OK, so I made a pun and didn't realize it. But some negotatiators talk to me in that Lily Tomlin telephone operator voice, and it drives me nuts. One ringy dingy. I want to hang up on them but I can't. When the negotiator at Chase Bank said she wanted 10% of the unpaid balance, I let 'er rip by saying, "Let's cut to the Chase. You and I both know you are not getting 10% of the unpaid balance, so let's start this conversation over."
Sometimes I lose patience. I'm not perfect. Even though lenders often thank for me for having patience and I laugh it off by saying, Hey, I am a Sacramento short sale agent. I sell short sales for a living. Patience is my middle name.
But the biggest problem we have in California short sales lately are second lenders. Second lenders demanding excessive amounts to settle the short sale. And much of these types of problems are thanks to SB 458, prohibiting a seller contribution. When you remove the seller from the equation, sometimes you are killing the short sale process all together. Bank of America, for example, routinely denies seller contributions, even if they are offered upfront on the HUD without a lender demand which, lawyers say, fully complies with SB 458.
After I laid it on the line with the Chase negotiator, she asked: Then why did you give us $3,000 on the HUD? Good question. Why did we do that? We did that because without a beneficiary statement we can't confirm the unpaid balance. Chase refused to send us a beneficiary statement to confirm the unpaid balance.
Well, you can't have your cake and eat it, too. But this is a short sale in which the bank often throws out ridiculous demands. We finally obtained a statement from the seller to accompany our HUD and plea to the first lender. Because they know how the game is played as well.
So does the government. Which is partly why the new HAFA regulations for a HAFA short sale will increase the contributions for second lenders. Starting June 1, those allocations can be $8,500.
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