Not mentioning the bank by name, let’s just say it has been in the news a lot and initials are used quite frequently. I’ve been through Short Sales before. Not easy, but not this bad. Here’s the story.
Much to my chagrin, my clients decided back in late May it would be easier to get the bank to approve the short sale home they wanted to purchase by going to that same bank for a loan. To a reasonable person you might think that was a viable approach. If dealing with a reasonable bank, I would whole heartedly agree. Now near the end of November my clients understand why I cringed when they chose that bank. How they have hung in there, I do not know. This has been the worst nightmare of all deals.
The sellers accepted the offer on June 8th. The Loan Officer for the bank got all the Buyer’s information and set up the loan, supposedly. July went by checking with the Listing Agent weekly, followed by August and September. The Negotiator on the Short Sale side requested information; my clients obliged, signed and complied. I reiterated several times with the Listing Agent that it’s a VA loan requiring 45 days. He relayed that to the Negotiator. In August the COE (Close of Escrow) was set for late September, I notified the Loan Officer for my clients to be prepared for a quick response. In September it was moved back to October with more demands for the Buyers and Sellers. Again I notified the Loan Officer asking him to run everything through Underwriting. Weekly follow ups continued between the Listing Agent and me.
October 8th the Negotiator sent an Acceptance Letter for an October 24th COE. Listing Agent and I were shocked at the short notice. I let the Loan Officer know and he was adamant that he needed 45 days. Keep in mind this bank has both ends of the deal. I let the Listing Agent know it was impossible to meet that deadline. So he got a notice of November 28th. No Amended Acceptance Letter from the bank. My clients proceeded with Inspections without the Amendment. Now a cost of $335 for the Inspection, and $40 for the Termite Inspection. My clients are now into the deal for $375. Termites are discovered. Treatment is $475 with a 2 year warranty. Negotiator refuses, Seller can’t afford it. Clients take on the responsibility.
Nothing from the Negotiator for an Acceptance Letter. Listing Agent and I are getting more and more frustrated with the lack of a letter of acceptance. Loan Officer proceeds with requesting an appraisal. Clients are gouged $525 for the appraisal. Much higher than any I have experienced. Now they are $900 into the deal. I insist on appraisal results from the Loan Officer. His response is to push it off to the Processor. Never have I had a Loan Officer drop out and stop responding. This one did. Need I say stock in Rolaids, Tums and every antacid ever made won't work. It takes nearly 4 weeks to get the acceptance amendment. Even with constant hounding by the Listing Agent. Now my clients can deposit their earnest money; $1,400 committed to the deal.
Email the Processor. No response. Email and call the Loan Officer to get the appraisal and insure all required paperwork is in from my clients. Again, pushed to the Processor by the Loan Officer. Processor hasn’t responded. My client goes on the Internet to track her loan only to discover that the bank is asking for additional paperwork. What paperwork? No communication from the Loan Officer, no communication from the Processor. Client notices a telephone number and email to complain dissatisfaction to the Supervisor. She emails, I call. No response. I email the Processor and cc the Supervisor. Finally I get a reply. Client is asked for paperwork already submitted, she responds immediately. I get no response on the appraisal. I reiterate to the Loan Officer, Processor and Supervisor the need for prioritizing and getting things done immediately because of the oncoming holiday. I email everything the Processor asks for. Processor said she can’t open the PDF files, wants them faxed. Their fax keeps cutting me off. It takes an hour and a half to fax around 50 pages. One of the largest Banks in the US and they can’t accept PDF files. Where is all the money going from the bailout, fees from their customers, and interest earned?
Meanwhile Short Sale Negotiator isn’t budging. Insisting close on the 28th or the house is going into foreclosure. More frustration. It’s Friday and COE is 9 days away with two weekends and a holiday in the middle. Get frustrated and Tweet I can’t believe bank (named in tweet) and that a Tucson deal has a Jacksonville Florida Processor in another time zone. Guess who tweets back, the bank Social Media monitors. Direct message them and they call. Now I have a third party involved. She apologizes and gets the information. Calls me back in an hour that she has contacted the Negotiator, Processor and their supervisors. Will contact me Monday.
Email Monday and more delay. Tweet again. Get another call from the Monitor apologizing for the delay. I let her know my client works for an attorney and I advised them to seek legal counsel. She said will be following up immediately and get back to me. I let the Listing Agent know, and happen to mention again my client works for an attorney. He emails the negotiator and drops the word lawsuit. I meet my client and the Termite Specialist to treat the house. I advise both that it doesn’t make sense for the client to spend another $475 and be out of pocket for $1,875 when the bank is insisting on foreclosing. So we postpone and leave.
Within 30 minutes I get a message from the Listing Agent that the Negotiator said the Investors have approved an extension to the end of December. Wait a minute. It took nearly 4 weeks before to get a written response and now it takes 30 minutes? How powerful is the word lawsuit? I got a call minutes later from the Social Media Monitor that it had been extended and that she advised the Processor to close by mid month. Meanwhile my Client’s lock on their loan ends November 30th. The Processor extends it to the 5th of December. Monday the 28th I email all concerned, no response. It’s the 29th, I am staying on this daily until my clients get the keys. I’ll comment when it’s over.
Lesson learned, Twitter can be a powerful tool if used right. I’d be careful about twitter though. Say the wrong thing and… More powerful is the word “lawsuit.”
Note: Follow my comments to see how it ends.
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