HUD has announced changes to their FHA Short Sale requirements:

It seems like everytime we turn around, there is a new change to mortgages or their requirements.  Here is the latest one.  Effective October 1, 2013 the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced the following changes to their Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Short Sale requirements:

• New or different documentation requirements for verifying assets, income, and expenses.  Although they haven't said what's going to be new and or different, just know that it is and it will be in effect in 4 days!
• Deficit Income Test (DIT) will be used to determine a homeowner's financial hardship. 
• Possible elimination of the financial hardship/deficit income preforeclosure sale requirement for:
• service members who have received Permanent Change of Station (PCS) Orders, or
• homeowners who are deemed eligible for a streamlined preforeclosure sale option
• New validation requirements for appraisals (again, don't know what this new requirement is going to be, but appraisers are taking everyday allotted to perform appraisals, and if there is a new requirement will there be additional time added)?

*Before the technology boom, it took almost 60 days to close on a home because we had to wait for everything to be snail-mailed.  Now we are quickly approaching the same time frame again, with additional requirements from lenders, and seemingly automatic reinspections for appraisals.

• Different dual agency/brokerage requirement: to meet the new short sale purchase contract addendum requirements, brokers and their agents may represent either the buyer or the seller, but not both parties

Whoa!!  I sell at least 80% of my own listings, so now this is saying that if a buyer contacts me on a property I have listed, neither I nor anyone else in my company may represent them in the transaction??!!  That is insane!  Sellers hire us to get their property sold, how can I tell them that I will have to turn a buyer away?  Or send the buyer to another agent?  Really?  Something tells me that a notice of non representation will not be accepted by a short sale lender for a buyer.

Watch for additional details coming soon.