Hi folks. I’ve been having a discussion over at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com on whether or not having the Buyer of a Short Sale pay off part of a junior lien “outside of closing” without disclosing to the 1st lien holder and without placing the payment as a P.O.C. (paid out of closing) item on the HUD is Mortgage Fraud and/or a violation of RESPA.

The article is presenting a scenario where the 1st lender does not agree to pay the 2nd $7,000 from the sale. They only agree to pay $3,000. So to skirt around this the agent suggest having the buyer pay the additional $4,000 needed to remove the 2nd lien outside of closing. It’s my opinion, that this $4,000 is compensation to the seller for the purchase of the property. This fact, that is pertinent to the sale, is being withheld from the 1st lender. Therefore, in my opinion, it is both Mortgage Fraud and a violation of RESPA.

The definition of Mortgage Fraud as per the FBI is: “material misstatement, misrepresentation, or omission of information relied upon by an underwriter or lender to fund, purchase or insure a loan. “.

Also, a Title company that does this without placing these funds on the HUD could very well be breaking the law. Title Companies exist to protect lenders and borrowers. The lien is a title issue and therefore the monies needed to “clear title” need to be shown on the HUD.

THE HUD-1 MUST STATE, WITH COMPLETE ACCURACY, THE FULL FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING OF THE TRANSACTION. Read the rest of the article here.

Not disclosing this $4,000 payment to the first lien holder is fraud. If it weren’t ….then disclosing it would not be an issue. Would it?

Now having said all of that I know these types of transactions happen every day. The chance of being caught and prosecuted are probably slim to none. BUT…..it’s still fraudulent and it’s still wrong. Of course I am NOT an Attorney and this is just my opinion.

Here’s some more great info:

HUD promulgates regulations to enforce RESPA, known as Regulation X (24 C.F.R. section 3500, et seq.). Regulation X includes the requirement that settlement statements be prepared in the form of the HUD-1. The regs include line-by-line instructions and rules as to how the HUD-1 is to be completed. The following is from the “General Instructions” (24 C.F.R section 3500, Appendix A):

“The settlement agent shall complete the HUD-1 to itemize all charges imposed upon the Borrower and the Seller by the Lender and all sales commissions, whether to be paid at settlement or outside of settlement, and any other charges which either the Borrower or the Seller will pay for at settlement. Charges to be paid outside of settlement, including cases where a non-settlement agent (i.e., attorneys, title companies, escrow agents, real estate agents or brokers) holds the Borrower’s deposit against the sales price (earnest money) and applies the entire deposit towards the charge for the settlement service it is rendering, shall be included on the HUD-1 but marked `P.O.C.’ for “Paid Outside of Closing” (settlement) and shall not be included in computing totals. P.O.C. items should not be placed in the Borrower or Seller columns, but rather on the appropriate line next to the columns.”

The “P.O.C.” requirement is also set forth in the upper part of the first page of the HUD-1 form.

Above info was taken from this article

So what do you think? Fraud? RESPA Violation? Or neither?

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV.

Maybe. In the last two weeks I have loaded five short sales into the Equator system. All have had BPOs (Broker Price Opinions) ordered and one has already been countered and accepted by the seller. We should have a written approval by the end of the week.

Now for those of you that have worked a Bank of America Short Sale in the past you know that having a BPO ordered in less than two weeks rarely happened. So having five BPOs ordered in less than two weeks is a miracle!!!

The beautiful thing is that I have not made one phone call. The entire Equator process is automated. For me that is a huge advantage as it frees me up to actually list and sell real estate.

Hi Folks. Here’s a comment that I received from an employee of Bank of America. I think it sums up some of the frustration that we are all going through. I will keep the comment anonymous and it has been edited for grammar. Here goes:

“I have sat here and read through all of these messages and I am at a loss for words. I currently work as a supervisor in the short sale department for Bank of America. And YES I hate my job. I hate having to get on the phone with these homeowners and agents and explain to them that I do not have the authority to submit a same day postponement for a foreclosure. Nor do I have any more contact with their negotiator than they do.

My first week on this job had me in tears. I was on the phone with an Attorney who was trying to stop a foreclosure sale and in the background I was listening to the homeowner and her children crying. It is hard and some days I leave out of work in the worst mood. EVERY DAY I attempt to make some sort of contact with corporate to get some answers from someone. But just like the rest of you, my questions and calls go unanswered.” END

I posted this to remind all of us that most of the folks we speak with at the lenders/servicers are just doing their jobs. They are overwhelmed with files and calls and there is only so much they can do.

As hard as it is sometimes, we must try to remember that these folks also have families and could very well be experiencing financial hardships just as the homeowners we are working for are. Show them some respect. Be kind. Maybe…… just maybe you’ll get a better response. OK?

Image ***Sometimes we all just need a hug!

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

FIND A SHORT SALE AGENT BY CLICKING ON THE MAP

Hi Folks. Whether you’re an agent, buyer, seller or investor you really need to come check us out over at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com.  Our members are the best Short Sale Professionals in the business and are sharing what they know for FREE!! You do NOT have to go it alone. Pop on over and tell us what we can do to assist you.

Here’s what a couple of our Short Sale Buyer members had to say this week:

• Thank you Bryant, it’s good to know this is going to (hopefully) be an easy transaction. By the way, great site. Very informative and it’s helped me understand what a Short Sale is, as a Buyer it’s nice to know some of the “terminology” and wording in the short sale process. God Bless. DC 
  

• First I have to say, I absolutely love this website! It is a great site to come to get immediate responses from people who clearly have done their research and are professionals. I am an anxious Buyer. Vicki

We also have many other great conversations taking place. Our Short Sale Professionals are discussing…..

Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative H.A.F.A

• We submitted a “traditional” short sale package about a month ago.  My clients asked me on Wednesday (April 7th) about HAFA – would they qualify and be guaranteed no deficiency?  Well, I called up WF and asked them. READ THE FULL POST HERE  

Equator.com

• I am currently attempting to buy a listed short sale home.  The contract was initiated on 1/28/10 which I offered the listed price; however, I requested 3% to closing costs.  The listing agent informed my realtor….READ THE FULL POST HERE

Bank of America

• Has anyone been successful in getting BOFA to rescind/reverse a foreclosure while it was in short sale review? FIND THE ANSWER HERE

Got a deal we can help you with?

• I am negotiating a short sale with GREEN TREE (second loan) The negotiation is turning into a nightmare. First Green Tree ( second lender) asked for 5% of the amount the first lender in going to net to review the file now after file has been review the investor came back asking for $25,000. CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT OUR SHORT SALE PROFESSIONALS CAME UP WITH

Maybe you’re new to Short Sales and need affordable Short Sale Agent Training?

• It’s time for you to get the expertise you need, because short sales are becoming extremely common. You don’t want to be caught feeling unsure when a client asks for one.That’s why we offer you three different training solutions.

Folks, 2010 is going to be the year of the Short Sale. It’s up to us to help as many folks as we can to avoid foreclosure. Please take advantage of all of the tools that we are making available to you at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com. We now have almost 2,000 members and our site is THE place for all things Short Sales. Come join us. OK?

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Hardship: Financial and medical. The Seller is in his 80s and had never made a late payment on anything his entire life until he missed 3 payments on this property. He had lived here for almost 20 years. The property was refinanced to help pay the medical expenses of his terminally ill wife who recently passed away. 

1st Lien with Bank of America for $179,000

No other liens

Property was listed on 12/05/2009 at $95,000. It was slowly reduced and on 1/18/2010 went pending for $75,000 all cash.

The challenge: I wanted to avoid going through the Equator system due to the sellers age and the fact that he was confined to an assisted living facility. I felt that the Equator system would be confusing to him since he did not have access to email or a computer.

After a couple of days of begging negotiating I was able to get the file directly into the hands of a supervisor. The complete file was submitted on 1/22/2010 and we had written approval on 3/11/2010. That was 48 days after submission. Closing was today 4/22/2010. Or 138 days from listing to closing.

Bank of America accepted $68,700 or 38% of what was owed.

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Hi Folks. Recently I have had two Buyers balk at providing me personal info I need if they want to purchase a Bank of America Short Sale. I really do understand where they coming from but….most of the big lenders including Bank of America and GMAC are now running most of their short sales through http://www.Equator.com.

Supposedly the Equator system will help to shorten the time involved with getting these Short Sales approved. From what I’m hearing Bank of America is giving approvals in 60-90 days as opposed to the 6-9 months they were taking. That’s a good thing.

The Equator system is asking for some personal Buyer info. I assume this is to make sure transactions are “arms length”. If the Buyers want to purchase a Bank of America Short Sale then we have to enter the data.

The reality is it’s less data than what the closing agent will want and far less than they would have to provide if getting financing.  What Equator is requiring is simply:

• Date of birth
  
• The first 5 digits of their social security number.
  
• The Buyer’s address.

That’s all we need. No big deal. Of course the Buyers always have the option of just not buying a Bank of America Short Sale. I just hate to see them miss out on a good deal over something so minor. What say you?

Here’s the screen shot from Equator.

I have a Short Sale with Bank of America that I have been working on for a very long time. In fact we are on our 4th Buyer. This Buyer has been under contract since August and has been very patient. I won’t bore you with the details but just suffice it to say that today was the day I needed to get some answers. So I fired off this email to a whole bunch of people in high places.

To who it may concern,

Bank of America’s lack of response to this short sale is disheartening to say the least. My seller has been jumping through hoops for over a year trying to work something out with your bank. We now have the FOURTH buyer that is willing and able to close on this property at market value yet your bank has now closed the file for “Insufficient offer”.

The call center states the file was closed on 4 February even though I have emails from X on the 17th of February stating it was still at the Investors. Was she lying? Or just out of the loop? In fact a new BPO was ordered and done on February 5th.

Back in November I had a long email thread with L who had asked the buyer to raise the contract price from $65,000 to $67,500. They did.  She then asked the seller to contribute $2,700 in cash. He agreed. We thought at this time that we were close to getting an approval. 

The transaction went dead until I heard from L on 12-21-09 telling me the file had been switched over to X

At this time I started trying get an update from X. I was told by her on 2-1-10 that the file was with the investor and had been submitted on 1-8-10. I was again told by her on 2-17-10 that it was still with the investor.

On 3-5-10 the call center told me the file was approved by Freddie Mac on 3-3-10 and that I should be getting the letter at any time. I called back in on 3-09-10 and was told the file was closed. Since then I have sent numerous emails to X and a couple of emails to her supervisor and have not received a response from either. I have also left several messages on X’s voice mail that have not  been returned.

Today I am filing a complaint with the OCC and the BBB. Of course I’m sure you have a very long list of complaints so one more probably means nothing to you. 

I have been working short sales for several years and understand the frustrations on all sides of the transaction. What I don’t understand is the complete lack of communication on this file. If you are not going to approve the short sale then tell us so. Ignoring us is just wasting our time.

I am the co-owner and founder of a network of Short Sale agents throughout the country called www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com  From what I have read on our site, agents and consumers everywhere are pissed off with your complete incompetence. But that’s an issue for a media interview and has nothing to do with this email.

So back on topic. What can I do to HELP you get this file approved and off your desk? THE END

I received a response in 15 minutes and should have my approval tomorrow. Life is good. If you are facing foreclsoure please give ma a call. I may be bale to help.

 

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

 

I’ve got news for ya. You already did. When you purchased the property. You signed two documents. The mortgage. That created the lien and gave the lender the right to foreclose on your property (their collateral). And, you signed a promissory note. That was/is your personal promise to pay back the money you borrowed.

The Short Sale releases the lien (mortgage). It may or may not release you from the note. If the Lender is offering to swap out your $200,000 note, that you already signed, for a $10,000 at ZERO interest over 10 years then……why not sign and be done with it?

Think about it before you answer. Consult with an attorney. Then make the decision that works for you. Just don’t say “I ain’t signing no frickin’ note!!!” without thinking it through. Make sense?

3953 Shawn Circle Orlando Florida 32826
3 bedrooms and 2 baths with 1613 Sq Ft Living Area Built in 1999
Click here for full details

$145,000

Beautiful home with many upgrades. Convenient NE Orlando location. Rounded drywall corners, tile flooring in the family room, screened and covered rear porch, fenced yard, upgraded blinds, light fixtures and ceiling fans through out. Community pool. Very clean and ready for a new owner. It is a short sale so please allow 90 to 120 days for closing.