Proposed Bill to Speed Up Short Sale Process and Prevent Foreclosure

To avoid losing homes to foreclosure due to long response times for short sale transactions, three senators introduced legislation to speed up the short sale process.

Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Scott Brown (R-Massachusetts), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) proposed the bill addressing the issue of short sales timelines on February 17. A short sale is a real estate transaction where the homeowner sells the property for less than the unpaid balance with the lender’s approval.

“There are neighborhoods across the country full of empty homes and underwater owners that have legitimate offers, but unresponsive banks,” said Murkowski. “What we have here is a failure to communicate. Why don’t we make it easier for Americans trying to participate in the housing market, regardless of whether the answer is ‘yes,’ ‘no’ or ‘maybe?’”

The legislation, also known as the Prompt Notification of Short Sale Act, will require a written response from a lender no later than 75 days after receipt of the written request from the buyer.

The lender’s response to the buyer must specify acceptance, rejection, a counter offer, need for extension, and an estimation for when a decision will be reached. The servicer

will be limited to one extension of no more than 21 days.

The bill will also allow the buyer to be awarded $1000, plus “reasonable” attorney fees if the Act is violated.

According to a release from Short Sale New England, short sale homes do not bring down neighboring home values like foreclosed homes do, and 83 percent of short sale buyers are satisfied with their purchase, according to a 2012 Home Ownership Satisfaction Survey conducted by HomeGain.

“The current short sale process can be time consuming and inefficient, and many would-be buyers end up walking away from a sale that could have saved a homeowner from foreclosure,” said Moe Veissi, president of the National Association of Realtors. “As the leading advocate for homeownership, realtors are supportive of any effort to improve the process for approving short sales.”

Equi-Trax released a survey last year on the issues real estate agents face when completing short sales. Guy Taylor, CEO at Equi-Trax, said 71.9 percent of respondents reported that a short sale can take four to nine months to complete, and they think that is simply too long.”

The survey also found that 18.2 percent of deals require less than three months to complete, with 10 percent requiring more than 10 months.

When agents in the survey were asked to how the short sale process can be improved, 57.6 percent said lenders should take less time to close transactions, 14 percent said borrowers should be better educated about short sales, and 40.4 percent said both of these changes are necessary to improve the process.

In April 2011, a similar bill was introduced by Reps. Tom Rooney (R-Florida) and Robert Andrews (D-New Jersey), but this version requested a response deadline of 45 days instead of 75 from lenders. The legislation never came up for debate before a House committee.

Another Crazy Week in the Life of Lori Fleming!!

Well it appears another week is wrapping up and if you’re like the rest of us you probably still have a few things on that to-do list that you didn’t cross off just yet. As you know, the busy summer months are right around the corner so it’s even more important that you don’t get stressed out and to stay mentally healthy and on task. That’s why I wanted to share seven great tips that I would love to learn to live by, and I hope it will help you stay productive and successfully on task.

1)      Break large projects into smaller ones. Simply writing “come up with marketing plan” on your to-do-list is a sure way to make sure it never gets done. Work backwards. Start with a goal, break that into milestones, then think smaller and break it into a task. Remember small bites are the best way to eat a large meal.

2)      Stop multitasking. No really, focus on one thing, complete it then move on to the next. It’s been proven that your IQ actually drops at least 5 points if you try to accomplish more than 10 things at the same time. This especially applies to men.  THIS IS THE HARDEST FOR ME!!! UGHHHHH

3)      Work on eliminating distractions. That means turning off the cell phone, maybe switching your email to offline mode, or closing the door. Don’t have an office door? Try listening to instrumental music through your head phones. Cal does this in my office...cant pull one over on me mister!

4)      Make a plan to check your email. Pick a time during the day that you check your email. Checking it constantly does nothing but create noise and keep you off task.

5)      Use the phone. Email isn’t for conversations. If an email requires more than two responses it’s time to make a call.

6)      Eat a good breakfast. It’s been proven over and over that people who eat a breakfast have higher brain activity throughout the day. Also make sure you stay hydrated. Try drinking 32 ozs of water with that morning cup of coffee.

7)      Take a break! Your brain is the most demanding organ in your body and just like any other it gets worn out. Try working in 60-minute to 90-minute increments, then take a quick walk and come back refreshed. Plan for these breaks when you’re scheduling your day.

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