Russell Shaw of AgentGenius passes on a powerful email being sent to agents on how to deal with Bank of America’s difficulty with short sales- don’t send them any new mortgage business. My comment was as follows: Well, it isn’t surprising that this letter is being distributed. I haven’t gotten one but you reap what you sow. There was a time when Countrywide was the Grinch of short sales. When they were acquired by B of A people thought things might get better, but they didn’t. It should only take as much time to approve a short sale as it takes to underwrite a mortgage- the process is analogous. That we have to drag the lender, kicking and screaming, to get more money than they’d get if it went to REO explains how this industry thinks. It also explains how we got into this mess. I have blogged about how lame the banks are about short sales here. Bryant Tutas was a frequent commenter on the story and pointed out that an organized boycott would be illegal collusion. He made some other good points here. Yes, part of the problem is lame agents. But it is hard even for a good agent when the lender won't cooperate. I have dynamite people ( a NY law firm) doing my short sales and we get frustrated with all the stonewalling, red tape and delays.
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J - Our Attorneys experience the same thing. And they would rather take to REO and have heard they think they can make more money sometimes. It is crazy!
I'm six months into a short sale - still trying to get to closing. It's ridiculous.
Michael
I'm not here to defend Bank of America; however, I will say that even they are subject to contract law as many of the mortgages that they service they do not own outright. Furthermore, lenders across the board have been in a holding pattern as they have awaited the governments governance on how short sales are to proceed. Now that HAFA has been officially kicked off the lag time on short sales should wane.
JPF,
That's how it's going to get changed. Blog and re-blog. Get the message out.
J. I am in total agreement with you about Countrywide - Bank of America. In working on short sales with Countrywide, it took close to three months just to acknowledge our offers. On the other hand, Bank of America is fast about giving out loans. I have learned my lesson. I no longer take on short sales where Countrywide is the lender and I recommend other banks for pre-approval letters.
We need to send them a loud message - CLEAN UP YOUR ACT.
Pat Norwine, Dolce & Associates, Culver City, CA www.PatriciaNorwine.com
Even doing regular purchase loans with them in 2009 was a NIGHTMARE! Escrows were out of control and took double the normal amount of time to close. While loan officers took the hands off approach and heightened everyones anxiety! I agree BLOG and re-BLOG!
Bank of America is AWFUL! Especially this new 'reotrans' system they have for short sales. Instead of telling you over the phone what they need, they post it to that website and never tell you. Then they put deadlines in the system and decline the short sale if they aren't met.
Maybe it will just take some getting us to and will make the process better...I dunno. Guess I'll have to wait and see, but for the last year, Bank of America has been awful.
Looking at statistics for loan mods, B of A is only doing half as well as Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, and others. Either they are dragging their feet or they are incompetent. It's not that complicated. Here's what the New York Times had to say
The biggest company in the program, Bank of America, has completed modifications for fewer than 2 percent of the 200,000 borrowers it has enrolled. Rebecca Mairone, a Bank of America executive, said the bank has started sending notaries door-to-door to get signed documents back quickly.
BOA is horrible. They gave me a loan modification on my personal residence in September and when I sent them the 1st payment in Noember it was returned! I have spent the last 2.5 months trying to get them to accept the payments. They admit its an internal mistake - a lock out code on my account - which makes it look like its still in foreclosure so their payment center will not take the payments.
I have done over 4 escalations and they all insist that this time it will be resolved but I am not holding my breath. Have to call them later this week....not looking forward to spending at least an hour explaining whay I am calling.
Of course, I have a listing that is a short sale which is with them...I can hardly wait to work this one!
hello,
I have been put on hold for up to 20 minutes at a time only to be disconnected when they go to "pull up your file". The people from various website like SaveYourHome.com say they can help get past the red tape all they want is as much as $1000, and that is with no promise of getting your rate lowered.
So out of total desperation and nothing to lose I went to a local branch of BOC hoping to get the number for the "regulatory authority of bank of america" to report or make a complaint. I was very polite and respectful to the person I spoke to, but at the same time I was VERY clear that I need my questions answered, and I'm not going to be hung up on anymore, and that I intend on stopping by every time I need a question answered!
They were not to helpful at first but I kept to my word and stopped by when I needed a question answered. They probably don't like seeing me show up in the lobby all the time but I don't care what they think, and I have got more info then all of the phone calls combined!
Again I am not suggesting that anyone take out their frustration on a bank branch employee, but if there was an endless line of people like us going to local branches the word would get to the top real fast.
I recently sold my own residence and wrote an offer on a local short sale BOA home. Not looking forward to it at all. There was another local resident whose home was taken over by Fannie Mae and there had been an excellent offer on the table for months. It ended up selling for $40,000 less. Oh well.