Denver VA Short Sale- a breath of fresh air

The VA Short Sale- What a breath of fresh air

I recently had the easiest short sale of my career. With this particular deal I had two things going for me.

1) The bank was Chase

2) The loan was backed by the VA department.

Chase has very friendly customer service. Their wait time to talk to a rep is minimal and they almost guarantee approval within 30-45 days from submission date (not post date, mind you).

Here is where communication is key. We all know that sellers who are facing foreclosure are bombarded with phone calls and letters. Sometimes these phone calls can amount from 5-15 per week. These phone calls are from banks, debt collectors and attorneys. Let’s face it these calls are never pleasant and sellers will forever screen these calls.

It was about 3 weeks into the short sale process when I was alarmed by my seller that the local Denver, Colorado VA department was “blowing up” his answering machine. The words on the machine were “you are going under foreclosures and need to call the Denver VA department right away”. My seller was alarmed as if this was the first time he had really come to the realization that he was in fact facing his demise.  

None-the-less, he calls me in a panic… “Help!” As a short sale realtor, we get quite a few of these calls and avoiding the caller is not always the best solution. I told him that we could conference the VA department and see what they want and at the very least tell them that we are in the short sale process.

Long story short, the VA rep was the knight in shining armor. He assured us that if the bank did not have an approval letter in 2 weeks then he would take the entire file and process the short sale himself. He made a few calls to Chase Bank and within 2 weeks we had our approval letter.

If you ever have a VA short sale listing be sure to contact your local VA department as soon as you get a valid offer. The VA department is here to help, but they need the seller to cooperate.

Blog by www.kjhomefinder.com

Countrywide short sale update for 2009

Good News for Short Sales in 2009 with Litton Loans and Countrywide

Litton Loans Services and Countrywide are now participating in “Home Base Notes” and “Home Saver Systems”. This means that you can now call and get updates from an automated design. It used to be just the loss mitigation person assigned to a particular file.

Their goal is to decrease REO by 50% in 2009 and increase in short sale by 50% in 2009. Mortgage servicers do not want to file foreclosure and this is good news. I think we will see more of this in the future.

Litton Loan Services is also offering a 6% commissions on a successful closing, but Countrywide is still 5%. 

Litton Loan Services: 1800-999-8501 ph    1-972-653-6389 fax  

Countrywide Home Loans: 1866-880-1232 ph    1888-491-4947 fax

Thank you,

Key Concepts- serving the Colorado short sale market

Learn more about Short Sales in Colorado and how we can help! 

www.kjhomefinder.com

Helpful Tidbits about Colorado Foreclosure Law

In becoming or being a short sale specilaist, it is always important to know important highlights on your states foreclosure law regarding residential property.  Being a short sale professional in Colorado, I thought I’d list some important information about my states forelclosure law.  The law changed on January 1st, 2008. 

Before January 1st, 2008, the borrower was able to cure before the sale and redeem the property after the sale.  Both time periods were approximately 2 months before the sale and 2 months after the sale.  The new law allows the borrower approximately 4 months after the filing of the Notice of Election and Demand (NED) with the public trustee to cure before the sale.  The borrower no longer has the option to redeem after the sale.

Below are helpful tidibits about our states foreclosure laws:

• If the borrower files a notice of intent to cure and the public trustee sends the notice to the lender before 30 days to sale, the lender must submit cure figures to the borrower within (10) business days.  If the lender is tardy, the sale date can be postponed.
• Lenders are allowed to postpone sales date up to a year after the initial scheduled sales date.
• Liens that are filed before the NED have redemption rightts after the sale date.  Liens filed after the NED have no redemption rights.
• Junior lein holders must file a notice of intent to redeem within 8 days after the sale date.
• In general, foreclosure sales from most counties are typically held on Wednesdays but in Denver they are held on Tuesdays.
• Most HOA liens are not wiped out in foreclosure.  The lien can have a maximum value of (6) months plus associated fees.

The information posted above is useful tidbits.  Always seek legal counsel should you have any questions or need more information.  Thanks!

Blog by www.kjhomefinder.com

Wells Fargo Home Equity (WFHE) will not short sale

Wells Fargo Home Equity (WFHE) not to be confused with Wells Fargo Mortgage will not short sale a mortgage no matter how hard you try. They want the seller to sign for the full balance up front. This usually only works if the seller is planning to file bankruptcy after the short sale has occurred. Chase Bank as a second mortgage will also require 100% deficiency or promissory note.
My opinion is that they were not expecting the mortgage/financial crisis to happen like it has, so they have hired attorneys that do not have a clue about bankruptcy or real estate to head up their legal departments. These attorneys are calling the shots and are making matters even worse. If the house goes into foreclosure then they get 0-zero.
HSBC was following this pattern of negotiation on fist mortgages and second mortgages in 2007 to mid 2008. They found out that being hardnosed was not the best way to handle their business after losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now they are doing short sales on both first and second mortgages. WFHE will most likely change their tune, but the question is when?????

Blob by www.kjhomefinder.com