So you are selling your house via a Short Sale.  You qualify for a hardship: loss of income, poor health, death in the family, etc.  You can no longer pay your mortgage.  You provide everything the bank requests of you: tax records, bank statements, pay stubs, a hardship letter and more.  You bend over backwards to provide it in a neat organized format like your Realtor or Attorney advised.

Your Realtor brought you a reasonable offer after 60 days on the market.  Everything was sent to the bank as requested.   You wait 3 months to get a response from the bank.  What happens?  The “negotiator” at the bank starts jerking your chain.  He clearly has attitude.  He seems to be enjoying listening to you sweat.  He drags his feet for another 4 weeks with meaningless requests and delays. 

He finally says he will approve the short sale, then says it has to go to his boss for signature.  He assures you it will be emailed out the next day.  24 hours later you inquire where it is.  He neglected to tell you that his boss is out of the office for a few days, so it will have to wait until next week. 

He calls the next week to tell you they are denying your short sale request.  No real reason.  He just doesn’t think you fit their guidelines (Yet 3 weeks earlier he was fine with it).  WHAT IS GOING ON????  It is called a power tip and you are the victim of an $8 per hour bank employee who is thriving on his new found position of power.

Exaggeration?  No.  This is a real scenario that one of my clients experienced with one of the biggest two banks in this country.  Short sales can result in great deals / steals, but many are a royal pain in the butt.  Remember the #1 rule in short sales: patience, patience, patience.  And don’t forget the #2 rule: brown nose the negotiator.  He or she controls your future.  Piss him off even a little and you are done.