Recently, a friend of mine struggled with the difficult process of getting her Charlotte home approved for a short sale. The sad circumstances surrounding the now imminent foreclosure of her home sheds light on serious problems with the banking/mortgage approval process for relief options. My friend moved away from Charlotte to her hometown to care for her elderly mother and rented her townhome during that time period. She faced many challenges as a landlord, in particular, tenants who trashed her placeto the tune of $10,000 in repairs. But she paid the repair bills and continued to pay her mortgage every month.
The homeowner, my friend, is one of those trusting souls who tried to do the right thing, rather than just walk away, and will now suffer the penalty.She was forced to move to a different city due to job loss. She tried to rent her place again but no luck.
We’re not talking about a big dollar home hereor an extreme financial loss on the part of the Bank. The Bank involved spent much more in fighting the process than would have been spent in agreeing to a short sale, saving both time and money for the bank, FHA, the taxpayer (who finances the FHA loan) and the homeowner.
After an exhaustive 1 1/2 year battle, my friend was told ” you have no options”. The Bank involved refused at every turn to cooperate and denied approval of participation in short sale or deed in lieu repeatedly. It is a sad commentary on our society when a major financial institution prefers to foreclose rather than exercise the option of a short sale.
The homeowner, who moved to care for an elderly parent and then moved again when facing job loss, will experience more loss – additional financial loss, loss of a good credit rating and loss of trust in the system. In light of all of the governmentprograms,including reimbursement to the banks for money lost on short sales, this case fell through the cracks…No Options…
Have questions? Email me at Lynn@LynnJohnsonRealtor.com .
