The point of the call is to walk the agent through the process and answer any questions they may have.  I was told that 26% of the short sales that are initiated in Equator end up getting declined because the agent failed to do something correctly.  These files then have to be re-initiated and start all over.  That’s a waste.

Any of us that have called BofA in the last couple months have definately heard about the Real Estate Agent Resource center located at www.bankofamerica.com/realestateagent.  This is a decent place to find tips for dealing with BofA.

One change to their process that has taken place in the last few months involves the seller financials.  No longer does the seller have to call in and get a login to upload their financials themselves.

We can upload those docs directly to the Library in the Property section.

Currently BofA is asking for;

1. 2 Months Bank Statements

2. 2 Pay Stubs, or 2 Qtrs of Profit and Loss for self-employed.

3. 4506-T

I have also had requests for a financials statement on loans with Mortgage Insurance so I always just include that in my list.  Also if there is a Bankruptcy at play they will want a Trustee’s Release Letter also.

And of course if you are applying for HAFA, everything pretty much goes out the window and process is totally different.

The seller docs can be uploaded to the library as soon as the offer is initiated and they recommend calling into Short Sale Customer Care at 866-880-1232 to let them know the docs have been uploaded.  This way a rep can note that the seller task is complete.

Stay tuned for more updates.

There are some changes coming to the HAFA short sale program that will positively affect your clients

on Dec 28, 2010 Supplemental Directive 10-18 was issued by the Making Home Affordable program.

These changes take affect Feb 1, 2011.

Many of these changes address negative issues that have limited this program up until this point and have disqualified many sellers.

Key Changes coming are;

1. Vacant or rented properties will no longer be disqualified from HAFA so long as the property was the seller’s primary residence within the last 12 months.
2. There will no longer be a requirement that the seller’s current mortgage payment be greater than 31% of their current gross income.
3. HAFA no longer requires the sellers financials be reviewed for qualification.  However, the servicer or investor may still require it.
4. Payouts to subordinate liens are no longer limited to 6% of the subordinate liens outstanding principal balance.  The Max aggregate payout is still capped at $6,000.  It is now up to the investor to determine their allowable %.
5. Real estate commission cannot be cut to less than 6%, even when pre-applying for the program.  This was a major negative previously.
6. Servicers are now required to respond to short sale requests within 30 days, whether the files was pre-applied for or not.  We’ll see about this one.  They don’t meet the timeline requirements now, so I don’t see that changing.

In all these updates to the program should remove some roadblocks that have disqualified seller’s in the past.

Unfortunately, not all of the negatives to pre-applying for HAFA prior to having a purchase contract have been removed.

1. Seller’s may still be required to pay mortgage payments equal to 31% of their gross income during the marketing period after pre-applying.
2. Lender’s doing their value determination when the property has not been marketed and there are no offers from the market often come in higher than future buyer offers do.  So pre-applying is still a gamble when it comes to the lender’s determination of value and should it come in high, limited ammunition is available to dispute it.
3. An value that come in higher than the market is willing to pay can doom a seller to having to accept a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.  Having a full marketing history and offer to show the BPO agent is always the best strategy to combat and unrealistic value.  Whenever possible this is my suggestion.

Download the full Directive Here.