Bank of America

I’ve noticed no matter what real estate website I’m on – Bank of America is advertising there…I also cringe everytime I’m in the car and I hear a random story on the radio involving something like “Bank of America pavilion”…or BofA this or that…

Bank of America- since you clearly have the funds to advertise no matter where I look, I think some of that money should be diverted to loss mitigation – specifically your short sale department.

How about:

Customer service reps that have a clue, or if they don’t know, will pass on the call to someone who does instead of giving my clients the runaround?

Paying for real appraisals? You know that BPO’s on listed property in CT are illegal right? I’ve told you several times and…

A happy ending to a long story….BUT….what I don’t quite understand is why Wells Fargo and GMAC can process their FHA short sales through Equator (a fast and efficient online platform), yet Bank of America still requires all FHA short sales to be processed  manually.

A regular Bank of America short sale processed through Equator will generally take about 3-6 weeks….BUT this FHA MANUALLY PROCESSED short sale with Bank of America took a whopping 6 months to make it through the system.

Why BofA? It doesn’t need to be this way.

There wasn’t even any good reason the short sale took 6 months to get approved…forcing sellers through endless qualifying, repeatedly losing paperwork and unresponsive negotiators are the only reasons this short…

If there is a single short sale that I enjoy lately it’s a Bank of America Fannie Mae owned loan.  This is quite possibly the single most predictable servicer/investor combination and one I am more than happy to take on.  Most Bank of America short sales will go through their Equator system, including all their Fannie Mae owned loans.

Many of my clients are in the middle of a divorce leading to the unavoidable short sale of their home, as was the case here. My client was anticipating a long troublesome journey through the short sale process and was quite elated when his short sale proved to be quick and painless.

Within 5 weeks on market we secured a buyer for the home…and after submitting the package to Bank of America – a short sale…

A CT Bank of America Cooperative Short Sale Success

I originally heard of BofA’s Cooperative Short Sale Program over a year ago. Promises of quick approvals and cash incentives went in one ear and out the other. It seems Bank of America has lots of plans that never materialize.

Over the last year I have had dealt with numerous Bank of America short sales, yet not one of their “cooperative short sales” so I assumed it was a fly by night idea that never really got off the ground.

Then I finally ran into one. The client had been attempting to short sale for several years unsuccessully when he called me. We put the property on market. As usual we found a buyer and went under contract rather quickly, but then the waiting began.

Usually…

Cleaning up the last agents mess - a Bank of America short sale tale

When I first met my client she had a current listing with another agent. Priced at just what was needed to get out of the loan, the house had sat on the market for 6 months for $80,000+ over market value. The previous agent had refused to do a short sale as she didn't understand them and- TO MY INCREDIBLE SURPRISE - had still taken a $5,000 retainer on the listing despite knowing she was incapable of handling the transaction!!!!

Realizing very quickly that she was facing an inevitable short sale, my new client still had to waste the next 6 months waiting for the current listing to expire. Thankfully there was no foreclosure date set or the consequences could have been much…

July, 2010 I took a new Connecticut short sale listing. This was a Fannie Mae Bank of America loan. Fannie Mae had just gotten on board with HAFA and my new clients wanted to go with the program.

HAFA was supposed to be governments solution to “streamlining ” and “simplifying” the short sale process.

A summary of the last 15 months:

July 2010 –  I met with my new clients and their property went on market

October 2010  - After about 6 weeks  Bank of America finally acknowledged our requests and a  HAFA short sale file was opened.

December 2010 – A HAFA approval letter arrived with a GROSSLY EXAGGERATED valuation of the property that could NEVER be reached. We started the value dispute process.

April 2010 – After 5 months…

Back in May – I listed a new CT short sale for sale -  a single lien Bank of America FHA loan. Within days we secured a very strong buyer and a complete short sale package headed to the lender.

After reviewing the sellers documentation, Bank of America immediately refused to process for a short sale as they determined the sellers should be in a loan modification instead.

HUH? The seller is RELOCATING FOR EMPLOYMENT. Relocation and loan modification don’t belong in the same sentence.

The package was resubmitted with a very clear explanation for why a loan modification would not be the answer to my relocating sellers problems. We were promised this would go straight to short sale and my sellers would not be harassed for a loan mod.

WRONG!!!…

In January of 2010 I was contacted by Mr. Smith, a distressed CT homeowner at the end of his rope. After a year spent trying to unsuccessfully modify his $260,000 mortgage, he was facing foreclosure and had turned to a short sale to prevent his home from being foreclosed. After several conversations with Mr. Smith, we lost contact and a few weeks later I saw that his home was listed with another agent with no experience in short sales.

In September I got the second desperate call from Mr. Smith. Despite the fact there had been a buyer ready to pay $190,000 for his home, the 7 months the approval took cost Mr. Smith his buyers and he was back at square one, kicking himself for not choosing the right agent to begin with, and now just a few weeks away…

Bank of America has become one of my favorite banks to work with as of late. Yes, they have their moments - one in maybe five short sales with Bank of America turns into a delayed nightmare, but for the most part, Bank of America has become a breeze to work with.

This particular short sale was not much of an exception. Featuring two liens with BofA - a first mortgage and a home equity line of credit, the first moved along at a decent pace. It didnt take much more than a month for the approval. When the buyer flaked out close to approval, of course we had to start over again with a new buyer. This delayed us for a few extra weeks. The biggest problem we had was getting Bank of America and Bank of America to agree on what to pay…

Bank of America has always been very stubborn about retaining their right to pursue a deficiency in their short sale approval letters. To my surprise, my most recent Bank of America short sale approval letter came with new language, completely releasing my client of all future liability for the debt.

Unfortunately, soon after the buyer flaked out and we had to secure another buyer and get a new approval. This time, the approval letter read the same way as the old Bank of America letters, with Bank of America retaining their right to pursue the deficiency once again.

BUT - THE THIRD TIME WAS THE CHARM. Soon after the second approval, the sale fell apart again for a major inspection issue. A new price for the property was renegotiated, and back we…