Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Emily S. Knell on April 1, 2010 at 3:39am

Bank of America is VERY SLOW. It can take up to 1 month after accepting one of their counter offers to actually get an approval letter. They are just so overwhelmed with files. I know you're thinking, What the Heck? They have everything, why can't they just issue the darn approval letter! I'm in the same boat with my files.

The listing agent should send a message through the Equator system once she's pulled up your file & hit the CTRL button to send the message to the Negotiator, AVP, SVP, VP, Team Leader, Manager etc. Your listing agent will get an email that bounces back from one of these people stating that "they're out of the office, or won't be back til Monday, etc" , then she'll have their email address. Email them, be nice and see if they can tell you what's going on.

Permalink Reply by David A on April 1, 2010 at 6:16am

Emily,

Thanks for the information thus far! The listing agent has received a task to upload the Third Party Authorization, which was requested around the 10th of March, however she has not received any other tasks at this point, despite repeated attempts to inquire about additional tasks. I have a couple of questions, I am hoping you can help me with. When you mention using the CTRL button below, is this how you escalate a request? If not, how can the listing agent escalate a request? Also, the seller has not created an account with Equator and has not uploaded any financial information at this point. Does the generic negotiator need to assign a task for the seller to upload their financial package? Everything I have read on this site indicates that the seller needs to upload their financials and that the listing agent can't do it for them. Is this correct? Does the seller need to upload their financials if the lien is a 2nd mortgage? If the seller does need to upload their financials, how do they go about setting up their equator account and have it refferenced to the same account as the listing agent? One final question is that at the beginning of the process with Equator, the listing agent was assigned an actual negotiator, but now she has a generic negotiator. Does this mean anything? I apologize for all of the questions, but if you have answers to any of these, I would be much appreciative. Thanks!

Emily S. Knell said:

Bank of America is VERY SLOW. It can take up to 1 month after accepting one of their counter offers to actually get an approval letter. They are just so overwhelmed with files. I know you're thinking, What the Heck? They have everything, why can't they just issue the darn approval letter! I'm in the same boat with my files.

The listing agent should send a message through the Equator system once she's pulled up your file & hit the CTRL button to send the message to the Negotiator, AVP, SVP, VP, Team Leader, Manager etc. Your listing agent will get an email that bounces back from one of these people stating that "they're out of the office, or won't be back til Monday, etc" , then she'll have their email address. Email them, be nice and see if they can tell you what's going on.

Permalink Reply by Emily S. Knell on April 1, 2010 at 6:33am

Once the 3rd party authorization has been uploaded, it usually takes 24-48hrs before the next task is assigned and that is to upload the contracts, this is where you, the buyer will be asked for your first 5 digits of your SS #, your DOB, phone number, address, the listing agent will also need your mortgage lenders' phone number, address and email address, approx. loan rate you're going to get and your other loan info like down payment.

The seller does not need an Equator account. They need to call in to BofA at 866-880-1232 and tell them that they need to set up a username & password for the Bank of America short sale website, this is different from Equator.

Have the listing agent call in to BofA and ask for someone trained in Equator support, if she isn't being prompted to upload contracts after doing the 3rd party authorization upload.

Even though this is a $3k payoff to a 2nd lien, BofA still treats the process the same as though they were in 1st position. BofA is taking a long time, it could be 60 days before you get an approval start to finish. We are all hoping an praying that things will pick up with BofA once the HAFA guidelines kick in on April 5th.

don't just rely on Equator and its' system, CALL IN (have the listing agent call in)

You, as the buyer, with the information stated above, let the listing agent do their job, don't call & harass them every day. It is out of our control with how long BofA takes to approve anything.


David A said:

Emily,

Thanks for the information thus far! The listing agent has received a task to upload the Third Party Authorization, which was requested around the 10th of March, however she has not received any other tasks at this point, despite repeated attempts to inquire about additional tasks. I have a couple of questions, I am hoping you can help me with. When you mention using the CTRL button below, is this how you escalate a request? If not, how can the listing agent escalate a request? Also, the seller has not created an account with Equator and has not uploaded any financial information at this point. Does the generic negotiator need to assign a task for the seller to upload their financial package? Everything I have read on this site indicates that the seller needs to upload their financials and that the listing agent can't do it for them. Is this correct? Does the seller need to upload their financials if the lien is a 2nd mortgage? If the seller does need to upload their financials, how do they go about setting up their equator account and have it refferenced to the same account as the listing agent? One final question is that at the beginning of the process with Equator, the listing agent was assigned an actual negotiator, but now she has a generic negotiator. Does this mean anything? I apologize for all of the questions, but if you have answers to any of these, I would be much appreciative. Thanks!

Emily S. Knell said:

Bank of America is VERY SLOW. It can take up to 1 month after accepting one of their counter offers to actually get an approval letter. They are just so overwhelmed with files. I know you're thinking, What the Heck? They have everything, why can't they just issue the darn approval letter! I'm in the same boat with my files.

The listing agent should send a message through the Equator system once she's pulled up your file & hit the CTRL button to send the message to the Negotiator, AVP, SVP, VP, Team Leader, Manager etc. Your listing agent will get an email that bounces back from one of these people stating that "they're out of the office, or won't be back til Monday, etc" , then she'll have their email address. Email them, be nice and see if they can tell you what's going on.

Permalink Reply by David A on April 1, 2010 at 7:05am

Emily,

Thanks again for all this great information! I have just felt helpless before we found this website. One other quick question, when you say have the listing agent call in and talk to someone trained in Equator support if she isn't being prompted to upload contracts, is this escalating? Or, is there a different way to escalate the files?

Emily S. Knell said:

Once the 3rd party authorization has been uploaded, it usually takes 24-48hrs before the next task is assigned and that is to upload the contracts, this is where you, the buyer will be asked for your first 5 digits of your SS #, your DOB, phone number, address, the listing agent will also need your mortgage lenders' phone number, address and email address, approx. loan rate you're going to get and your other loan info like down payment.

The seller does not need an Equator account. They need to call in to BofA at 866-880-1232 and tell them that they need to set up a username & password for the Bank of America short sale website, this is different from Equator.

Have the listing agent call in to BofA and ask for someone trained in Equator support, if she isn't being prompted to upload contracts after doing the 3rd party authorization upload.

Even though this is a $3k payoff to a 2nd lien, BofA still treats the process the same as though they were in 1st position. BofA is taking a long time, it could be 60 days before you get an approval start to finish. We are all hoping an praying that things will pick up with BofA once the HAFA guidelines kick in on April 5th.

don't just rely on Equator and its' system, CALL IN (have the listing agent call in)

You, as the buyer, with the information stated above, let the listing agent do their job, don't call & harass them every day. It is out of our control with how long BofA takes to approve anything.


David A said:

Emily,

Thanks for the information thus far! The listing agent has received a task to upload the Third Party Authorization, which was requested around the 10th of March, however she has not received any other tasks at this point, despite repeated attempts to inquire about additional tasks. I have a couple of questions, I am hoping you can help me with. When you mention using the CTRL button below, is this how you escalate a request? If not, how can the listing agent escalate a request? Also, the seller has not created an account with Equator and has not uploaded any financial information at this point. Does the generic negotiator need to assign a task for the seller to upload their financial package? Everything I have read on this site indicates that the seller needs to upload their financials and that the listing agent can't do it for them. Is this correct? Does the seller need to upload their financials if the lien is a 2nd mortgage? If the seller does need to upload their financials, how do they go about setting up their equator account and have it refferenced to the same account as the listing agent? One final question is that at the beginning of the process with Equator, the listing agent was assigned an actual negotiator, but now she has a generic negotiator. Does this mean anything? I apologize for all of the questions, but if you have answers to any of these, I would be much appreciative. Thanks!

Emily S. Knell said:

Bank of America is VERY SLOW. It can take up to 1 month after accepting one of their counter offers to actually get an approval letter. They are just so overwhelmed with files. I know you're thinking, What the Heck? They have everything, why can't they just issue the darn approval letter! I'm in the same boat with my files.

The listing agent should send a message through the Equator system once she's pulled up your file & hit the CTRL button to send the message to the Negotiator, AVP, SVP, VP, Team Leader, Manager etc. Your listing agent will get an email that bounces back from one of these people stating that "they're out of the office, or won't be back til Monday, etc" , then she'll have their email address. Email them, be nice and see if they can tell you what's going on.

Permalink Reply by Emily S. Knell on April 1, 2010 at 7:13am

Every single agent doing a BofA short sale want their file to be escalated. Your file will likely not be escalated unless there is some impending doom like an auction date scheduled for 2wks from now.

You can ask for a file escalation, but you're likely to just be in the same boat as we all are. BofA is inundated with short sale requests. Your file seems to have hit a speed bump by not adding the 2nd task of Offer Upload, just have the listing agent call in and let them know what the problem is so she can continue uploading the offer & supporting documentation.

Then you go on vacation for 2mos, when you get back, you may have an approval letter. Kind of like when you're at a restaurant, you're starving and you know that if you go to the bathroom, by the time you get back your food is there waiting for you.

David A said:

Emily,

Thanks again for all this great information! I have just felt helpless before we found this website. One other quick question, when you say have the listing agent call in and talk to someone trained in Equator support if she isn't being prompted to upload contracts, is this escalating? Or, is there a different way to escalate the files?

Emily S. Knell said:

Once the 3rd party authorization has been uploaded, it usually takes 24-48hrs before the next task is assigned and that is to upload the contracts, this is where you, the buyer will be asked for your first 5 digits of your SS #, your DOB, phone number, address, the listing agent will also need your mortgage lenders' phone number, address and email address, approx. loan rate you're going to get and your other loan info like down payment.

The seller does not need an Equator account. They need to call in to BofA at 866-880-1232 and tell them that they need to set up a username & password for the Bank of America short sale website, this is different from Equator.

Have the listing agent call in to BofA and ask for someone trained in Equator support, if she isn't being prompted to upload contracts after doing the 3rd party authorization upload.

Even though this is a $3k payoff to a 2nd lien, BofA still treats the process the same as though they were in 1st position. BofA is taking a long time, it could be 60 days before you get an approval start to finish. We are all hoping an praying that things will pick up with BofA once the HAFA guidelines kick in on April 5th.

don't just rely on Equator and its' system, CALL IN (have the listing agent call in)

You, as the buyer, with the information stated above, let the listing agent do their job, don't call & harass them every day. It is out of our control with how long BofA takes to approve anything.


David A said:

Emily,

Thanks for the information thus far! The listing agent has received a task to upload the Third Party Authorization, which was requested around the 10th of March, however she has not received any other tasks at this point, despite repeated attempts to inquire about additional tasks. I have a couple of questions, I am hoping you can help me with. When you mention using the CTRL button below, is this how you escalate a request? If not, how can the listing agent escalate a request? Also, the seller has not created an account with Equator and has not uploaded any financial information at this point. Does the generic negotiator need to assign a task for the seller to upload their financial package? Everything I have read on this site indicates that the seller needs to upload their financials and that the listing agent can't do it for them. Is this correct? Does the seller need to upload their financials if the lien is a 2nd mortgage? If the seller does need to upload their financials, how do they go about setting up their equator account and have it refferenced to the same account as the listing agent? One final question is that at the beginning of the process with Equator, the listing agent was assigned an actual negotiator, but now she has a generic negotiator. Does this mean anything? I apologize for all of the questions, but if you have answers to any of these, I would be much appreciative. Thanks!

Emily S. Knell said:

Bank of America is VERY SLOW. It can take up to 1 month after accepting one of their counter offers to actually get an approval letter. They are just so overwhelmed with files. I know you're thinking, What the Heck? They have everything, why can't they just issue the darn approval letter! I'm in the same boat with my files.

The listing agent should send a message through the Equator system once she's pulled up your file & hit the CTRL button to send the message to the Negotiator, AVP, SVP, VP, Team Leader, Manager etc. Your listing agent will get an email that bounces back from one of these people stating that "they're out of the office, or won't be back til Monday, etc" , then she'll have their email address. Email them, be nice and see if they can tell you what's going on.

Permalink Reply by Tiffany Alleshouse on April 1, 2010 at 7:56am

I would recommend sending the HUD and approval letter from Litton to the negotiator's email address at B of A. You can find the email address on the Equator website. B of A is kinda weird with their seconds. If you still do not hear back from the negotiator within a couple of days, then call Equator every single day and have them document your issue. By the time you call (complain) 4 times, they might transfer you to a supervisor who might be able to help. I agree with all of the other replies to this discussion that B of A will take about a month for a response whether or not you can close with cash today.

Permalink Reply by David A on April 1, 2010 at 8:06am

Tiffany,

Thanks for your help. Since the listing agent only has a generic negotiator at this point, is it possible to get an email address for a negotiator that could help the listing agent? I as well as the listing agent are still a little unclear about how you escalate a concern with B of A's nonresponsiveness. Do you have any insight with how to escalate files or concerns? Do you just contact the Equator folks (who may or may not be able to help)?

Tiffany Alleshouse said:

I would recommend sending the HUD and approval letter from Litton to the negotiator's email address at B of A. You can find the email address on the Equator website. B of A is kinda weird with their seconds. If you still do not hear back from the negotiator within a couple of days, then call Equator every single day and have them document your issue. By the time you call (complain) 4 times, they might transfer you to a supervisor who might be able to help. I agree with all of the other replies to this discussion that B of A will take about a month for a response whether or not you can close with cash today.

Permalink Reply by Tiffany Alleshouse on April 1, 2010 at 8:30am

Okay David... try this:

Login to Equator
Click on "My Properties and Offers"
Click on the address for your property
Then click the negotiator's name (this is located right above the "tasks" section)
When you click on the name of the negotiator, it will give you an email address.
Send the HUD and Approval from Litton to that email address.
In the subject line of your email, write the loan number the last name of the seller and write "Approval from the 1st"

You will probably get some kind of response within a day. I am not under the impression that you have a "generic negotiator." I do believe a real person is handling your case.

Good luck! Call me if you need more help 619-788-6531

David A said:

Tiffany,

Thanks for your help. Since the listing agent only has a generic negotiator at this point, is it possible to get an email address for a negotiator that could help the listing agent? I as well as the listing agent are still a little unclear about how you escalate a concern with B of A's nonresponsiveness. Do you have any insight with how to escalate files or concerns? Do you just contact the Equator folks (who may or may not be able to help)?

Tiffany Alleshouse said:

I would recommend sending the HUD and approval letter from Litton to the negotiator's email address at B of A. You can find the email address on the Equator website. B of A is kinda weird with their seconds. If you still do not hear back from the negotiator within a couple of days, then call Equator every single day and have them document your issue. By the time you call (complain) 4 times, they might transfer you to a supervisor who might be able to help. I agree with all of the other replies to this discussion that B of A will take about a month for a response whether or not you can close with cash today.

Permalink Reply by David A on April 2, 2010 at 5:29am

Emily,

I have learned from some of the conversations on this website that the seller needs to upload their financial information through the shortsale.bankofamerica.com. As of right now, the seller has not created a user name and password for shortsale.bankofamerica.com and has not uploaded any financial information.

To help get this sale moving forward I am hoping you can answer a few more questions:

Will the listing agent receive any additional tasks if the seller does not upload their financial information at the shortsale.bankofamerica.com?

The listing agent has not been informed through Equator that the seller needs to upload their financial information. Is she suppossed to be informed somehow that this needs to occur?

Once the seller does create a username and password with shortsale.bankofamerica.com, are there some instructions on this website that the seller can follow for entering their financial information?

Once the seller has entered their financial information, how does the listing agent typically know if the seller has done this? Is she informed through Equator, or does she simply need to ask the seller if this has been completed?

I would sure appreciate any answers you can provide.

Thanks!


Emily S. Knell said:

Every single agent doing a BofA short sale want their file to be escalated. Your file will likely not be escalated unless there is some impending doom like an auction date scheduled for 2wks from now.

You can ask for a file escalation, but you're likely to just be in the same boat as we all are. BofA is inundated with short sale requests. Your file seems to have hit a speed bump by not adding the 2nd task of Offer Upload, just have the listing agent call in and let them know what the problem is so she can continue uploading the offer & supporting documentation.

Then you go on vacation for 2mos, when you get back, you may have an approval letter. Kind of like when you're at a restaurant, you're starving and you know that if you go to the bathroom, by the time you get back your food is there waiting for you.

David A said:

Emily,

Thanks again for all this great information! I have just felt helpless before we found this website. One other quick question, when you say have the listing agent call in and talk to someone trained in Equator support if she isn't being prompted to upload contracts, is this escalating? Or, is there a different way to escalate the files?

Emily S. Knell said:

Once the 3rd party authorization has been uploaded, it usually takes 24-48hrs before the next task is assigned and that is to upload the contracts, this is where you, the buyer will be asked for your first 5 digits of your SS #, your DOB, phone number, address, the listing agent will also need your mortgage lenders' phone number, address and email address, approx. loan rate you're going to get and your other loan info like down payment.

The seller does not need an Equator account. They need to call in to BofA at 866-880-1232 and tell them that they need to set up a username & password for the Bank of America short sale website, this is different from Equator.

Have the listing agent call in to BofA and ask for someone trained in Equator support, if she isn't being prompted to upload contracts after doing the 3rd party authorization upload.

Even though this is a $3k payoff to a 2nd lien, BofA still treats the process the same as though they were in 1st position. BofA is taking a long time, it could be 60 days before you get an approval start to finish. We are all hoping an praying that things will pick up with BofA once the HAFA guidelines kick in on April 5th.

don't just rely on Equator and its' system, CALL IN (have the listing agent call in)

You, as the buyer, with the information stated above, let the listing agent do their job, don't call & harass them every day. It is out of our control with how long BofA takes to approve anything.


David A said:

Emily,

Thanks for the information thus far! The listing agent has received a task to upload the Third Party Authorization, which was requested around the 10th of March, however she has not received any other tasks at this point, despite repeated attempts to inquire about additional tasks. I have a couple of questions, I am hoping you can help me with. When you mention using the CTRL button below, is this how you escalate a request? If not, how can the listing agent escalate a request? Also, the seller has not created an account with Equator and has not uploaded any financial information at this point. Does the generic negotiator need to assign a task for the seller to upload their financial package? Everything I have read on this site indicates that the seller needs to upload their financials and that the listing agent can't do it for them. Is this correct? Does the seller need to upload their financials if the lien is a 2nd mortgage? If the seller does need to upload their financials, how do they go about setting up their equator account and have it refferenced to the same account as the listing agent? One final question is that at the beginning of the process with Equator, the listing agent was assigned an actual negotiator, but now she has a generic negotiator. Does this mean anything? I apologize for all of the questions, but if you have answers to any of these, I would be much appreciative. Thanks!

Emily S. Knell said:

Bank of America is VERY SLOW. It can take up to 1 month after accepting one of their counter offers to actually get an approval letter. They are just so overwhelmed with files. I know you're thinking, What the Heck? They have everything, why can't they just issue the darn approval letter! I'm in the same boat with my files.

The listing agent should send a message through the Equator system once she's pulled up your file & hit the CTRL button to send the message to the Negotiator, AVP, SVP, VP, Team Leader, Manager etc. Your listing agent will get an email that bounces back from one of these people stating that "they're out of the office, or won't be back til Monday, etc" , then she'll have their email address. Email them, be nice and see if they can tell you what's going on.

Permalink Reply by Emily S. Knell on April 2, 2010 at 6:52am

This thread is getting long and I'm getting lost in it. Please email me directly if you have more questions. [email protected]

Here are answers to what I think is your latest list of questions:

What I do is have the seller call in to BofA 866-880-1232, they set up their username & password, they give that info. to me and then I go to the bofa short sale website & upload the info. myself, that way I know that was is asked for is property uploaded & legible.

Again, Equator & the BofA short sale website are separate platforms. Have the listing agent get the seller to call in, get their username/password, they'll log in and likely change their password to something easier to remember, seller gives that info to the listing agent, the listing agent logs in and sees exactly what is being asked for , listing agent gets that info from the seller, emails it to her self in separate files and then individually uploads ea. grouping of forms like (Most recent bank statements, most recent paystubs, 2nd most recent paystubs,,,tax returns Must be signed etc)

hope this helps.

Because the seller hasn't uploaded their financial information yet, is not what is holding up the listing agent from there being the 2nd task assigned which is to upload the offer & supporting documents. The supporting documents through the Equator website is NOT the seller's financial info., it's things like a photo of the property, MLS sheet, HUD (she should include a BPO behind the HUD) & your proof of funds & loan letter.

Equator will not alert the listing agent for the seller to upload financial info.