From the Florida Association of Realtors News Letter

Big changes to BofA short sale process this weekend ORLANDO, Fla. – April 9, 2012 – Bank of America is set to roll out a new short sale process and documents designed to reduce the approval process to 20 days.

The changes are so extensive that the Equator platform will be down for 10-12 hours during the overnight hours starting Friday, April 13.

If you’ve submitted a short sale with Bank of America, be aware that before April 13 you must complete the following tasks or risk having your file declined: Submit Short Sale Offer, Upload Offer Documents and Upload Supporting Documents in Equator.

Links to these documents and other vital information is available at the Bank of America Short Sale Resource Center. Consider bookmarking this page and subscribing to email updates.

On April 14, Bank of America’s short sale process will change as follows:

Five documents will be required for short sales initiated with an offer:
• Purchase Contract including Buyer’s Acknowledgment and Disclosure
• HUD-1
• IRS Form 4506-T
• Bank of America Short Sale Addendum
• Bank of America Third-Party Authorization Form

All email communications between Bank of America and the sales associate will occur in Equator. Salespersons will be alerted via email that a message is waiting in their Equator mailbox. Florida Realtors attorneys recommend brokers obtain their sales associates’ logins/passwords to ensure the short sale transaction proceeds smoothly if a salesperson changes firms.

New timeframes. Currently, salespersons have 14 days to submit a counteroffer in Equator. On April 14, that will be reduced to five days. What’s more, Bank of America is limiting prospective buyers to two counteroffers. Responses will be given within three days.

Realtors are invited to view a Bank of America webinar about the new process on Thurs., April 19 from 4-5 p.m. EST. Click here to register for the webinar.

For its part, Florida Realtors has notified the Florida Real Estate Commission and Department of Business and Professional Regulation of the new Bank of America short sale process so the information can be shared with all licensees.

Be sure to check the floridarealtors.org Short Sales Center for updates. However, please visit the Bank of America short sale center regularly, as it will contain the most up-to-date information.

Give us some feedback about the new Bank of America short sale processes. Send your comments to [email protected]. Please note that Bank of America will not reply to individual comments.