Finally, ten weeks after submitting a short sale package, today I got a call through to our assigned negotiator. (I won't name which bank - you might like them and right now I don't). The negotiator assigned to my file, who twice before had not returned messages that I have left for him, answered on the first ring.
As we were on the phone, he looked at our file for the first time. I'd submitted it with our offer on May 26. The first thing he said - after a 30 second review - was that they couldn't approve it because the loan was current. My response was that the seller, a recent widow, was struggling to make the payments, even though she was selling her furniture to do it. It's been a point of honor with her.
His response was that if she was paying, she could afford to pay. So much for honor.
I told him that the offer we had was $5000 more than a property just like it that had recently sold. He asked me for comps - which I sent. There are at least six comps that support the offer price. In fact, the offer we have is likely HIGHER than an offer we'd get on it were we to submit another offer today.
While I was at it, I sent the negotiator the seller's revised hardship letter - in it she makes clear that she's at the end of her resources and the August payment can't be made.
Later in the afternoon the negotiator called to say that it looks like the bank will have to deny the short sale - the loan is current, and in reviewing bank statements from April and May, it appears the seller can afford the property.
The task is to make it clear to this file processor, who is following the guidelines that his lending institution sets before him, that a lot can happen to deplete a widow's resources over ten weeks, especially when she's continuing to make payments on a property she doesn't live in and will never be able to afford to live in again. At the end of our conversation, he agreed that if we'd send him her June and July bank statements - and updated financial worksheet that he'd review them.
On the one hand, if a seller defaults on her loan, she's in danger of losing the property to foreclosure. That's likely a four-year black mark on her credit.
On the other hand, if she continues to make payments - robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to speak - the short sale may be denied.
The bank's negotiator hasn't told the seller to stop making her payments, and neither have I. She'd come to that conclusion about the time her bank statement shrunk so low that making a payment isn't an option.
What we'll do is submit updated bank statements and financial worksheet and see what this lender is willing to do for a 65-year old widow (who is a former employee of this lender) who wants to avoid foreclosure. A widow who brought a buyer willing to pay at or above market price for a house in a state the widow doesn't live in, a house the widow continues to keep up even though she can't afford it. A widow who in the past few months has run through resources attempting to keep current on this property - resources that she needs to keep her afload in her retirement years. We're not talking about wealth - nor comfort - just necessities.
I know - for the bank, it's a business decision. But it is beyond comprehension how this widow's short sale request could be interpreted as anything other than a financial hardship.
Give me patience. And give the seller a negotiator who cares enough to discern the difference between a financial hardship and a strategic default.
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