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New Bank of America Short Sale Escalation Guidelines

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Bank of America Short Sale Escalation Guidelines

Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender © 2011 Bank of America Corporation. Some products may not be available in all states. Credit and collateral are subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply. This is not a commitment to lend. Bank of America and brokers are separate entities; each is independently responsible for its products, services and incentives. AR23G621

Bank of America(R)

Short Sale Escalation Guidelines


To Consider BEFORE Escalating

Several factors contribute to the timeframe of a short sale. Bank of America uses the Equator short sale processing system. Equator is a task driven system and each task has a specific deadline. Agents must educate themselves on the process and review the tasks and messaging in the system to assess the progress of the transaction.

Before submitting an escalation, agents need to ensure they have exhausted the following resources:

    – Contact the assigned Short Sale Specialist through a message in the Equator Short Sale Processing System and allow at least two business days for a reply

     – Contact the team lead through the Short Sale Processing System (Equator) and allow at least two business days for a reply

     – Contact Bank of America’s Short Sale Customer Care line at: 1.866.880.1232 (Monday to Friday 8:00 am - 10:00 pm Eastern and Saturday 9:00 am - 5:30 pm Eastern)


Bank of America Short Sale Escalation Guidelines:

To Consider BEFORE Escalating

Agents should review and understand the following guidelines before accessing the escalation web tool and submitting an escalation.  Transaction specific information will only be discussed with homeowners or their authorized third parties. Due to privacy reasons Bank of America can only provide loan specific information to homeowners or authorized third parties (where proper third party authorization documentation has been reviewed and approved by Bank  of America). If you are a buyer’s agent we will acknowledge your escalation but will reach out directly to the listing agent.  All escalations must be submitted through the designated escalation web tool. Once an escalation is submitted, please avoid contacting Bank of America Mortgage Loan Officers and other associates about the case to prevent duplicate efforts that may slow down the response and  the overall process.  To access the escalation web tool a username and password will be  required. An email with a link to the web tool and registration instructions will be sent to all agents who have been authorized to use the new tool.

Identifying the Need for an Escalation

Only a very small portion of short sale files should require an escalation at any given point in the process. Agents must carefully assess the situation and determine if an escalation is needed.

A Short Sale Escalation IS ideal as:

• An avenue to resolve one or more of the following issues related to the short sale process for a specific property:

• No response to attempts to contact the Short Sale Specialist and Specialist’s team lead (allow for two business days to receive a response after attempt contact)

• A decision on an offer (approval / rejection) has not been communicated in 45 days

• The buyer is going to walk and a decision on an offer (approval / rejection)  has not been made within the 45 day time frame

• If settlement statement has not been approved at closing

• An avenue to get answers to questions that have not been answered by the assigned Short Sale Specialist or Team Lead


A Short Sale Escalation IS NOT ideal as:


• A way to get a status update
• A way to expedite a short sale
• A guaranteed method to get a short sale approved
• A way to get general questions about the deal or the short sale process answered
• A way to bypass working with your assigned Short Sale Specialist
• A forum to obtain general assistance in using Equator Short Sale Escalation Guidelines

What to expect AFTER Escalating

• Within two business days of submitting your escalation, you will be contacted by a Bank of America representative to acknowledge that the escalation was received and outline next steps.
• The actual resolution of an escalation can take up to 30 days, depending on the issue, as it may require additional research and response from other partners (investor, MI company, etc).
• If you have submitted escalations in the past and have interacted with a Bank of America escalation representative, please do not contact the same representative directly if a new escalation arises. Agents are expected to submit new escalations using the online form only.

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Comments(12)

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Bill Reddington
Re/max By The Sea - Destin, FL
Destin Florida Real Estate

This process is still a nightmare. B of A is now outsourcing. Response time is marginal at best. The problem is still huge.

Nov 11, 2011 04:21 AM
Curtis Van Carter
Better Homes & Gardens Wine Country Group - Yountville, CA
Your Napa Valley Broker Extraordinaire

Mike

Thanks for this info. I have only done a few BofA short sales, all through Equator, and have not had to escalate. Based on Bill's comment, I guess I should feel fortunate.

Nov 11, 2011 05:18 AM
Larry Story ALC
Total Care Realty - Greensboro, NC
Beneath it all is the Land, Covering all of NC

Mike,

So true simply from the standpoint that sometimes escalation can derail the process that is already taking place.  There are ways to get the negotiators attention other then that.  Sending them an email outside of Equator generally does the trick.  Now if they are with UTLS or AMS Servicing it is easy to figure out their email address if you know their name.  The outsourcing Bill is talking about actually seems to be a shell game.  Many of these "servicing " companies employees use to be listed as BofA employees.  

Nov 12, 2011 02:53 AM
Mike Linkenauger
Jacksonville, FL
Short Sale Specialist Network

I agree that sending an email always does the trick, especially if you know the right people to email.  We have pretty much everybody's contact info in the intire department, including all department heads as well.   I think they are trying to basically streamline their escalation process.  These guidelines should be hopeful to agents.

I did forget to mention that these guidelines have NOT been offered to the public as of yet! 

You guys are getting a sneak peak at these before other agents get to...

Nov 12, 2011 03:06 AM
Betty Knowles
Southwest Missouri Realty - Springfield, MO
Ready to sell? Call Betty!

Thanks Mike for the information.  I am so close to getting an acceptance on a short sale I am doing right now with Bank of America.  I didn't get the opportunity to use equator because it was an FHA Loan.  Thanks again.

Dec 19, 2011 01:22 AM
Marcy Moyer
eXp Realty of California Silicon Valley Probate, Trust, and Investment Sales - Mountain View, CA
Probate, Trust, and Investment Specialist

Thanks Mike!

Great information!

 

Dec 19, 2011 04:03 AM
Lehel Szucs
All Seasons Real Estate, Inc. - Covina, CA
REALTOR of choice

Mike .. .thaks for sharing

Dec 19, 2011 04:24 AM
Mike Linkenauger
Jacksonville, FL
Short Sale Specialist Network

No problem guys!  I always like it when our articles are suggested to be featured!  Feel free to subscribe as well, we're pretty committed to keeping this specific blog as a hub for new articles and SSSN inforrmation.

Dec 19, 2011 04:30 AM
Ben Benita
Ben Benita - Gainesville, VA
Speaker, Author, Game Changer, Coach

good post, but, many escalations through Equator still go unnoticed, always best to find out who the Ivnestor is and contact THEM directly or go to the corporate offices directly for B of A....best of luck to everyone battling B of A!!!!

Dec 19, 2011 12:41 PM
Ute Ferdig
Ferdig Real Estate Solutions - Auburn, CA
Because Getting It Right Matters!

It's my understanding that B of A is taking back handling the short sales that are opened with an offer and that only those short sales that are started without an offer are handled by third party vendors.  This info was passed on to me in the context of a HAFA short sale. 

I have contacted B of A for help through Twitter and found that they responded quickly.  While they were not able to help, they were able to explain a few things and told me they would escalate if the vendor does not respond appropriately in a timely fashion.  I have not had a need to escalate a file with B of A.  So far, I have only escalated 1 file and that was with Wells Fargo and it was a very unusual short sale that required the setting aside of the foreclosure which called for upper management involvement at the servicer's and investor's level.  Other than that, I guess I have been lucky that I have not had a need for escalation.

Dec 21, 2011 05:44 AM
Michael Collins
*ROCK REALTY|Broker|Realtor|Real Estate|WI Short Sale Agent* - Janesville, WI
CDPE, SFR , Wisconsin Short Sale Specialist Realto

Good article Mike. I'm sending you an email for some additional clarification.

Thanks!

May 01, 2012 02:34 AM
Mike Linkenauger
Jacksonville, FL
Short Sale Specialist Network

Sorry to hear that Natalie.  What is your email address and how can I reach you?  I have everybody's contact info at BOA.  If you get a minute, you can also visit our forum of over 12,000 short sale agents at www.TheShortSaleGuide.com and quickly get escalation contacts or guidance on there as well.

Nov 06, 2012 12:44 AM