because that is basically the backup information that the bank is looking at! That is there second source beyond the "interior" BPO, which I hope all ask for. I am there for the interior "BPO", with comps, with agent metrics info.

Short sale generally has to be approved first with any bank unless you are a week or two in time against the Sheriff Sale, Trustee Sale or Auction. I have one in Skokie right now that was accepted within 48 hours and then within one week they sent me forms for the buyer to sign (conflict of interest) and then they ordered the interior BPO within 2.5 weeks from the date of the contract acceptance. That takes 7-10 days. Then they pull more information (the agent metrics for update).

Oh, btw, I was assigned the second level within 1.5 weeks for each of the files.

I reviewed 46 homes for loan modifications and saw that 43 qualified. All were completed within two weeks from the file being opened and that means approval for 3rd party authorization.

Suggestion: Never leave voice mail messages they will not respond.

Suggestion #2: Never send them requests via email because they will not respond unless it is documentation that you are sending them.

Suggestion #3: Know that Mondays and Tuesdays are "days from h*ll" for them with all the forms being faxed in.

It takes 48-72 hours once the docs are submitted to have them downloaded and then once they are opened they are sent to the property party. A 103 page fax is way to much for them and it generally doesn't get opened or you aggitated the Bank.

I have fax numbers for a good portion of the banks that I keep for reference.

The more you create efficiency for the bank(s), the more they work with you and respond. If you overload them - you go to the bottom of the pile. 103 pages will go to the bottom of the pile!

When an interior BPO is going to be ordered and they tell you, ask them what is "the going variance at the time" because it will change.

Suggestion: They always ask "Is there anything else I can do for you today?" Learn to thank them for all their hard work.

You may say it's a crap shoot. I disagree. I have a friend in Texas whose home was on the block within 72 hours. She confessed in private on Facebook to me. I asked for the letters from her doctors, the third party authorization. I Faxed it in and then I called the bank and told them, I just sent the fax in but here's the deal. I have a lady dying and we have a sale in 72 hours. I need you to help me stop the sale and get this thing turned around.

BofA and every bank out there keeps track of who can get these files done. BofA now calls me up and has me wait on the phone while they go through my packages because my files get accepted on first review. They always look for a missing piece of documentation and so far ... I haven't missed.

It's also learning how to talk the language of the banks. I was raised around them where I knew the presidents of the banks in Michigan. I asked to sit on one board meeting at the age of 4 to understand how banks made money.

Hope this helps.

From the deaf woman on the first floor.

I did a short sale in 2009 with Bank of America that was one of the quickest and easiest imaginable. From contract to closing was 72 days and it could have closed in 54 days except that the buyer was on vacation. I had the listing and the buyer so there was only one real estate broker involved and maybe that made a difference, but I don't think that had anything to do with it.

The contact person was Michael Kirchmann at Bank of America and he was very efficient, easy to contact, easy to work with, and eager to move things along as fast as possible.

I have had huge trouble with other banks big and small, but Michael and Bank of America were excellent.

BoA even gives it rough on Maui aloha

I'm at 4 months and still waiting for a BOA Short Sale to be approved. Needless to say, I have lost the buyer and my seller is now being foreclosed upon. VERY VERY sad. I've had the EXACT same experience as Dean & Dean's Team Chicago....almost EXACTLY the same series of events.

Heather Kamann

Real Living HER

Delaware, OH 43015

Evening Dean, No, I don't think it is just you. Sorry to say there are way too many stories like yours. I would also send it to my congressman !

Well, I started reading a few of these stories and they all sounded like the same problems I have encountered. And not just with B of A. I could relate my stories here, but they would just take up a lot of space and confirm all the same things. None of them care and their SS process sucks, and they do not even follow their own time tables. they delete emails without reading them, and then ask you for them again. An then delete them again. they lose whole files. You send it again and they lose it again. The buyers give up, and this goes on and on. If they are going to not take these short sales seriously, they should jut stop doing them.

OCT

Hi Dean, I won't deal with BOA, they ae nuts!

Dean,

Maybe print this out along with all of the comments and related blogs.. Send it to Chairman or President they probably have no clue as to the bad press they are getting, or bad service they are giving

It's not surprising to hear the short-sale process has been laborious, but as I read the detailed activity I was stunned how completely similar one of our transactions with BOA has been going (oh, at least about a year now and after 1 failed approval). What is particularly striking is we got the same time-frames, same terminology making me think that they are working from deliberate, established procedures; getting bounced from person to person, hearing the same statements, having to refax (no email) multiple times, discovering they were processing an older offer so had to start again, etc, etc. It has been utterly frustrating and impossible to count the hours. It's still not approved. I've started to wonder if they think the real estate brokerage community is stupid.

OCT

Yesterday a B of A Bank Rep called me to see if I wanted to continue doing business with them again. I had an account with them 2 years ago. I told them that I would get back to them as quickly as they got back to me. If they call...I should tell them that I will escalate their request in 15 days. lol

OCT

I have been working on a BoA / Countrywide short sale since March, with similar results. Buyer has recently walked and seller is wondering what is going on. I am seriously considering sending him the link to this blog, so he can see that he is not alone.

OCT

I have sent this blog to many of the agents involved on the transactions dealiing with BofA, and even those that are on other banks so they understand they are not alone.

We as agents need to remind buyers that we do not work for free, but instead we only get paid when a transaction closes. The reason I say this is because buyers lately have been trying to prove a point by walking away from a transaction to try and prove a point as apposed to waiting on a response from the lender.

Its ok to keep your buyer in the market to stay on top of the market, but at the same time always comparing the market to what you already have a contract on and what you are waiting on the bank to respond to.

If it is a logical deal it can still happen. But these banks are taking advantage of the situation, we all know this.
I just wish the banks would spend a day or a week in our shoes.... hours of walking through non-air-conditioned trashed properties, hoping nothing happens to the property while we are sitting waiting on them, spending months working with a client & waiting on a response to only be cut in pay.

OCT

I am beyaond mad as hell but now I am beyond belief. My client is in a Short Sale transaction and on of the lenders is B of A, they are in second position. Both the first and the secon have given us approval letters to continue with the short sale. The buyers were not able to meet the required closing dates so I requested for an extension. I got one rightn awway from the first (Citi Mortgage) that was back in September 09. Today is October 20th 2009, the closing date is October 20th....tomorrow and have not heard a word from B of A. The prmary (Citi) will not grant a second extension so that leaves a foreclosure.

I want to pursue this and perhaps file a class action against B of A for negligence. I am certain that my seller is not the only one going thru this. I demand that heads roll at B of A. My "closer" or negotiator has never talked to me I have left countless voicemails and numerous emails but that has not helped. Perhaps she does not care and I know that is she is grossly misplaced in her position. B of A needs to know what is going on with their loans and clients and how they are being treated and ignored. Is it greed that is driving this whole thing. Is it a no care attitude because they "are too busy" or they flat out don't give a hoot.

If someone can give me feedback as to a phone number, a contact name @ B of A so that I may pursue this, that would be greatly appreciated.

I am a broker in Calif. involved with a short sale. B of A has the second. Erminda Leach has been working on it forever. All I can say is NIGHTMARE. All we need is an approval of an extesion, we fund we close. How hard can it be?

OCT

More info on BOA:

New fee: Banks penalize on-time card payments by Sandra Block - Oct. 20, 2009 01:29 PM

http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2009/10/20/20091020ccfees2.html?source=nletter-business

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