Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bryant Tutas on January 15, 2013 at 9:35am

Well that's just crazy. Doesn't the approval have his name and signature on it already? I've never had a buyer's lender ask me for this but it shouldn't be that difficult to get. Plus the approval is coming form Citi not the negotiator. Maybe just get a letter from the closing company stating they are perfectly happy to issue clear and insured title based on the approval received.

Permalink Reply by Sharon Burgos on January 16, 2013 at 4:09am

I just heard from the lender and they insist that this will be a deal breaker.  They now say they "might" be able to use a statement from Citi saying that they do not sign approval letters and do not provide POAs.  I cannot believe after working on this since March, having the loan sold to Citi in the middle of negotiations and having to start over with Citi in October, that it is all going to fall apart due to this stupid technicality.  Thank you for the suggestion, I'll see if the title company is willing to provide a letter.

Permalink Reply by Marcy Spieker on January 16, 2013 at 5:17am

Wow!  What next!!  Who is the buyers lender requiring this?  It would be nice to know for future reference.

Would a change of lender for the buyer be possible?  There are lenders that can close transactions in 10 -14 days.  Perhaps you could get an extension if necessary. 

I sure would think that this would be of more concern to the title company that to the lender. Bryant's suggestion of a letter from title was right on.  Hopefully, a letter from title will work.

Permalink Reply by Sharon Burgos on January 18, 2013 at 2:47am

Premier Commercial Bank in Greensboro, NC.  Our attorney cringes every time he sees them involved in a closing. They are difficult to work with and have all kinds of exacting requirements you have to comply with.

Permalink Reply by jacqueline lee on January 16, 2013 at 1:14pm

There has been some freud involving approval letters not long ago and I am sure that is the reason for the request. You probably could get the closing agent involved by having her/him to talk with the buyer's lender saying that everything is legit since she/he had to communicate with the Citi for the final HUD approval for closing. You could also offer the buyer's lender direct contact info for CIti so they could check themselves if they want to  -   which I highly doubt.

Permalink Reply by Sharon Burgos on January 18, 2013 at 2:56am

First, thanks to everyone for your support and helpful suggestions!  Secondly, the good news is we were able to close on time yesterday! I didn't mention this earlier but this short sale has been under contract since March 31, 2012!  In the interim, the original listing agent disappeared, the loan was sold after 6 months of non-productive negotiations, meaning we had to start all over again with Citi and I ended up with both sides after my BIC realized she didn't have the time to push it through and get it done.  Oh, yeah - and my buyer started asking to look at other homes just when we were about to get approval from Citi!  It's been a wild ride!

Bryant: The closing attorney said he would be willing to write a letter, as you suggested, saying that he was satisfied with the title.  It didn't come to that, though.

Marcy: We did briefly consider changing lenders, my buyer was already pre-approved with our in-house mortgage department.  But I really didn't want to do that as CitiMortgage (sellers' lender) had only given approval through 1/24 and after that they would de-activate the file and we'd have to start all over again with the new lender.

Jacqueline:  I did pass the CitiMortgage contact info to Premier Bank so they could communicate directly about the type of "proof" Premier needed, but in the end, we were able to resolve it without that.

The negotiator at CitiMortgage was very helpful and he asked his superior at Citi to write an email stating that the negotiator was authorized to process short sales, send approval letters with his name at the bottom (not signed), and pre-approve the HUD (again, no signing).  The email from the Assistant Vice President at CitiMortgage finally satisfied them and they were able to ssend the loan package about an hour prior to closing!

Glad to have this one behind me!!  :)

Permalink Reply by Marcy Spieker on January 18, 2013 at 5:50am

Congratulations Sharon.  It sure feels good when you get one like that closed.

I am also battling with Citi on a short sale.  We have been under contract for 7 months and Citi just keeps stonewalling.  No excuse whatsoever! 

Wish me luck and onward we move!

Marcy Spieker