Hey Mark this seems like  good idea, never really experienced the nightmares yet on short sales or reo's but im sure I can see the benefit here.

Justin - We've seen to much absurdity go on.  At the same time, some companies have just amazed us with their intellegent approach to unloading inventory properly.

Mark - We are very close to completing a very satisfactory REO transaction with National City Bank. It should close next week, and I will be rating them as "excellent". Also deserving an excellent rating will be their Asset Management firm, as well as their local broker/agent, as they are the real 'behind the scenes' workhorses that deserve tons of credit for their hard work.

Mark - Another thought: It takes full cooperation on both sides of the transaction in order for it to be satisfying and successful for all parties. If the transaction is a nightmare, perhaps the inexperience of the agent attempting to work with the short sale or reo was the biggest reason for the outcome? It could be patently unfair for a lender to be rated unsatisfactorily when it may not be their fault due to incomplete docs, difficult negotiations, obstinate buyers, etc.

Perhaps if we were to limit our comments to satisfactory or excellent ratings, we could keep it totally positive, and everyone would know at least some parties are having good experiences with particular lenders. That should be encouragement enough to urge participation knowing that others found the lender to be fine to work with?

Jim - Thank you for the update on the National City Bank.  I have a client that has a first with them and it will be much easier to have peace of mind getting their home listed.  At least the agent that I refer it to will feel much more motivated so thank you for sharing.

It does take cooperation on both sides, as you point out, but most of the readers on AR, from what I've gathered thus far, are willing to learn what it takes and what to do in a short sale.  My own personal experiences may vary from the experiences of others but if we collaborate on the information, the reluctance to take a listing from a Countrywide short sale may get them to change their ways of handling things.  I have not had even a satisfactory experience with Countrywide and after a recent experience, we have advised our agent partners to drop all Countrywide listings that may need to go short.  We've basically told them it's a waste of time, energy and money.

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I am looking at a possible short sale situation involving American Home Mortgage and American Brokers Conduit. I have googled both terms and have read the articles about  having closed their doors due to bankruptcy filing. I've also read a few previous posts here in Activerain.

Has anyone had any positive dealings with this lender so far in 2008? One report mentions 700 jobs eliminated, another hinted at 7000. Have they retained a few to work on the existing accounts? Have the accounts been turned over to another lender?

PS: I like Mark's idea on this blog. However, I personally do not have deep pockets, and certainly would never want to bring any unfair harm to any business, period. For that reason, I would only appreciate positive responses here. I personally do not want to get into negativity, too much is at stake as far as litigation goes. If you have negatives, please email them to me privately? I promise to keep them in the strictest of confidence. That way we can keep it upbeat and light hearted here in the 'rain.  Thanks!

Jim - Believe it or not, I agree with you about the potential for liability and I am glad that you've endured ping-ponging back and forth with me on this.  Thank you for waking me up out of my frustration in having great experiences with some lenders and very poor experiences with others.  I see so many transactions on the lending side of things that I'd rather see agents not have to waste their time with the unreasonable companies.

As far as ABC, they were a great company when in existence.  Most of their loans were sold on the secondary market and they shut down their wholesale operations so I don't think that they would care too much about reputation when it comes to dumping inventory.  I suspect that they should be cooperative but I look forward to reading any post you put out regarding your experience.

Interesting discussion, I'll follow it to see how it comes along.  I have no feedback as my last short sale was over 5 years ago.  That won't count, as this is a new and different market.

Hello Mark,

I have had an EXCELLENT experience with HomEQ. They were excellent with processing the file, had all the documents at all time, the negotiator was available every time I called. 

TERRIBLE with AMERICAN HOME MORTGAGE- The BPO on the property was ordered and done since May 31 and as of today they still have not reviewed it. Also when you call please make sure you have at least 10-15 minutes to hold for them.

NOT SO GOOD with BANK OF AMERICA: I understand they were the second mortgage holder. I am still trying to negotiate. 1st Mtg holder will not allow them to take more than $1200.00, and they will not approve less than $1500.00 to $2,000.00 for their pay-off. Every time the offer is increased to them an entire file needs to be faxed to them, and then it takes them about 6-10 days to have your documentation in file to be able to speak to you.