Let's Get To The Truth About HAFA- The New Short Sale Guidelines
Active Rain and the internet has seen a surge in posts and articles written by agents and the media regarding the new HAFA program; the streamlining short sales program rolled out by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Many of these posts were featured. Many of them rang strong with hope for a faster closing time. I will be writing a set of articles along with this one that will go over all of the points in the 43 pages of guidelines and forms. There is just too much to put in one post.
Whenever I see a group of people complaining and wanting something to be changed I want to take a step back to see the big picture.
One sentence comes to mind often, " Be careful what you ask for."
NAR, Realtors® and homeowners around the country shouted, petitioned, discussed, wrote and spoke to their representatives about how long short sales take and how the banks don't seem willing to do them and that they don't know what they are doing.
My first question is:
Who says that a professional small business in Real Estate was going to be a walk in the park? And what makes a business where there is no ceiling, low entry level and can create success beyond one's wildest dreams also expected to be easy. Real estate is one of the highest stress careers but you can have a big pay day.
My second question is:
How many agents that wrote these posts of the blissful future of short sales actually read all 43 pages of the guidelines and forms?
I was tempted to write about HAFA but decided that I better understand HAFA and form an opinion based on facts- the facts that are written in these guidelines. So I spent 8 hours yesterday studying these guidelines and speaking with attorneys about them to get their opinions.
On the NAR website under the HAFA section it states:
Do you see the oxymoron? How do you place the words, COMPLEX and SIMPLIFY in the same sentence?
The first rumor that I want to dispell is that all the short sales are now going to go smoothly. That is NOT the case.
The second rumor that I want to dispell is that all short sale lenders will have to answer your request for a short sale within 10 days.
The guidelines only pertain to servicers who are in the HAMP program now or those who enroll in the HAMP program.
Servicers must offer the HAMP program first before they offer the HAFA program.
The HAFA program is only for:
- Principal Residences
- First mortgages
- The mortgage is delinquent or will be delinquent in the foreseeable future.
- The unpaid balance is less than $729,750.
- The monthly mortgage payment is more than 31 percent of the borrower's gross income.
The third rumor that I want to dispell is that this is going to happen right now. NOT TRUE.
However, servicers may opt to begin the program at any time before April 5, 2010 as long as they can implement a record keeping system.
The fourth rumor that I want to dispell is that all the lenders are now under these guidelines.
This part really gets me!
You mean the same Freddie Mac that was involved with the huge accounting and fraud scandals?
According to the Chicago Tribune Freddie Mac executives "devised a plan to use accounting tricks to mislead shareholders about outsize profits the government-chartered firm was then reaping from risky investments. The goal was to push earnings onto the books in future years, ensuring that Freddie Mac would appear profitable on paper for years to come and helping maximize annual bonuses for company brass."
We believe in adding value to our sellers. We are good at negotiating short sales. Short sales are much more about good negotiating skills than anything else and programs like these tend to tie our hands in applying our negotiation skills.
We will take longer short sale times with approvals any day over shorter short sale response times that come back with a Rejection mark on them in order to fulfil their accoutability time frames.
We close 98% of ALL of our short sale listings and other agents do also. If we can do it, then you can too. If you are not closing above 80% of your short sale listings than you need to learn negotiating skills. Negotiating skills is what brings value to your clients and your business. Stay tuned for more details on the HAFA guidelines and forms- consider subscribing to our blog to be alerted of new articles.
Contact Nestor and Katerina Gasset today at 561-753-0135-Don't Lose Your Home To Foreclosure!
Find out more about Florida Short Sales by clicking here.No registration required.
Let's Get To The Truth About HAFA- The New Short Sale Guidelines- Rumors Vs Facts- Copyrighted © by Katerina Gasset *2009* All Rights Reserved.
Nestor Gasset and Katerina Gasset- Realtors®, CIPS, ABR, SFR, GRI, REOS
Thank you for putting in the time and effort on the reading and attempting to understand. From reading this post, and some of the others, I just underline that these are guidelines and fear that as lenders are attempting to change what they do, it will slow things down more as they adapt to the new system. Whatever, as you said, no one said it would be easy.
Dan- What I am most concerned about, and I hope I am proved wrong on this- is that the files that fall within their 10 day time period of getting back an answer- will just get stamped Rejected in order to stay in line with the time in the guidelines. I am waiting to see Freddie and Fannies' new streamlined processing. Of course, most all their servicers were stripped of BPO authority and other delegation authorities- and since that happened, their systems have slowed down considerably. Katerina
Thanks for taking the time to go through this -- I think the point / concern that the lenders might just begin stamping "rejected" is something to worry about.
Bob and Carolin- I certainly hope I am wrong, but knowing them... I think I may be right. We will just have to go after more luxury properties over 730K to do short sales on since those don't fit in these guidelines:) Katerina
Katerina,
You series of blogs about Short Sales is a must read material. Very timely, logical and easy for us, agents to understand and see.
Great value, thank you
Jon- Thanks Jon. There is a lot of stuff in those 43 pages and of course with red tape, nothing is every simple. Katerina
Thanks for the insight. Your experience makes you uniquely qualified to read through those guidelines and ascertain their real impact.
As always, excellent info!
Thank you for clarifying it for all of us. . .I never really expected for the Govenemnet's help to begin with. . buisnes is as usual for me.
One short sale at at a time
one phone call at a time
on rejection and complete ignorant interaction with reps from different banks
and occasionally
one closing where we get paid
Thanks for the quick run down of the basics, Good to know it is on the NAR site also.
I'm glad you are going through these details. I read the 43 pages but have realized that it's going to take a lot of studying to really know what it all means.
Excellent information and helps keep this issue in perspective. Most agree that effectively standardizing these guidelines is needed, but your post raises the question of how well the proposed guidelines will work.
Katerina - The 10 day timeline is what really worries me most - a lot of rejections, I'm sure of that. Be interesting to see what the comment stream on your blog will be like? Thanks for putting HAFA in perspective.
I think everyone jumping on the bandwagon with glee over the new guidelines might be in for a dose of realty. Thanks for providing it. We can be optimistic that guidelines will be helpful to moving short sales in a more positive direction but it isn't going to happen overnight.
To me this is a joke. As you point out, 43 pages of forms and guidelines are going to simplify things? You have got to be kidding!
Nestor and Katerina,
This is an informative post. We are fortunate in Canada, that short sales are not prevalent.
Brian
I read a post on Bloodhound this week by Tom Vanderville, he had the same concerns you did and a lot more. Glad you posted some of it here and look forward to more.
Will this be a step in the right direction or more of the same bureaucracy only time will tell.
But, it is not the yippy skippy some have made it out to be.
What has the government ever really made more efficient and less wasteful? This is all politics. The proof on the ground is that nothing will change for the better.
Katerina:
When I initially heard about the new guidelines it sounded as though they were going to make a positive change in short sale transactions quickly. Your analysis shows that you have to read the fine print on everything before coming to any conclusions.
Hi Katrina~ Thanks for doing the research! Short sales are definitely not easy...but once you get your feet wet one knows what to expect and can manage some expectatations on all fronts! Hopefully the 'guidelines' do not prevent us from getting them done! All the best!
Thank you for the info. I am looking forward to your future comments on this topic.
Katerina, I am still digesting the document but from I see your post is spot on. There is nothing I have seen thus far that excites me at all. Most of my short sales are investor owned properties any way so these guidelines will not even come into play.
We have to keep in mind that these are guidelines just that, and with most guidelines they are subject to interpretation. I applaud you for taking eight hours of your time, reading and discussing this with attorneys.
There is a distinction between HAMP and HAFA.
Hi Katerina,
Thanks for readinng the document and explaining it to us in detail. There's been too much excitement about these guidelines. I agree that it's much better to wait a little longer and get an approval rather than receive a fast rejection.
Katerina, thank you for the clarification and all your time and effort spent on putting together the facts. More stuff we need to know. I appreciate all the content and your efforts.
Thank you so much for spending time trying to make this easier for me to learn about. It really is a strange puzzle that will be added to the complicated science of REAL Estate.
not just 43 pages BUT 43 pages that don't need to be followed... yup thats simple
Katerina -- I would certainly 'hope' that the program might help streamline the processing of short sales, but we have already seen that any 'change' the government has tried to implement has not been as successful as intended or touted. Quite frankly, I am having a hard time keeping up with all the programs and acronyms - HAMP, HAFA, MHA, etc. Thank you for taking the time to go through the 43 pages and presenting this information. You really made me laugh with the oxymoron -- so true!!
Katerina, Thanks for c larifying a few things. I have no idea how a company can go from 6 mos. for an answer to 10 days without just rejecting offers, like you said.
Thanks for this digest and to the others that come. This is a little unsettling. It doesn't sound like we got shorter Short Sales. And,I'm curious as to how many will opt out by the deadline. It doesn't even cover Freddie and Fannie so the end population that even need to follow these guidelines can be minut.
Interesting information. I too would like to see some LENDERS make the short sale process less time consuming and complicated. Two short sale buyers (one closed two weeks ago the other I'm signing today) had 3 months TOTAL time from beginning to end. BofA has been the most complicated with going on 5 months now ......
I'll look forward to more of your detailed info...
Good clarification. Thanks for filling in the details. Have a great weekend.
Sally- 3 months is a good amount of time for a short sale from beginning to ending. BofA is the hardest to deal with and I am sure they are going to be opting into this HAFA program. We will see how it plays out with them in the future.
The perspective I like to use is that in the late 70's and early 80's when we did not have faxes, email or cell phones the typical start to finish was on average 4 months but many times 5 or 6 months. The buyer had to fill out paperwork for their loan and that loan application had to go in front of a human committee at the bank that only met like once a month so if you missed your meeting time- you waited until the next month.
We all got spoiled in the 'hot market' where closings could take as fast as a week here. Many agents who started then think that is the norm, when it was not. You know about wait times because in Hawaii you even have to wait until recording to get paid, here we don't.
Hi Nestor, Terrific series. I look forward to it ! Also heard that all FNMA servicers were required to opt in to the program !
Bill- That may be the case although in the same breath, Fannie and Freddie said they are rolling out their own program like HAFA for their servicers. I guess what is good for the goose is not good for the gander. :) Katerina
Thanks for taking the time to actually educate the rest of us... as for me I knew it was too good to be true it usually is and I only believe it when I see it to begin with .
I'm about to write a post of a similar nature. I read through the guidelines a few nights ago and there are so many details that seemed to be overlooked in earlier posts. I don't think itis going to be a walk in the park.
Melissa- Thanks for the email:) I have a thing about 7s. LOL, it is what we end our listings in so it is more of a habit than anything else. Since those who wrote the guidelines don't close short sales and don't negotiate short sales- I think that as the program starts to work, there will be adjustments made. I just don't like our flexibility and control that we have managed to gather not being able to be used. Cookie cutter methods simply don't work with all homeowners since most have unique situations that may not fit in the box. Katerina
Hi Katerina. I have been reading it. Not sure if you posted a hyperlink to it or not but for others who want to read the 43 pages it's here:
https://www.hmpadmin.com/portal/docs/hamp_servicer/sd0909.pdf
BTW I work with short sales in Tampa Bay and not much has changed. I believe the Sells do too and am curious about their take on it. For me some of the lenders who rec'd TARP money remain arrogant. However we push onward.... ~ Lana
Lana- Thanks, I forgot to link to the paperwork. I will make sure to add the link in the next post on the guidelines coming up. Since none of this has to start until April 3, 2010 I don't think we will see much change. You bring up the TARP money and the lenders but the lenders are not the ones who are turning down or moving slow on short sales, most of the time- it is the servicers that are afraid of doing short sales because of poor and vague PAS agreements- that I wrote a post about explaining it- the servicers are afraid of getting sued by shareholders for losing money to the note owners. These guidelines are to ease their worries about being sued and give the servicers more delegation authority. Katerina
Katerina - HERE HERE! Everyone is still looking for that simple solution and for everything to 'go back to the way it was'. In my book, a big pay day takes work, and anything worth having is worth working hard for. So if you want to get paid, get ready to do a little work. I could care less about these guidelines. I'm doing just fine with the protocols now.
Great information and you alluded to an issue that is always at the heart of any problem that becomes more complicated. Those drafting up the solutions haven't any true hands-on experience of the process, so they haven't a clue regarding what steps need adding or subtracting in order to make it more seamless.
Katerina--I find that many agents THINK they can pull a short sale off, but they are way out of their league.
It takes skill + experience to do this. I know you know this. But I am frustrated with realtors around me who think because they know the textbook definition of short sale, that they can pull this off.
Few would take the time you did to read the guidelines.
Jim- Thanks! My brother who is an attorney always tells me I should be an attorney. I love the field of law but not the grind that goes a long with it.
Laura- Thank you!
Cheryl- The NAR site also has outdated information for sellers regarding short sales:)
Brian- In Canada there are very tough lending rules and the foreclosure law there is different than here also. We don't mind because we had experience in short sales before they became so commonplace here.
Gene- Thanks for reblogging!
Deanne- I am working on writing more about these guidelines and what they mean to all of us who do short sales.
Katerina, you are so right in being careful what you wish for. When you attempt to simply something too much it becomes too black and white and that simply does not allow for differences and we all know that differences are plentiful in Short Sales and the Short Sale isn't a cookie cutter process. I like to have the flexibility to negotiate for a favorable outcome as I too have a very high success rate with short sales and guidelines aren't what I need to succeed. A little more common sense is what I would like to see.
Great post Katerina. You taking the time to pick apart the "guidelines" will truly benefit many who venture into the land of Short Sales.
Yes, so many have thought that this is effective immediately as the rumors swell and failed to find out that it doesn't happen until April 2010. That's what happens when you have too many pages and don't read the details. Hmmm, sounds similar to another stack of 2000 pages in our Health care reform....what's in the details?!
Thank you for taking the time to read through this entire program and give us the Reader's Digest version. This is something I need to read through and just haven't done so yet.
I really appreciate the time and effort you put into reading the 43 pages. I read some of the posts about short sales and was curious but in our market we don't have many short sales. I was especially interested in the fact that the new guidelines (for those that decide to follow them) are for primary homes only which is not our primary buyers or sellers. Thank you again for your time and post, I will look forward to more of your posts on this issue.
thank you for reading through and sharing us the important points.
It seems that when government tries to simplify things, they always become more complex. :) To say the least I do not have a lot of faith in what our government does and that includes both parties.
In regard to your last paragraph where you say you close 98% of all short sales I always try to let buyers know the odds of closing a short sale that we are looking at is dependent on many things. I can see one listing agents name show up and say that we have close to a 0% chance to close on that property, whereas I see another listing agents name and let them know that if their offer is good, we have a very good chance of closing.
I am always amazed at how many listing agents never ask the sellers the right questions and never get any information from them until they get an offer.
Great post as usual.
We are the government and we are here to help... RUN and RUN fast my friends, this are words that should scare you!
Katerina, I gotta say that you guys really work hard for your brokerage fees. I've still not done a short sale up here. There are some, but we don't run into them all that often unless we're showing in the outer burbs. And after reading your posts, I'll at least feel ready.
This does put a whole other spin on it, thanks for your hard work and for sharing it. I had numerous agents locally who thought all of the things you dispelled right here. Sending this to others too if that's ok with you?
Hi Katerina,
Just a quick note on the 10 day acceptance period. That only applies if....
The short sale is one that has an active SSA (Short Sale Agreement)- the document that lists the Marketing terms, acceptable minimum net proceeds from the sale and the allowable transaction costs. Then the offer has to be submitted with the RASS ( Request for Approval of a Short Sale), that was received with the SSA that is pre populated with contact information for the servicer, property address and the loan number.
If all of these factors do not apply the 10 day approval does not apply. Really how hard can it be for them to approval an offer that meets all there preset conditions.
Oops silly question, have I forgotten everything I learned in the last 8-9 years (hee hee)
Also, if you want to find out if your servicer is participating in the program go to Making Home Affordable -Contact Your Mortgage Servicer and type in your servicers name.
Thanks for all your hard work!
Vanessa- Yes, that is just fine with me. It is better to have well informed agent rather than ill informed agents, hey, great title for a post! Katerina
Total joke & waste of time to even think this will make anything different. Short sales have progressively gotten worse and will continue to do so. I love hearing from banks that they have streamlined operations and will now be able to help the client quicker. BS.
Very interesting Katerina! I suppose I ought to try and find some time to familiarize myself with the 43 pages as well. If banks have an option to participate or not what is the point?
Katerina, look at HVCC and what a mess it has been. So much so that there is a move to put a moratorium on it for 18 months. I agree with you that this is not necessarily going to make things faster and more efficient - just different and in a very complex way.
Thanks for the great blog and clarification on many points - I just finished reading through the 43 page directive and it sure is a lot of information to digest ...
Very interesting, thanks for explaining the rumors and sharing this important information with us!
You have inspired me to read the 43 pages. Actually, I'm going to have to re-read this post a few times before I really understand it.
As bad as it is, we know there won't be a quick fix. We will continue the battle, saving one seller at a time from foreclosure. HAFA may help some, and perhaps other lenders will start to improve. We will just do our very best to stay on top of all options for our Ocala clients. We have closed over 80 so far this year with no help from HAFA and many are still waiting approval. We lose many buyers in the process, but we never give up until the home finally closes. I commend other Realtors who dedicate their time and expertise to saving homeowners from having a foreclosure on their record.
I appreciate you doing the homework on this for us. I too have been surprised by so many people thinking that it's all going to be sunshine and roses with short sales from here on out!
Katerina....Thank you for your direct and pointed post about this mess of subject, and situation. I've only had one short sale listing and it quickly went to foreclosure as the lender could never get their "crap" together and my client finally said, "Screw it....let 'em have it."
Two agents in my office have short sales they have been working since JULY! I'm thankful that the buyers I have been working with simply won't "gamble"on a short sale, and we've headed towards right priced real estate, or to foreclosures. It just has to be the deal of a life time to spend 6 months waiting and hoping that you may get the property you've put a contract on...and meanwhile, the ones around you have all sold.
I'm ramping up my learning curve on short sales, but I'm headed for the REO....I think many of them will end there anyway....
Katerina....Thank you for your direct and pointed post about this mess of subject, and situation. I've only had one short sale listing and it quickly went to foreclosure as the lender could never get their "crap" together and my client finally said, "Screw it....let 'em have it."
Two agents in my office have short sales they have been working since JULY! I'm thankful that the buyers I have been working with simply won't "gamble"on a short sale, and we've headed towards right priced real estate, or to foreclosures. It just has to be the deal of a life time to spend 6 months waiting and hoping that you may get the property you've put a contract on...and meanwhile, the ones around you have all sold.
I'm ramping up my learning curve on short sales, but I'm headed for the REO....I think many of them will end there anyway....
Great posts! My team has done some short sales and we always study up on the bank before hand to try learn how to get them approved quickly and easily (doesn't always happen but we always work hard on it)... I know of a lot of agents that don't take the time to learn how to properly do a short sale and it is frustrating!
Thanks for keeping us informed and keep up the good work!
thank you for sharing this information and all the research....i have clicked through to the other pages and read it all and now i have a headache....really....i think triganogly or physiscs is eazier...i am not good in either...crap...i cant evey spell the words rgiht
Thanks for sharing your information on this complex topic. Have an outstanding year!
Thank you for posting this. I will be subscribing to your blog since your one of the few who seems to really get this.
Katerina:
Great post. I will read the series next. I went to your website to read more on short sales, as I don't know any one who knows more about short sales and can write about them in a clear manner.
I think it is time that you write a book. You have the material ready for it. Tere
Hi Katerina,
Great post. I also took the time to read the complex program that is going to simplify everything.
The lenders are often not easy to work with but like you, I also close more than 98% of my short sale listing. Skill, knowledge, patience, experience are key to get a short sale approval.
The lenders are going to to do what they are going to do (which varies, way too often) and it is the caliber of the agent that is going to make a difference..
It is my opinion that a lot of short sales do not close because the listing agent does not properly prepare the buyer's side of the transaction for what's ahead, probably because they just do not know.
Ironing out issued, upfront, and managing expectations reduces stress and anxiety.. buyer's know the specifics of the short sale they are buying (who is/are the lender(s), usual lender(s) processing time(s), any other lien(s), other complications, etc).
Oh yeah.. INSPECTIONS UPFRONT! If you are listing short sales and you do not require the buyers to do their inspections when the contract is executed, you are leaving the buyer a way OUT.. after you worked so hard.. and for soooo long to get an approval.
Help lots of people and have a great day!!!
Patty Da Silva, CDPE©, RESS®, AHWD®, e-PRO®, GREEN, CFS
Member of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing
BROKER - Owner REALTOR®- Green Realty Properties
One of the best posts on HAFA I have seen so far. Here's some breaking news. Yesterday I received an email from a sponsor that included Freddie Mac, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America to mention just a few. They wanted between $199 and $250 to particiapte in a conference call with a "panel of experts to explain HAFA to us all". Such a deal!
One of the things you left out is the compensation issue. Without violating Anti Trust just let me say your compensation IS NOT protected or LOCKED IN which many are misled into believing. Check out the guidelines again. It states that while they can not reduce the compensation they can use an intermediary of their choice and that intermediary is to be paid from the agents compensation and the amount is blank and they can fill in that blank. One question I have is who owns the company that is the intermediary? Is it the lender charging for their own negotiator in Loss Mit? Is it the Treasury? Is it Freddie? Or is in a third dip in the pool?
C.J. _ Oh Thank you SO much for bringing this up. I need to write a post about this. I have been writing a series on each section but have not gotten to compensation yet. I am so mad about this.
Chase always tries to reduce the fee by 1% because their negotiators get that 1% as a commission.
Banks are not a realtors® best friend and agents better get that through their heads here real soon or they will become door mats. Think YSP is bad? Look out agents- this will be a total scam over our commission.
I am going to blog about this next week. I am too mad right now because some other issues just came to light regarding this also.
Are you kidding me? They want us to pay to be a part of their stupid call where they are going to BS all over the place? There are calls recorded on the NAR site with a VP of BofA- I was appalled that NAR even allowed such information about our commissions on the call without being opposed and speaking out against the controls they set over agent fees. Like we are their employees- NOT!
What a scam!
Now, yes, the real question becomes as the total corrupt and should be banktrupt Freddie who just got a blank check from the US Treasury- gets to oversee the entire HAFA scam- who is going to be watching them? Have they ever proved trustworthy??????
Great post! You guys have nailed some of my fears with the program. There are still too many potential issues with the HAFA program, and only a few lenders are on top of things enough to approve them in the correct time. Not to mention not enough concessions for juniors and MI approval delays not being addressed. It will help after everyone gets the hang of it, but it is not the "rescue" everyone is hoping it would be.
We have an excellent resource group set up for the HAFA program -
http://www.theshortsaleguide.com/group/hafaprogram
Well, BofA working with HAFA program is telling homeowners that after they get the house listed for what is dictated to the homeowner by BofA then they have 120 days to get an offer at that price. So the market is not determining price. Again, they are depending on some agents who may or may not know the area to do a BPO and then the bank is going to base their numbers off that price as usual, oftentimes, especially in condos, the property will just sit there, here in Fl. Then after the 120 days, the owners if they do not have an offer that meets the price that is set, the homeowners can do the DIL!
Excuse me! So why does the bank want to take a DIL if they can't get the price they want? Do they think that suddenly that magical price is going to appear for them when they take possession? Again, yet another reason to keep these banks out of the real estate business! Katerina
Katerina - It is SO important to be knowledgeable if one plans to enter the short sale negotiation waters. They are difficult, time consuming, and sometimes heart wrenching. I have yet to lose one and have closed about a half dozen, so I know the day will come when I will. But for now, I can still say I have a 100% close ratio! This whole HAFA thing has not helped me get my other short sales done, and I don't know why they specifically have become more difficult.
As if . . . they know how to "fix" what was broken. They let Humpty Dumpty fall, and now they wonder how to put him back together again. Good luck with that! I see C-Span have hearing after hearing, with Satan himself Henry Paulson in the sit of honor. And it's AFTER THE FACT! Where were they when ... these crisis were happening?!? It's the elections coming up . . . and two years after the beginning of the end, they hold court. So HAFA, and the rest of the "fixes" are a joke. Thanks for taking your time to clarify the clear as mud streamline.
Excellent blog! Good info and I hope it gets re-blogged often.
Hi The Gassets... Loved your comment of "COMPLEX AND SIMPLY" in one sentence. Great post and research. Just subscribed to your post. Thanks.
Carla- They put the same people in charge of regulating this mess that caused the mess. They put the EXACT people in charge who were the biggest perpetrators of this mortgage security fraud- the largest scam perpetrated on the American people, well, actually, the world. Not only that, but they have not done one thing to fix any of it. Any crumb they throw at us are purely for show and media purposes, actually, they want us to blame anyone but them, so they stir the pot.
Katerina, Thanks for the information and I too are reading through the 43 pages as short sales are a large portion of my business. I never expected this to make it better immediately, but at least we can hope this a move in the right direction for everyone involved.
OK - I am very interested in hearing more about real life exeriences with the ne HAFA Guidlines. Complex and Simplify - when does the Government or Banks EVER DO THAT? Thanks for taking on such an important topic!
Hi Nestor and Katerina!
I am so happy to find you two on activerain. I really enjoyed your article in Realtor magazine regarding expired listings.
Thank you for clarifying the HAFA program, we all need as much help as we can get!
Anna
Katerina - Right on. HAFA is voluntary from the lender's perspective. I have a Wells HAFA right now- where Wells is so confused they give a different answer every time we call.
Great info. Thanks for taking the time to not only go thru the paperwork, but to start explaining it here.
Thanks for taking the time to research this, it is timely and much babaconeeded info and I look forward to reading the series.
Hi Katerina -- Thanks for sharing your incredible insight. The Freddie reference at the end made me shudder.
Katerina, I have two I"m working on with Bank of America and what a fiascal; conflicting direction from Bank of America on one side and then the Loan Resolution Corp (LRC) who is supposed to be handling for BOA. HAFA requested by borrower and coded in Equator and then 4 days later BOA approves Short Sales saying that the borrower is now not HAFA eligible when 4 days before they had indicated that their short sale was put on hold as the borrower wants the HAFA program and they could not provide any more communication that we must contact LRC - what a mess!
Another HAFA Short Sale being handled by the "Promise Team" who never heard of LRC
It is as I expected for the HAFA program...the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. I hope this changes, yet it's anyones guess.
The HAFA short sale program has been a thorn in my side since inception. Of course, sellers want to participate in HAFA because they want to get paid relocation expenses. But out of all my sellers in Sacramento, not a single one qualifies for HAFA. Participation in the program is voluntary and the restrictions are so tight that I'll be amazed if I ever see a HAFA transaction.
Thank you for the statement of truth. For Oklahoma City HAFA will be extremely limited since we were not a hotbed for non-conforming conventionals. Almos all of our convention shorts are Fannie and Freddie, and about 75% are with BOA, no walk in the park regardless of programs. I will be at the CDPE convention in a couple of weeks and both BOA, Equator, and otheres will be there. Hope to have more updates to share.
The worst part of the HAFA is not even the program itself but the agents and media that misinform about it and use it for their hype. It causes all this hope for homeowners that is not a reality. In Florida- most of the mortgages do not qualify for HAFA and in the market Nestor and I are in, we have a lot of short sales that are second home owners- who certainly don't qualify. It reminds me of those stupid commercials they have on TV where they take the President's words and even show a sound bite of him saying something- and then twisting that to make the public think that their scam is endorsed by the white house. Those commercials drive me crazy. Just like when I read another article on the internet about how great HAFA is, I just want to cringe! Stop it already. Tell the truth when dealing with the public. Katerina
Katerina, the comments on this post are great - I enjoyed reading it again and seeing the comments after my earlier comment.
Sharon- Was this post in your AR newsletter?