Instead of walking today, the buyers sent us an extension through August 30th. It's still a LOOOOONG shot to get this through before the foreclosure date, but they really want this house I guess. Hoping it works out for them, but I'm not holding my breath.
The news yesterday that the bank generally will not release liability on a short sale makes it unlikely we'll be able to accept their terms (if we even get that far). A foreclosure on our record is better than a bankruptcy, which is where we'd be if they force the issue. Since we're in a non-recourse state, foreclosure is the end of the road. They cannot get anymore out of us after that point.
A few months ago I might have been willing to discuss signing a note for some of the difference, but not now. We can't take on anymore expenses (the reason we're selling in the first place). Plus, based on their horrid and unethical behavior, I won't pay them any more on principle. They've lied to us for months, and I'm more convinced after sleeping on it that it was a tactic to drive up the fees and interest so that the difference was as high as it could be.
I'm sick to my stomach just thinking about it.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Lies, Lies, Lies
(Can you hear the Thompson Twins singing in the background? Cue it up on your MP3 player of choice - c'mon, admit it. It's on there.)
This morning Iwasted spent a little over an hour in a conference call with the bank and the loss mitigator, during which two very disturbing lies told by the bank in the past year were uncovered.
Lie: Fannie Mae approved the short-sale back in May.
Truth: Fannie Mae has not approved the short sale, and is unlikely to due to the large amount by which we're underwater on the loan.
Lie: The file was sent to Fannie Mae for review back in March.
Truth: To date, the file has never been sent to Fannie Mae for review.
So where does this leave us? With several sobering truths:
Truth: The buyer's extension on their offer expires today.
Truth: When asked earlier this week, prior to the information above coming to light, they said they'd sign a two-week extension to wait a bit longer for the supposedly forthcoming approval letter.
Truth: The bank is now demanding a minimum of a 30-day extension from them to show that they're a serious buyer (as if the past seven months of putting up with this s*!@ hasn't proven that...).
Truth: Even if the buyers agree to the 30 days, Fannie Mae will still have to review and decide if they'll take the offer or move ahead on the foreclosure.
Truth: The bank will not submit the file to Fannie Mae without the 30 day extension from the buyers.
Truth: Once (if) received, it will take Fannie Mae several weeks to review and notify the bank of their decision. We would then have wait any more additional time for the bank to notify us, in writing of the denial or acceptance, and any terms of the acceptance.
Truth: The current BPO (Broker's Price Opinion, which helps the bank and Fannie Mae determine fair market value) expires August 8th. If the approval is not received and the deal isn't closed by then, a new BPO would have to be ordered, taking another two weeks or so to work through the inept system.
Truth: The bank says they will not request a new BPO unless the buyers sign a 30-day extension AND they believe that Fannie Mae is close to issuing an approval AND they believe we will successfully close but after the August 8th expiration.
Truth: Today is July 21st.
Truth: The foreclosure date is set for September 9th.
Truth: It generally takes 30-45 days to close a sale on all the approvals, etc are settled; faster closings are possible but hard to pull off in this market of scrutiny (ironic, huh?).
Truth: The buyers are unlikely to sign a 30-day extension because they can count the dwindling days still available to make this happen, and they can read the writing on the wall.
Truth: This deal, and our attempt at avoiding a foreclosure, is all but dead and we're SOL.
Truth: I am angry, frustrated, and harboring some other serious negative emotions towards the bank right now.
Truth: GOD HAS COMPLETE CONTROL, and this - as I say in the About Me section to the right - is just a blip in the radar screen of my life. It's not life or death. My family is healthy and together with a roof over our heads, and food in our bellies. I'm blessed to be listening as I type to one child making a sandwich down the hall, another tapping her feet on the bed as she devours another book, and the third - the game changer that took us over the ledge onto this course once and for all - babbling away over the baby-monitor, fighting her afternoon nap.
The sky is not falling, the world is still turning, and in the grand scheme of things this whole ordeal has been a blessing. It's not officially over, of course, but for me it pretty much is. We're on a collision course with foreclosure, but it doesn't really matter. We'll walk away from the impact with some battle scars and a longer period of financial rehabilitation than we hoped, but we'll be okay.
(Especially after you tubing Lies here. I challenge you not to smile and dance a bit while watching the video. If only the bank's lies were so entertaining to experience.)
This morning I
Lie: Fannie Mae approved the short-sale back in May.
Truth: Fannie Mae has not approved the short sale, and is unlikely to due to the large amount by which we're underwater on the loan.
Lie: The file was sent to Fannie Mae for review back in March.
Truth: To date, the file has never been sent to Fannie Mae for review.
So where does this leave us? With several sobering truths:
Truth: The buyer's extension on their offer expires today.
Truth: When asked earlier this week, prior to the information above coming to light, they said they'd sign a two-week extension to wait a bit longer for the supposedly forthcoming approval letter.
Truth: The bank is now demanding a minimum of a 30-day extension from them to show that they're a serious buyer (as if the past seven months of putting up with this s*!@ hasn't proven that...).
Truth: Even if the buyers agree to the 30 days, Fannie Mae will still have to review and decide if they'll take the offer or move ahead on the foreclosure.
Truth: The bank will not submit the file to Fannie Mae without the 30 day extension from the buyers.
Truth: Once (if) received, it will take Fannie Mae several weeks to review and notify the bank of their decision. We would then have wait any more additional time for the bank to notify us, in writing of the denial or acceptance, and any terms of the acceptance.
Truth: The current BPO (Broker's Price Opinion, which helps the bank and Fannie Mae determine fair market value) expires August 8th. If the approval is not received and the deal isn't closed by then, a new BPO would have to be ordered, taking another two weeks or so to work through the inept system.
Truth: The bank says they will not request a new BPO unless the buyers sign a 30-day extension AND they believe that Fannie Mae is close to issuing an approval AND they believe we will successfully close but after the August 8th expiration.
Truth: Today is July 21st.
Truth: The foreclosure date is set for September 9th.
Truth: It generally takes 30-45 days to close a sale on all the approvals, etc are settled; faster closings are possible but hard to pull off in this market of scrutiny (ironic, huh?).
Truth: The buyers are unlikely to sign a 30-day extension because they can count the dwindling days still available to make this happen, and they can read the writing on the wall.
Truth: This deal, and our attempt at avoiding a foreclosure, is all but dead and we're SOL.
Truth: I am angry, frustrated, and harboring some other serious negative emotions towards the bank right now.
Truth: GOD HAS COMPLETE CONTROL, and this - as I say in the About Me section to the right - is just a blip in the radar screen of my life. It's not life or death. My family is healthy and together with a roof over our heads, and food in our bellies. I'm blessed to be listening as I type to one child making a sandwich down the hall, another tapping her feet on the bed as she devours another book, and the third - the game changer that took us over the ledge onto this course once and for all - babbling away over the baby-monitor, fighting her afternoon nap.
The sky is not falling, the world is still turning, and in the grand scheme of things this whole ordeal has been a blessing. It's not officially over, of course, but for me it pretty much is. We're on a collision course with foreclosure, but it doesn't really matter. We'll walk away from the impact with some battle scars and a longer period of financial rehabilitation than we hoped, but we'll be okay.
(Especially after you tubing Lies here. I challenge you not to smile and dance a bit while watching the video. If only the bank's lies were so entertaining to experience.)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
More (Non) Information
I received a follow-up e-mail today regarding the cluster-*%* that has become our short-sale (see previous blog entry).
Long story short there is no new information except that the file is back with management because of the mismanagement of the negotiator, said negotiatior has been reassigned to another department because of her failure on the file, and they cannot give us a timeline for getting the approval letter. They indicate that they need to go over it with a figurative fine-tooth comb to make sure she hasn't screwed up anything else, AKA covering their baboonish behinds.
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Or as they put it, "to make certain everything is up to the quality standards the company demands." I shot soda out of my nose reading that one.
So the saga continues.
Long story short there is no new information except that the file is back with management because of the mismanagement of the negotiator, said negotiatior has been reassigned to another department because of her failure on the file, and they cannot give us a timeline for getting the approval letter. They indicate that they need to go over it with a figurative fine-tooth comb to make sure she hasn't screwed up anything else, AKA covering their baboonish behinds.
Or as they put it, "to make certain everything is up to the quality standards the company demands." I shot soda out of my nose reading that one.
So the saga continues.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Approved...Maybe
You know, I wish just once we could get a straight answer outta these people!
The week before last as the kiddos and I took a walk around the neighborhood to burn off some of the schools-out-I'm-bored-there's-nothing-fun-to-do energy, I chatted with our real estate agent on my cell. I found out there was a late-June e-mail from our loss mitigator, a rather important e-mail, that somehow had lost its way on its journey to my inbox. According to this e-mail, Fannie Mae had approved our file for short-sale!
The kicker here is that it had actually happened back in MAY and the bank failed to notify us. Our mitigator only found out in her weekly phone call to find out status, and probably only because she spoke to someone different who (gasp) actually seemed competent to provide information.
Remember, though, that this information was only provided verbally - which means nothing in this situation - and was communicated in LATE JUNE when the acceptance had supposedly been issued in mid-May.
Furthermore, Fannie Mae's acceptance of the short-sale was contingent upon closing the deal within 45 days of their acceptance. Which we have now passed, so we're again not sure if it really is still accepted. On top of that, the fact that it was a verbal notification means that until we receive the hard-copy letter, we can do nothing. According to the person with the bank that informed our mitigator, the letter still hadn't been issued to us.
Fast forward to this week. We still have not received said letter. Again, our mitigator calls in to check on its status and is told that the file is NOT approved, and is still in review by a specialist (i.e. the step BEFORE sending the file to Fannie Mae for investor review and approval).
AHHHHHHH!
Our mitigator does have in her possession an e-mail dated sometime last month from the main negotiator at the bank indicating that our file has indeed been approved and we can close pending receipt of the approval letter. The person to whom the mitigator spoke with this week, however, said that information is incorrect but to fax her a copy of the e-mail, she'll investigate and the mitigator should follow-up next week.
So, still in limbo. I don't know about everyone else, but my back really hurts from going under this stupid stick.
The week before last as the kiddos and I took a walk around the neighborhood to burn off some of the schools-out-I'm-bored-there's-nothing-fun-to-do energy, I chatted with our real estate agent on my cell. I found out there was a late-June e-mail from our loss mitigator, a rather important e-mail, that somehow had lost its way on its journey to my inbox. According to this e-mail, Fannie Mae had approved our file for short-sale!
The kicker here is that it had actually happened back in MAY and the bank failed to notify us. Our mitigator only found out in her weekly phone call to find out status, and probably only because she spoke to someone different who (gasp) actually seemed competent to provide information.
Remember, though, that this information was only provided verbally - which means nothing in this situation - and was communicated in LATE JUNE when the acceptance had supposedly been issued in mid-May.
Furthermore, Fannie Mae's acceptance of the short-sale was contingent upon closing the deal within 45 days of their acceptance. Which we have now passed, so we're again not sure if it really is still accepted. On top of that, the fact that it was a verbal notification means that until we receive the hard-copy letter, we can do nothing. According to the person with the bank that informed our mitigator, the letter still hadn't been issued to us.
Fast forward to this week. We still have not received said letter. Again, our mitigator calls in to check on its status and is told that the file is NOT approved, and is still in review by a specialist (i.e. the step BEFORE sending the file to Fannie Mae for investor review and approval).
AHHHHHHH!
Our mitigator does have in her possession an e-mail dated sometime last month from the main negotiator at the bank indicating that our file has indeed been approved and we can close pending receipt of the approval letter. The person to whom the mitigator spoke with this week, however, said that information is incorrect but to fax her a copy of the e-mail, she'll investigate and the mitigator should follow-up next week.
So, still in limbo. I don't know about everyone else, but my back really hurts from going under this stupid stick.
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