The five largest mortgage services are adopting new rules for servicing short sales. This should be a welcome addition to a lengthy and unpredictable process. The new rules are a result of a settlement with State Attorneys General and detailed information can be found here at Housing Wire.
According to a REALTOR Mag article, 30 days is key and here are some of the new requirements:
1. Mortgage servicers must provide a decision to borrowers within 30 days after receiving a request for a short sale.
2. They will be required to notify the borrower within 30 days if any documents needed to proceed are missing.
3. Banks will be considered in violation, and will be fined, if they take longer than 30 days for the above.
That’s good news for many people navigating the short sale waters. While not with ALL banks and not applying to ALL aspects of the short sale process, it is a start. This agreement is part of the larger settlement with five major banks regarding mishandling of foreclosures. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Ally Financial and Citigroup are the banks involved, according to Housingwire.com. Inman News also talks about additional requirements of banks and how they have been fined and are required to provide homeowner relief in the form of principle reductions and refinancing.
If you have questions about short sales, please ask your First Weber agent or read this article about Short Sales in Wisconsin. Thanks for reading the First Weber Wisconsin real estate Wisconsin living blog. To search for Wisconsin real estate, please see firstweber.com
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