If you Worked with Short Sales...You Need to Know...
It is soooo important to know what you DON'T know and to know that just as with many other things in life...each situation is different.
If you worked with short sales you know that you helped people through one of the most difficult times in their lives...and we applaud your efforts. Your education in this area did not go unrewarded. Whether
Sellers told you or not...it gave them a hand up and a way to get a fresh start. The debt, the phone calls from lenders, the barely even imagining one day at a time were erased. We have stayed in touch with many of the hundreds of our short sale Sellers who became our buyers and are living the American Dream of home ownership once again.
One of the things short sale Sellers are told...and we put in writing at the very busy time of the sale...the Lender reserves the right to issue a 1099 form to the Seller for the amount of the debt forgiven. There is no
way to know IF the lender will or will not issue it...and now we also know that the "when" it is issued may also come at a later date. We recently got a call from a former Short Sale Seller who told us about her letter from the IRS indicating she owed taxes.
All the emotions we had experienced so often from short sale sellers spilled out again over the phone call...the anger, the hurt,..the why me...If I had not...I should have...I could have..if I had not married him...a familiar echo from years ago.
It is soooo important to know what you DON'T know and to know that just as with many other things in life...each situation is different. I told her we would do some research and get back to her. Research we
did...with lawyers an accountants. Some who would confess that they didn't know...some who passed along other resources...and some who gave different answers than others. Our goal was not to give her an answer...but to share resources she would need to resolve her issue.
We have those resources now for varying situations and as ever mindful professionals who have done short sales in markets across the country,...know the contact information for tax lawyers, for legal aid that may be at free or reduced charge and real estate attorneys...be a good scout...be prepared...show your past clients what full service is...and provide it.
This has been a professional service message brought to you by Sally K. & David L. Hanson, Broker Associates with EXP Realty, LLC honored to be of service for all things real estate..right side up OR upside down in southeastern Wisconsin.
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