Sometimes Squirrels Are in Charge of Sacramento Sales

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. Have you ever noticed how complete decades can sometimes be defined by a single, silly, television commercial jingle? And how sometimes for absolutely no reason at all that jingle will pop into your head and you can't get it out? Well, since the invention of VCRs and TIVO, much of that has gone away. Does that make us lucky? Lucky in the sense, I suppose, that my cat threw up in his cat box this morning at the same time he was, um, using it. Gross, but fortunate for me.

I can't say the same thing about Wells Fargo and how it handles a short sale. I realize other short sale agents like Chris Ann Cleland in Virginia love Wells Fargo short sales to pieces, but they have always been a PITA for me. You can pretty much count on if a lender is going to foreclose in the middle of a short sale negotiation, that lender will probably be Wells Fargo. In fact, it sent out a memo telling this Sacramento short sale agent it would no longer postpone auctions on its portfolio loans.

Well, we're working on trying to reverse an auction recently held in Sacramento. We have a good case, and we presented it yesterday. The response from the negotiator was it would not reverse the foreclosure because the borrower was delinquent. She said it only reverses a trustee sale if the borrower is current on the mortgage payments and not in arrears.

I had no idea Wells Fargo could foreclose if the borrower was not in default. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

On another Bank of America short sale, we sent a revised hardship letter and updated financials to the negotiator late yesterday morning. Two hours later, the negotiator called to say the file was rejected because the borrower has been making payments to VISA. Just not to Bank of America. She claimed to have sent the file to management -- yup, it was management's decision.

She expected me to believe that file had a 2-hour turnaround. Bank of America can barely walk around the block in two hours. I explained that VISA will not let the borrower use the credit card if the borrower doesn't keep paying, and that's why the borrower is not yet standing in the soup lines. By borrowing from credit cards. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

You know, if a bank negotiator is gonna make up crap, at least make it credible. And with that, I'm off to vote.

Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub

 

 

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Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout Sacramento. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.

The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available through bookstores everywhere and at Amazon.com.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.

The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.

Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.