Short Sale Relief in Sight?

• April 30, 2012

by UrbanTurf Staff

Homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than the current value of their home have few options, particularly if they must sell the home because they can no longer afford to make the payments. In order to avoid foreclosure, some owners have been able to negotiate a short sale, which means that the lender agrees to accept less than the full amount of the mortgage principal as payment.

There can be a number of complications with this process, not least of which is that after an offer is submitted to the bank, it can take several months for them to get back to the seller with an answer. This timeframe could be drastically shortened come June, however.

Long-time real estate columnist Kenneth Harney wrote this weekend that homeowners with loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac could hear back within just 30 days, starting next month:

If your loan is owned or securitized by either of the dominant conventional mortgage market players, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, you can expect a response within 30 business days [starting in June], with a final decision no later than 60 days. If you don’t hear back during the first 30 days, the bank will be required to send you weekly updates telling you precisely where the holdups are and when they are likely to be resolved.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/short_sale_relief_in_sight/5473