Anyone successful in getting Ocwen to waive the Altisource / Hubzu Online Auction/Marketing System

Hi All.  I contacted Ocwen on 3 occasions before submitting a short sale contract on a property.  After the contract was submitted I received a counter from the Ocwen rep who gave a bottom line price that will be approved.  The next day I received a short sale decline letter stating that the short sale was rejected due to non-participation in the Altisource / Hubzu Online Auction/Marketing System.  The problem is that this apparent requirement was never disclosed or mentioned in any way by Ocwen prior to the contract being executed.  Now, they want to amend the Listing Agreement to allow for commission to the Altisource / Hubzu Online Auction/Marketing System and place the property in an online auction despite the contract on the property.  Anyone have any luck getting this requirement removed?

Views: 10455

Replies to This Discussion

Still no approval though since you have been being reviewed for HAFA since 2/27. This is similar to the timeline on my file, although I was just told yesterday about hubzu so I am commencing that battle per your recommendations. I lost 3 weeks with the same document I sent to them at least 6 times. Thanks for all your help. Let us know when you obtain an approval!

I really don't think it's worth the effort spending days trying to circumvent the system.  At the end of the day, it's really not a huge deal.  First off your commissions are not affected since they charge the buyer a 'Buyers Premium' (waived for existing buyer). Secondly, the auction usually only lasts for 1 week. Thirdly, not too many retail buyers will risk 'buying at auction' so it just ends up being a huge waist of time. But even if you do get a higher offer, you make more money ;)

  The big question though is whether it's legal since you already have an executed contract .. but according to an article put out by the Cali Board of Realtors investigation .. they did determine it to be legal.  But check your local laws.  If your unsure you might have to cancel the existing buyer contract and request the buyer make their offer through Hubzu.

That is not correct.

The auction terms on Hubzu are not good. There is no way to qualify a bidder so a completely clueless person can bid and drive up the price then not perform with the result being that real qualified buyers are outbid and will not be be able to bid a lower, but real bonafide bid. The sale is as is with no contingencies for inspections or mortgage so it dissuades buyers by scaring them away with bad terms. Hubzu charges a 4.50% Buyer Premium + a $299.00 fee so it increases the price the buyer pays. Also, Hubzu takes 1.5% of the commission leaving the listing agent 2.50% and the buyer agent 2.00%. I see no positives to the Hubzu program.

Here is a copy/paste of the commissions for the Altisource/Hubzu (RHSS) Auction Program.  You can see that they take 1.5% of the 6.0% Commission.  This is in addition to the 4.5% Buyer Premium.

Mine reads 3% and 3%. They must have changed it. 

Can you post the Agreement?

It is still short of our commission but this isn't even near the biggest issue we have with this. 

While you note it "usually only last for 1 week"  after pushing the HUBZU rep for a timeline on the actual amount of time we would be wasting he said:  docs would be received within a day or two, if we return immediately we could count on the auction beginning in a few days and then it would run for 7 days.  When I pushed to ask how long it would take to be returned to OCWEN he hemmed and hawed and finally said it could be listed 4 more times.  If all of this isn't a game changer I believe wasting over a month (when this offer is the first after 50 days on market and 27 showings) definitely will be.

The seller and I are calling daily to decline their offer of assistance.  I'll let you know how that works.

Hi Ro.  Not sure where you got the "usually only last for 1 week" info.  If you read the RHSS Agreement it does not specify any specific timeframe.  By signing that Agreement you are giving up control and letting Altisource/Hubzu call the shots.  From the people I spoke to at Ocwen they said that the timeframe in the RHSS program is up to Altisource/Hubzu.  My best guess based on actually tracking houses for sale on the Hubzu site is that each one appears on the site 3 or more times.  Therefore, I would think 3+ weeks minimum unless you get lucky.

Hi, Jim.  I was actually referencing the comment made by TOP END Properties on March 14, 2014 at 4:53am which said it usually only lasts one week.   I wholeheartedly agree that one week is NOT the norm.  I am reading over the "agreement" that was sent over and it references that if the original buyer's original offer is accepted then they do not pay the premium nor the tech fee.  I read that to mean that if they bid $1 more than their original offer they would then be stuck paying (in this case) an additional $4000+!  I also read that they may take 30 days to get clear title.  Which also reminds me that the title company that has been working on this already is now cut out of the deal!   And I saw your post earlier about the commission being reduced (I mentioned that to my seller, as well, and now see that they copied her on this new message which states)  " if your client’s short sale is approved by Ocwen and the closing is completed, you will receive your full commission. This is true regardless of whether you’ve already found a buyer, or a different buyer is found during the Assisted Short Sale Program. If the short sale is completed, your full commission remains intact."  I just checked over the contract and it does indeed show 6% with 3% to each agent...wonder if it's a recent change.   Nonetheless, this is still not something I want to be part of and my seller has drafted an email about medical conditions and the added stress this is bringing; I called again today.  We will see if I am successful in getting her out of this.

Please send me a copy of the RHSS Real Estate Commission Chart.  The one I posted was n the RHSS Agreement I received and it clearly shows that 1.5% of the 6% commission goes to Altisource and the Listing Agent and Buyer Agent commissions are reduced.

RSS

Members

© 2024   Created by Brett Goldsmith.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

********************************** like buttons ************************