I have another short sale success story to report. Just last month, I received short sale approval on a file, with two Bank of America loans, only 37 days after the offer was presented via the Equator system. So, the fact that this was a short sale only added about one month to the total time it took to get an approval from Bank of America and close escrow. Both loans were processed concurrently through the Equator platform that Bank of America uses for its short sale processing.
As a Santa Maria Short Sale Agent, I am asked this question by potential short sale sellers all the time. It is important for those inquiring to understand that even though they have not missed any payments, they may have an “imminent hardship” that would qualify them for a short sale. Imminent hardship means that your hardship may not be here today, but it is definitely on the horizon. And you do not have to currently be in default on your payments to apply for a short sale. A well documented imminent hardship may be enough.
Yes, many short sale lenders consider a serious illness a hardship. Receiving a diagnosis of a chronic illness, having a serious health event such as a heart attack, cancer, or a recent diagnosis of a disability that will affect your ability to earn future income, will generally qualify you for a short sale. Potential short sale sellers should provide a personal hardship letter describing the details of the illness and how it requires them to sell their home or how it impacts their ability to pay the mortgage.
Many homeowners who are severely underwater ask this question. Generally, the reason a bank accepts a short sale is due to the hardship of the seller. It is not because the short sale offer is close to or far from the loan balance. Once hardship is established, the issue becomes the market value of the asset. If market value is half -- market value is half -- there is no way around that.
If you have one mortgage loan on your California home the answer is no. Senate Bill 931 allows that after January 1, 2011, if a lender on a first mortgage accepts a short sale, they are agreeing to waive the deficiency amount. So, if they approve the short sale and it closes, you will not owe your lender any additional money, even though you have not paid back the entire loan balance.
I have another short sale success story to report. I just closed a short sale that was fully approved by both short sale lenders, Select Portfolio Servicing (SPS) and Specialized Loan Servicing (SLS), within 41 days of submitting the short sale application. Working with two short sale lenders can be difficult, and I do think that this is the number one reason most short sales fail. Negotiating between two lenders can add a significant amount of time to the approval process. However, by staying in almost constant contact with both lenders I was able to negotiate this short sale in record time, with no seller contribution and the deficiency waived on both loans.
The answer is maybe. It is not uncommon for a short sale seller in financial distress to have unpaid property taxes. During the housing boom, many lenders did not require tax and insurance impounds.
I just received short sale approval from Wells Fargo in 26 days! It was a total of twenty six days from when the short sale application was submitted to the lender until I received the short sale approval letter in my email box.
Just walking away may seem like the easiest way out, but it may in fact make things more complicated for you. If you have a HELOC, I do believe a short sale is usually worth the hassle. At the very least, a short sale gives you the opportunity to negotiate with your lender up front - and, foreclosure is always there as an option, but a short sale isn't.