Here is what happened to me...

I decided to short sell my own house in December....hardship created by practically being unemployed last year and some medical bills.  Ok...I had several conversations with WaMu to try to modify the mortgage beginning in October.  Their response was "you can't afford to live in that house". 

I spoke to them again in November and asked if they would consider a short sale, their response was "no, not until you are behind in your payments".  Ok, so they encouraged us to default.  I stopped paying the mortgage and listed the house in December.  The  first person to see it wrote a full price contract and was willing to wait until the end of March to settle.  At this point you should know that there is a second lender HSBC.  Both lenders sent letters in February acknowledging the short sale.  After weekly contact with both lenders and working through a negotiator....we hear nothing.

April 4 we receive a letter in the mail from an attorney, not involved, to offer bankrupcy help as our home was headed for a foreclosure sale on April 14th.  No notice sent from WaMu until April 10th. I spent the next two days on the phone and successfully delayed the trustee sale and got the banks to agree to reopen the file and consider the offer they had in their hands since January.

April 12, the "bank" changed the locks on the house.  We had moved out, fortunately.  Now WaMu has to find the keys to get the BPO done.  They apparerantly found them and mailed them to the listing agent almost two weeks ago....no key yet has appeared.  I believe the simple process of putting a key in a FedEx envelope and mailing it to the listing agent on the contract ....but i digress.

For God's sake, I am a realtor....what on earth do people do who do not understand how this process works ever manage to make it happen?  The good news at the moment is that the buyer is still hanging on and i expect to close the deal by the end of June.  There is not one incentive to the banks to make a short sale happen.  I am suspicious that the banks may even be better off foreclosing than processing a short sale.

Thanks for the opportunity to vent.....the mortgage mess is a large snow ball rolling down hill and there is no one capable of stopping it......