Foreclosure Prevention Needs to Catch Up w/ HAMP, HARP
According to a new article, while the HAMP (Home Affordable Mortgage Program) and HARP (Home Affordable Refinancing Program) have reached and assisted just shy of a million homeowners, HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative) has reached and assisted merely 2% of that.
Perhaps homeowners nearing foreclosure have passed the stage of motivation and action, but professionals in that field must make up for it with new ways to market, reach, qualify and encourage homeowners to stop foreclosure by completing loan modifications or short sales.
These programs are a great leap forward when it comes to stopping foreclosure and making short sales attractive, offering qualified homeowners cash incentives in exchange for cooperation. Those in the distressed property market currently have a power play. Let’s take advantage of it.
Short Sales, Big Banks, Big Changes, Big News
The top lenders in the country: Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citi and Chase just released new information that they have each completely changed the way their loss mitigation departments are now handling short sales. And IT’S GOOD NEWS.
Based on the 2011 mortgage recasts, which have shown dramatic increases in foreclosure activity compared to 2010, they realize that foreclosure rates are still breaking records and buyers are having a harder time acquiring loans to inject money back into the economy. On top of that, outreach programs and no-cost mortgage counseling are not reaching anywhere near the anticipated number of foreclosed homeowners.
The big banks have now decided to streamline their individual processes, each with their own required documents (in most cases fewer than before) and have outlined the precise steps to get a short sale approved fast.
The biggest changes: Wells Fargo is taking advantage of equator and, if utilized, agents can anticipate a short sale approval as fast as three weeks.
Bank of America has created a step-by-step procedure for short sales with a signed contract and one for short sales without a signed contract.
And every one of the big banks now offers a short sale approval with ONLY A LISTING AGREEMENT. So you can market the property while the underwriter, servicer or investor is processing your package instead of separating the two tasks and wasting time.
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