Attention Maryland Homeowners in Financial Distress! Treasury just made Short Sales a lot simpler…

Posted by Owen McGab Enaohwo on Dec 2, 2009 | View Comments

An Obama housing initiative that I can totally agree with

On November 30th 2009, the Treasury department came out with a new set of guidelines called “Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives – Short Sale and Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure” or HAFA for short. It is the new addition to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) (HAMP is meant to help homeowners get their loans modified but in my view the HAMP plan has not been successful because most lenders were unwilling to reduce the principal amount owed by the borrowers especially when home values have dropped significantly – now enough of my opinion on HAMP and back to HAFA the reason you are reading my blog post).

The scheduled effective date for HAFA is April 5, 2010 but smart servicers and lenders will be wise to implement the program before that time (with enough pressure from homeowners, I am sure the wise lenders will not wait till then, so learn as much as you can about HAFA and start calling your lender to task). Once HAFA is in full effect, homeowners will be accepted into the program as long as all the requirements are met and the paperwork is received on or before December 31, 2012 (Hence I have more than enough time to start working on providing you a solution as your Real Estate Agent especially if you reside in Maryland).

So what is HAFA proposing as the foreclosure alternatives for Homeowners?

Simply put, Treasury has proposed that lenders (and/or servicers) offer Short Sales or Deed-in-Lieu (DIL) as the alternatives to foreclosure for homeowners who are unable to be approved for a HAMP modification request, a HAMP modification was offered and not accepted by the homeowner, the homeowner falls out of a HAMP modification or the homeowner requests for a short sale or DIL. The HAFA program is meant to streamline the use of short sales and DIL by lenders and make the entire process a lot simpler and quicker!

So what are the benefits of HAFA for Maryland Homeowners in financial distress?

• It provides additional alternatives for homeowners besides HAMP

• Allows for pre-approved short sale terms even prior to listing the property with me.

• Allows lenders to use the same paperwork they previously collected from homeowners who must have tried to qualify for HAMP

• Stops lenders from reducing my commission as your listing agent (I guess this point is truly to my own benefit)

• Requires that lenders fully release homeowners from future liability of the debt or pursuing any deficiency judgments as a result of the short sale or DIL

• It standardizes the entire short sale and DIL process, the documents to be used and the timeframes. The paperwork will include making using of a Short Sale Agreement (SSA), the Request for Approval of a Short Sale (RASS) or the Alternative Request for Approval of a Short Sale (Alternative RASS – which is used in cases whereby the homeowner gets the home listed and has a buyer’s contract even before the lender sends out their own pre-approved short sale notice). (lets just hope that lenders can now be more efficient and effective)

• Once determined that a short sale is possible lenders are required to give at least 120 days to the homeowner to sell the property using a real estate agent (hint – me)

• Even though the foreclosure process can continue, lenders cannot move forward with the final foreclosure sale until the marketing period has expired (hint – you wont have to worry about this when I am your agent, I will sell it quickly)

• Lenders have only 10 days to approve or disapprove a short sale or DIL

• The program offers $1500 to homeowners as a moving incentive for them to consider a short sale or DIL

• It stipulates that all junior liens be offered up to $3000 maximum for a full release of their dept, hence no time wasting negotiating back and forth with junior lien holders (no more money out of pocket demand from junior lien holders whatsoever)

What are the requirements need to be qualified for the HAFA program?

• The property must be your principal residence

• The mortgage loan is the 1st lien and must have been originated before January 1, 2009

• The mortgage is delinquent or future default can be foreseen

• The current unpaid principal balance (UPB) is equal or less than $729,750 (for 1 unit properties)

• Your total monthly mortgage payment must exceed 31% of your monthly gross income

• You may be required by your lender to keep making payments during the short sale marketing period. If there is a payment, it cannot exceed 31% of your monthly gross income (now is it only me that thinks most folks considering a short sale already exceeds 31% of their gross income – LOL)

• The property if sold as a short sale cannot be sold to a relative; it must be an Arms Length Transaction. Also the buyer may not receive funds from the transaction and cannot sell the property for at least 90 days after closing

Well there you have it, this is my summary of the new Short Sale and DIL guidelines set by the Treasury Department in their HAFA program. Feel free completely educate yourself on this program and read the complete guidelines and rules by going to this link http://budurl.com/EntireHAFAGuideLines. Until all the lenders wise up and start moving towards making use of this new program, I will still have to get short sale negotiated and approved the usual way. So if you are a Maryland Homeowner in financial distress and you can no longer afford your mortgage payments call 866-205-6352 so I can help you get mortgage relief ASAP!

(P.S I know this was a long post but please leave your comments on my blog; it lets me know you find my post useful, thanks)

Visitors who read this post also read:

• Maryland Short Sale Specialist | MD Expert Realtor Help
• Free Short Sale Seminar for Maryland Homeowners on How to Stop Foreclosure by Owen McGab Enaohwo; a Realtor and Certified Short Sale Specialist
• Is a Short Sale Right for You? Read and then Decide!