This is for our clients…you have been wonderful to work with! Thanks for letting us share.
Like most of our clients, the ***** family were no longer able to make their mortgage payments. Their home had a sale date set in less than two weeks from them contacting us. It was a little complicated, they were also going through a chapter 7 and the lender had gone to court to get a “relief from stay” allowing the lender to foreclose even though they were protected by chapter 7.
We put the home up for sale immediately and within a few days had several very good offers. The first lender, AHMSI, American Home Mortgage (servicing company for Option One Mortgage) was quick to respond and postponed the sale date.
Three weeks into the negotiations we get a call from Ryan at AHMSI. Ryan requests the second lien holder, in this case, Bank of America accept $1000 to release their lien. Then the sale would be approved.
Unfortunately Bank of America has implemented new criteria for short sale acceptance. The criteria states that Bank of America will accept no less than a 10% payoff of a debt balance being charged off as collectible. Well, you can see the issues with this request. I was able to discuss in detail the chapter 7, and the demand from the primary mortgage holder with a Ms. Kelly, (has the pull to say yes).
Getting to Ms. Kelly and getting the approval for acceptance of $1000 took a little over 2 weeks. So, from the time we took the listing till this point has been about 45 days. Not bad for getting both approvals under the circumstances.
One thing happened along the way, we lost the buyer to the lengthy process, oh and the other few we had as back-up were still around but placed new “lower” offers to meet the declining value of the area.
From this point I will just insert the chain of emails for all to read.
Hello Ryan,
I am sending a new offer on the property. Escrow is completing the HUD with all of the required changes resulting from our last conversation/offer. I did not send in an updated HUD on that offer due to the buyer backing out. The issue with this property has been the second lien holder, BofA as I explained to Mr. Kellty. They were not willing to release for $1000, which is your policy. We have remedied that. When I called in today, to find out if you had received this new offer I was told it was too low and I would need to counter, With a sale date set for tomorrow I don’t have time to get back to the buyers agent. This home has been discharged in a Chapter 7, we have interest in the property. When I spoke to Mr. Kelly he told me he would work with us to help the ****** family avoid foreclosure. Could I request that you order an interior BPO on this home? The offer that we are providing to you today is in line with recent sales as you will see. The property must be able to appraise for the lender to fund, according to all information, this offer is at the high end.
If you could get back to me on postponing the sale date a few weeks I will proceed with a counter to the other agent. As well as sending you the revised HUD for this offer being completed by escrow right now. I will have it emailed to you by end of day.
Best,
Kim Darney
714-615-7606
Hi Ryan,
There ia a sale date pending on this property set for tomorrow, Oct 1, 2008.
I am submitting a new offer, it is attached. I called in today and was told the offer that was submitted yesterday was too low and I would need to counter. This is a better offer, but still, I am quite concerned that a sale date is set for tomorrow? I don’t have time to counter the buyer on the offer submitted yesterday. Will you be able to postpone the sale date to allow this new offer be reviewed, and allow us to counter the other? The true concern here is that the propery value is in line with the offer according to recent sales. Would you please order an interior BPO for this property?
We have worked diligently with the subordinate, BofA to get them to release their lien. I have finally gotten them to accept the $1000 allowed according to your policy. This home has been discharged in chapter 7 bk as you are aware, no one wins in this situation. As real estate agents, we are trying to help the ***** family with damage control on their credit. If they suffer a foreclosure as well as the Chapter 7 it will take them 10 years to recover. Please work with us to help them avoid a foreclosure.
Best,
Kim Darney
714-615-7605
Kim,
Our decision to decline this offer was based on a full appraisal. We will not be ordering a BPO, that would be a waste of time because of the appraisal already on file. Mr. Kelly and I have discussed this file and will not be stopping the sale.
Ryan Bickerton
Bankruptcy Negotiator II
American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc.
4600 Touchton Rd E Bldg 200 St 102
Jacksonville FL 32246
Ph. 877-304-3100 x66390
Fax 866-530-3609
ryan.bickerton@oomc.com
Hi Ryan,
I am Kim’s partner. We received your email this morning and we understand a business decision.
You mentioned that you had an appraisal done. When was the appraisal completed? The declines in this market are staggering. We are seeing declines of over 6% per month in Rancho Cucamonga.
I would be remiss in not fighting for our clients best interest. We have reviewed the recent listings both “Active” and “Closed” in this gated community. There are no recent sales and 7 active listings in this very small gated community. The average days on market is 46.8 and of the 7, 7 are distressed properties i.e. Bank owned, short sales, or pending Trustee’s.
In today’s climate of declining sales, another home on the market is a “coal on the fire.”
Rancho Cucamonga, while a lovely city, is suffering from a tremendous volume of distress properties. There are currently 761 Homes on the market. 378 are marked as “Distress” sales in MLS. That is over 50% of the homes in Rancho Cucamonga. And that is assuming that the Agent remembered to check the “Distress” category of the listing. My thoughts is that there are many more.
According to Commonwealth Title, The International Title agency, there were 408 Notices of Default and Trustee Sales filed for Rancho Cucamonga from 08/08/2008 – 09/08/2008. That is staggering and this is your competition for resale when you enter the market with another Foreclosure.
These figures, while staggering are simply a sign of the times and according to a Department of Economic Studies at UCLA recent study, they reported that Southern California has a minimum of 2 more years of decline.
Again, we appreciate your companies decision, however, with these staggering declines, your client is more than likely to suffer a great loss over the next 6 months as this property is not sold at Foreclosure and is placed back on the market in 2 months at a lower price than currently listed.
Thank you again for your consideration.
Best,
Kris Darney
714-615-7605
Ryan discussed an appraisal with me that was done at the onset of the filing of the Chapter 7. This would be at minimum a 4 month gap to time of request for the BPO. A few years ago this would not have been so significant. …but this is the Inland Empire….October 2008. Prices are declining monthly!
I’m not sure how a servicing company is paid. It would seem by this transaction that it’s not based on retention. This is one of the most disgusting business practices I’ve ever experienced! The servicing company has most likely spent more money on foreclosure costs than this home will eventually sell for by the time it’s back on market in about 3 months.
