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How to file a Fannie Mae short sale decline complaint in Arizona

Real Estate Agent with HomeSmart Real Estate AZ Broker BR030809000

November 26, 2012 01:56 AM

How to file a Fannie Mae short sale decline complaint in Arizona

Last week one of our short sale files was declined by Fannie Mae. What surprised me was the reason given, Short Sale Decline by Fannie Mae they wanted $40,000 more than what the offer on the table. Needless to say I knew I would be looking into what this was all about as FANNIE MAE is wrong about the value of this particular home. The offer on the table is supported by current comparable sales. Had Fannie Mae asked for say - $2000 or $5000 more I could have understood that better. But $40,000 more - that's just flat out ridiculous.

I contacted our local 12 news reporter, Melissa Balsius, our AZ housing market watch dog expert. Her assistant contacted me back within hours but they weren't sure what could be done immediately. I told her I wanted to be part of the solution and to let me know what could be done about this Fannie Mae craziness.

At 5:30pm that same day Kathleen Winn from the Arizona Attorney Generals Office called me

Ms Winn told me they had received my email from the 12 news station along with 5 other complaints just that day alone. The Attorney Generals office considers this to be a trend. Apparently this is more wide spread in Arizona then I had at first thought. Ms Winn asked that I have my client file a complaint with her office immediately. She's going to contact Fannie Mae regarding all of the complaints they have received thus far and work towards a solution.

How to file a Fannie Mae short sale decline complaint in Arizona

To file a Fannie Mae Short Sale decline complaint in Arizona go to the Arizona Attorney Generals office at www.azag.gov and file a complaint.

If you have further questions you may contact Kathleen Winn directly at 602-542-6903 or email her at kwinn@azag.gov

Outside Arizona - Contact your local Attorney General Office and file a complaint.

How to file a Fannie Mae short sale decline complaint in Arizona

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Gail Robinson

William Raveis Real Estate - Southport, CT

CRS, GRI, e-PRO Fairfield County, CT

Anna - Imagine if all the Realtors on AR followed your lead, we could have a movement! Occupy Fannie Mae! You are amazing!

Nov 26, 2012 09:23 PM

Michelle Francis

Tim Francis Realty LLC - Atlanta, GA

Realtor, Buckhead Atlanta Homes for Sale & Lease

Anna,

Brilliant! Love that there is a way to handle possible negligent issues with short sales. It's so frustrating to work with folks only to find out the solution Fannie Mae is searching for is out in MARS!

Can't wait to hear about the follow-up.

All the best, Michelle

Nov 26, 2012 09:52 PM

Lee & Pamela St. Peter

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices YSU Realty: (919) 645-2522 - Raleigh, NC

Making Connections to Success in Real Estate

Good for you Anna! Good luck to all of you as you work to get this straightened out. Keep us posted! Pamela

Nov 26, 2012 10:27 PM

Thomas McCombs

Century 21 HomeStar - Akron, OH

Where did Fannie get that appraisal/BPO? It would be interesting to know how this happened.

Nov 26, 2012 10:44 PM

Sandra Paulow

Aspen Properties, Inc. - Pinetop Lakeside, AZ

REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR

Thanks for this information. I just had a SS go bad in Arizona and it was a dirty deal. The bank contacted the sellers and told them to try and SS the property, we were a month from the Trustee Sale. We got an offer submitted it, and they let it die on the table and sold it at Trustee sale anyway. They never even looked at the offer.

Prior to their bank contacting them the sellers were fully prepared to lose it to Trustee Sale. This bank gave them a glimmer of hope, got the offer, even all the supporting documentation from the seller and then just ignored it. Essentially saying, Ha Ha only kidding. It was dirty all the way around.

Nov 26, 2012 10:52 PM

Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker

Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA

Put 40 years of experience to work for you

The problem is not the valuation and it's not the BPO. I'm seeing this problem with Fannie Mae in Sacramento, and it's happened in the last 30 days. Which probably means it is tied to the new FHFA guidelines that went into effect on Nov. 1. I talked with a rep at REDC yesterday about a Bank of America Fannie Mae in which the investor is HSN (homeowner savings something or other) and asked her why Fannie Mae insisted on $260K when the BPO was $245K and the property is worth maybe, $240K, tops. I asked if this was Fannie Mae's legal way to say no to a short sale (even tho short sales are a privilege, not a right, and a bank does NOT have to agree to do a short sale), and she said the investor has a minimum net that has nothing to do with value. Apparently, this minimum net was not met. Which is probably partially true. Fannie Mae short sales are sucking big time right now.

Nov 26, 2012 11:00 PM

Terry McCarley

Coastal Real Estate - Cape Coral FL - Cape Coral, FL

REALTOR, SRES, CDPE - Cape Coral, FL

Thanks so much for this post - I may have just figured out the issue with a short sale I am working on!

Nov 27, 2012 12:02 AM

Donna Graham

AZ New Horizon Realty - Casa Grande, AZ

Casa Grande Real Estate Agent

Thank you for the information. I will be filing a complaint today. I have a 73 old client, whos wife has passed away. He has no family in Arizona and he is not in very good health. He needs to move to California to live near his son to help take care of him. He won't let the home go to foreclosure because he thinks it is wrong, so he wanted to do a short sale and he does need the $3000.00 relocation assistance money to help pay for the move. I feel so bad for him and told him to just go be with his family, but he says he wants to keep trying. I received the HAFA Short Sale Agreement, and they declined the offer I had for $55,000.00 which was at the current market value, but not the value Fannie Mae wants which is $20,000 more than what it should be. I am certainely going to put up the best fight ever for my client.

Nov 27, 2012 01:07 AM

Anna "Banana" Kruchten

HomeSmart Real Estate - Phoenix, AZ

602-380-4886

Ron I appreciate your support. I am thankful we've got support here in AZ with the AG's office. Somebody paying attention and listening to the home sellers and agents - and working on a solution.

Sharon - yes 40K more which is as my Mom would say 'highway robbery'.

Joan keep us in the loop as to what's going on in your area and the solutions.

Melissa - yes it's appears to happening country-wide and we ALL need to work together.

Christine - thanks:) And good luck on your files. Let us know the result.

Wayne - government agencies that should be working for the good of all. Hmmmm something just doesn't seem right about what's going on with short sale investor demands, now does it.

Richard - good idea to warn Fannie Mae sellers of what is really going on. Until this is solved why on earth would we get their hopes up only to be dashed by ridiculous demands in the net for the investor of which the true market does not bear. As for the buyer, yes at this point they're hanging in there.

Christine - people need to file a complaint to the AG in their state - now!

Ed I certainly hope so. We all need to work together on this issue.

Gail - that would be great if the word got out to all agents and home sellers dealing with the recent declines. Occupy Fannie Mae - naaa - let's just get them to do the right and honest thing.

Michelle sometimes we need to go as far as we can to get things changed. This I imagine is just the beginning. Wouldn't it be great if all the AG's were involved.

Pamela - I hope we can make a change for all the home sellers stuck in this crazy loop hole that goes nowhere fast.

Thomas - their normal channels. This is happening across the board. The investor wants to net higher than the true market value and Fannie declines the offer.

Sandra - unbelievable. This is what I'm talking about. Why would we give our home sellers a glimmer of hope if Fannie is going to kill the deal in the end.

Elizabeth - exactly. Investor is wanting a higher net than the market will bear.

Terry - good luck and let us know how it turns out for you.

Donna - good talking with you this am. Keep us in the loop of your situation with this elderly man - what a shame to be his age and dragged down this road.

Nov 27, 2012 01:37 AM

Debora Nichols

Residential Sales, Purchases, Investors, Vacation Homes - Phoenix, AZ

Realtor Anthem,Phoenix,Scottsdale,Glendale,Peoria

Anna, Thank you for the information. I feel fortunate that I have not had a problem like that. But I certainly feel for those that have. Fannie has always listed their REO's at premium pricing. I guess they think they can do it to short sales as well. Good luck and Happy holidays.

Nov 27, 2012 02:47 AM

Azim Jessa

Urban Nest Realty - Las Vegas, NV

Just talked to my broker about this, who happens to be our Association President. His VP has a meeting next week with the NV Attorney General and promised me he'd bring this up. I have 3 Fannie Short Sales right now that have been countered by Fannie at anywhere from 30-50% above market value.

Nov 27, 2012 03:49 AM

Todd Anderson

You In Park City group - KW Park City Keller Williams Real Estate - Park City, UT

Park City | Deer Valley Real Estate

These situations are unfortunate, but there is always another side to the story. Short sales are not a right, and there isn't anything that says an investor has to accept the loss. They may have to own the property in the end, but realizing the loss at this particular time may not work for them either.

Good luck, I hope you get it through for your buyer's sake.

Nov 27, 2012 05:16 AM

Lyn Sims

Schaumburg, IL

Real Estate Broker Retired

Glad they are taking it seriously. There are many new laws in IL that I should probably read about that are supposed to help also. They are probably just going to blame it on the invisible 'investor' for their nonsense.

Nov 27, 2012 08:46 AM

Tristan Cerenzie

Becker Realty - San Diego, CA

This is a low down dirty shame. After all the deceitful practices that got our economy and market in this mess, we now have Fannie Mae doing whatever they can to artificially inflate prices. Declining fair short sale offers, then selling the homes well above market value by offering loans without appraisels, all the while selling mass amounts of other foreclosed properties in bulk sales to investors for rentals only, decreasing the overall supply. Fannie Mae has turned into a monster that does not have the consumer's best interest in mind.

Nov 27, 2012 09:16 AM

Ric Mills

Keller Williams Southern Az - Tucson, AZ

Integrity, Honesty, and Vast Real Estate Knowledge

Please keep us informed on how this plays out as it will effect all of us. Fannie is getting some advise from someone and my guess they are just trying to artificially increase prices just because they think they can. If it doesn't work they don't care and it justs goes on the FC block and we end up bailing them out AGAIN. They were a major player in making the BUBBLE and are now continuing the problem. I Hope this gets a lot of air time.

Nov 27, 2012 07:31 PM

Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV

Cornerstone Business Group Inc - Winchester, VA

Your Neighborhood Real Estate Sales Pro

Anna, I love that bulldog determination you showed in this case. It really was an outrageous amount of money to ask beyond the offer price, and it should have gotten the attention of people who can make a difference. I will defnitely keep this in mind for future cases.

Nov 27, 2012 10:24 PM

Rob Renk

Center Street Lending - McKinney, TX

AE | Fast Fix/Flip Loans for Residential Investors

Thanks for sharing your story. I have heard similar in other states. I don't think they really want to sell homes. The whole system is falling apart and being run by idiots. The hall monitors are now in charge.

Nov 27, 2012 11:23 PM

M.C. Dwyer

Melody Russell Team at eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Felton, CA

MC Dwyer-Santa Cruz Mountains Property Specialist

Thank you Anna for your blog - I've not had a Fannie Mae SS denial yet, but if I do, now I know to take it to the top - our attorney general in California , Kamala Harris, has fought hard for the distressed home owners in our state!

Nov 28, 2012 01:20 AM

Anna "Banana" Kruchten

HomeSmart Real Estate - Phoenix, AZ

602-380-4886

Debra yes you are lucky but my guess is you'll have the same issue if you run into one of these in the future. It's pretty wide spread. I've had a lot of calls from agents in AZ and other states this past few days. That's when we really know something is dramtically different in how they're approaching short sales.

Azim - not surprising. It appears to be their game plan at this point.

Todd yes it isn't a 'right'. Here's the deal - this new strategy they're acting out is new - across the land so it's quite different than the previous few years. That's when we know something is up and somebody or some organization created a new directive for Fannie Mae short sales. I'll share more about this later when I have more time. I did get some interesting information yesterday.....

Lyn we hope that our AG and others can make a differene for all the home sellers. Good luck on yours.

Tristan - well what can I say to that. We all need to take a stand and not allow another catastrophy to happen again. The writing is on the wall........let's read it and take action.

Ric - agreed. It's coming from somewhere and it is a trend that is full blown.

Mike it isn't just this case - I want to spread the word for all home sellers and their agents so this can be stopped. It's going to cause yet more hardship on the sellers and it's artifically inflating home prices - in our area for sure.

Rob yes it's a trend.

M.C. up to this point neither have we....but guess what...expect it now unless this ship gets turned around fast.

Nov 28, 2012 02:26 AM

Raymond Kennedy

Keller Williams Preferred Realty - Orland Park, IL

I don't usually put links in comments but I thought this is justified here. I just blogged on Activerain, facebook and google plus to try and push the signatures on this petition. Please pass this along, it might have even been you that launched this based on the dates of your original blog.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/force-fannie-mae-behave-responsibly-or-shut-them-down/vtY71bhk

Jan 31, 2013 04:10 PM