Dave Robison
By Dave Robison
Mo Money Mo Problems! Bank of America has got it all. If they can’t even order a payoff, how is the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) going to help? Do a short sale with them in 30 days! And a cry for help!
If the government gave you $45 billion dollars, what could you do with it? With that amount of money most of us probably think we could change the world! Bank of America got that much in bailout money. They got MO MONEY, but it looks like they aren’t changing the world, it looks like they have just inherited MO PROBLEMS! Yes, we all know the nightmare on their short sales; however there are more problems than that. Bank of America can’t even order a payoff for a home that isn’t a short sale and they are foreclosing on the wrong mortgage on property where they issued a reconveyance on their own loan.
There is some good news out there. There’s a practitioner in my CYBERSTAR Agent Network (group of practitioners nationwide) who did a B of A short sale in 30 days. I’ve been using equator.com to do short sales with Bank of America as well and have accomplished a 60 day turnaround. The main hiccup with us wasn’t B of A; it was my seller getting their information entered into their system. It is an online system that we knew they were going to convert to over a year ago. It took them a while to implement it but its up and running and working good! So here are the tips in working with B of A on short sales:
Tip one: Sign up on Equator.com Our short sale process has gone from 6+ months to 2 months.
Tip two: Keep good notes. What did you send to them? When did you send it to them? Document every detail. We even have our phone calls recorded.
Tip three: Micromanage the process. With the Equator system, you will want micromanage your sellers and make sure they update their info into their system. Your sellers can be a hiccup in this process.
Does it solve all problems? No, it doesn’t! I have four closings with B of A pending on a payoff. It’s not a short sale and they are foreclosing on the wrong mortgage. They get paid in full on these transactions! IN FULL! We have had the title company order payoff five times within the past month, spent countless hours on the phone and they have wasted a month of our time. Even if HAFA comes into effect, we are going to deal with problems. Some processes will get better as you see above, but HAFA isn’t the end all cure all. If B of A is struggling to give us a payoff for 30 days, then HAFA isn’t going to cure that. There are deeper problems that need to be solved. If its law that they give you a payoff in five days and they aren’t complying with that, how do we get them to comply with HAFA? Any thoughts?
Dave Robison, known as “Utah Dave,” is a broker of Robison & Company Real Estate.
Comments 7
Thanks for the tips Dave. On my next B of A Short Sale I will be using them.
Thanks for your article, Dave. I think things will get better soon. Even though short sales have been around for quite a while, many are still new to the process (lenders included). As you know, B of A was the first to use Equator as a short sale management platform, and others will soon be making the move to using it, too. I think this has the potential to greatly simplify and streamline the short sale process. Documents can be stored and retrieved, and the tasking function will help minimize the learning curve for the lenders and for agents who may not have much short sale experience.
Thanks again,
Matt
http://www.MattVaneck.com
Is the information going to and coming from equator.com encrypted. Are agents being warned that they should make sure the computer or email they are using to send the information to B of A on equator.com is encrypted and protected. Is this happening.
I submitted a short sale contract with B of A in January. If getting my client access to equator wasn’t hard enough, dealing with the negotiator has been. I have been told that we were waiting for the MI company to sign off for months now. However, it is mid-May and foreclosure is imminent. I was then told that the MI company just got the request 10 days ago and that the ss paperwork is outdated. Duh.
How can I hold B of A accountable to the HAFA guidelines? The supervisors are just as bad as the negotiators, if not worse.
Great information. I will be using this this site if with B of A shortsales.
We have used equator not sure I would say it isany faster. Still time consuming .
I thought Equator was for getting new business, how does that website work to help with short sales?