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Fannie Mae (FNMA) No More Foreclosure Postponements

By
Real Estate Agent with Realty ONE Group Eclipse

This article is a continuation of one I posted several months ago with some updated information.  To read the original article visit:

http://6fd70e2.activerain.com/post/1576094/fannie-mae-no-longer-postponing-foreclosure-auctions-bad-news-for-short-sales

We just had another Fannie Mae approved short sale go to foreclosure after FNMA approved it.  The buyer was even done with inspections and appraisals.  We only needed a few days for the file to exit final underwriting.  Fannie wouldn't do it.  They took it back at foreclosure.  We were working with Metlife aka First Horizon/First Tennessee to request a rescission of the foreclosure auction due to the circumstances.   After pushing and pushing, Fannie Mae contacted me directly.  They said I was welcome to return their call but Metlife was correct, they were NOT reversing the sale.

I just got off the phone with a rep at Metlife that I worked with ages ago.  I called him and said, "I know this is not your file but I need help, why won't they postpone these sales?"

He said it was a new directive that came out from Fannie Mae on August 1, 2010.  If the buyer can not close before auction they won't postpone the sale.  They will just take it to auction.  Since he has no motivation to lie to me as this was not his file, I tend to believe him.  Coincidentally this was the same date that Fannie started to participate in HAFA.  Hmmmmmm

Lesson:  Buyers must close on Fannie files before the foreclosure auction.  If you are getting close to an auction date get everything done for the buyer you can before the approval comes.  They may want to even finish inspections or appraisals a head of time.  I can not tell you how disappointing it is to watch your commission checks simply disappear overnight.

Hopefully this helps some of you out there avoid the same pain we just went through.

Matt Side
Alliance Short Sales
www.AllianceShortSales.com

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Based in Spokane, Washington Alliance Short Sales offers short sale services in multiple states around the U.S.  With a current network of agents located in Washington, California, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio, and Virginia, Alliance negotiates short sale real estate transactions with lenders on behalf of agents without charging a fee to the agent or the seller.  Because their fees are paid at closing out of the net proceeds to the lender, Alliance creates a beneficial outcome for all parties involved.  For additional information about how you can work with Alliance Short Sales, please visit our website at www.AllianceShortSales.com.

Comments(3)

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Marcy Moyer
eXp Realty of California Silicon Valley Probate, Trust, and Investment Sales - Mountain View, CA
Probate, Trust, and Investment Specialist

This is a Fannie Mae directive, HAFA or no HAFA. It is really important for the buyer  or seller to get the inspections done at the beginning not after short sale approval. I wrote a blog about this where aI got nothing but negative comments about it not working, but unfortuately it is go=etting to be necessary in order to keep the homes from going to auction.

Sep 21, 2010 04:56 PM
Matt Side
Realty ONE Group Eclipse - Spokane, WA
Dir. of Broker Development

Marcy,

Thanks for your thoughts.  It is a reality we need to deal with.  Maybe they will change their directive when they start getting so many REO's.  We will have to be a little more stringent with buyers.  If you have a minute post the link to your blog post.  I am interested what you had to say.

Matt

Sep 22, 2010 04:21 AM
Matt Side
Realty ONE Group Eclipse - Spokane, WA
Dir. of Broker Development

Tony,

I really appreciate your post.  Just to clarify for you on my call to the negotiator which I referenced originally, I was not trying to get him to work the file, just gather some helpful information from him.  Since I had some relationship with him I thought he would not mind giving me his thoughts. 

I agree with you that all Loss Mitigation negotiators are over worked and the last thing you need is an interruption that doesn't have anything to do with your assigned files.

I want to publically support your philosophy that this is a team effort.  We can not do our job without you and your job is much more challenging if we are not doing our job regarding paperwork and completeness of our packages.

I forwarded your comments to my senior negotiator regarding the monthly update of documents.  We are looking into how we can implement that with all of our files.  It is a great idea.

If you have any other feedback about what might make your job easier, please let me know.  All we do are short sale files so the better we can become the more successful we will be at getting approvals and more importantly closings. 

I do not know what lender you work for but hope that some day we are fortunate enough to work with you.

Matt

Oct 19, 2010 06:16 AM