My father-in-law was trying to do the right thing by doing a short sale of his home. He was overcome with cancer and medical bills and could no longer make the payments.
He spoke with the bank and filled out all of the necessary paperwork for the first and second loan.
In August, he lost his battle with cancer. However, the short sale on his home was in progress with a pretty good offer.
As executor of his will, my husband has been handling and facilitating this deal to help it go to a close and some very deserving buyers.
The second lien holder has harrassed us about paying the loan. We have let them know on numerous occassions that the home is in the middle of a short sale and will close soon. The letters still come.
The other day, I received a hand written Thanksgiving card from the bank that holds the second. It was addressed to my father-in-law, who passed over 3 months ago. The card said "Happy Thanksgiving." A handwritten note was written to my deceased father-in-law stating that if he needs any loans or customer service, feel free to call John Smith (not his real name) for any assistance in the future. He said he liked to have personal contact with his customers.
I just threw it away. I should have called Mr. John Smith and asked for some personal service, like helping to get this crazy short sale closed.
If you are going to send out "personal cards" you may want to make sure you know what is going on with the account. Don't pretend to be personal with a client when you have no idea what is going on. The thought was nice, but I found it to be so ironic. The deal should close very soon. I wonder if we will get a Christmas card. That would be swell.
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