Providing No Cost Short Sale Processing For Agents and Homeowners
Rule Outlaws Advance Fees and False Claims, Requires Clear Disclosures If you are an agent/broker, involved in short sales, or are a 3rd party short sale negotiator and have not yet heard about or sought legal advice on the new FTC Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule that takes effect on February 1, 2011, it [...]
There have been numerous discussions on recent blogs focused on two specific topics of interest: 1. The ethics/legality of the agent getting compensated for the short sale negotiations 2. The use of and compensation for 3rd party short sale negotiators, particularly in requesting that the buyer pay the negotiating fee to the 3rd party. Also [...]
Depending on the particular market, real estate agents advise the author that anywhere from 30-50% of the properties on the market (which includes properties which are not on the MLS) at any given time may be short sale properties. Accordingly, short sales “negotiations” – and how they are paid – have become a very hot topic involving hundreds of thousands of homeowners and real estate professionals a year.
Dealing with the seller’s lender(s) to complete a short sale can be frustrating enough. Now, due to the spring/summer buying season, the number of refi’s and general economy issues, we are finding it increasingly difficult to get the buyer’s loan approved within the time frame of the short sale acceptance provisions – usually 30 days or less.
Starting March 1, 2009 the loan servicers on Fannie Mae loans cannot require brokers to reduce their commissions as a condition of the short sale approval. Exception is if the total commission is more than 6%. Ask if it is a Fannie Mae loan and if so sendover the Fannie Mae Announcement with the short [...]
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