HAFA approval with BOA

New here so I'm sure this has been asked before, I subbmitted a SS package for HAFA at BOA in mid March the investor is Fannie Mae it took forever to get the appraisal done but it has been done now and I was told we were approved, but I still do not have the approval letter and until I get the letter they will not listen to the offer I have (and it is a good cash offer). I have the negotiators direct line and there team leaders I have left about 10 messages on each voice mail and I sent 6 emails on Equator and I'm just not getting any responce. What do I do next??? Please help...Thanks, Mike

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  • I like the co-op idea IF you can get it approved..

  • You have 2 ways to submit for HAFA: (1) Have with an offer and (2) HAFA without an offer (more common).  It sounds like you have the 2nd one.  In that case, you need to wait until you receive the HAFA Agreement and get the seller to sign it.  Only then can the offer be evaluated.  If you are going through AMS HAFA (BofA's contracted HAFA vendor) then good luck.  I have submitted 2 HAFA applications through them and after many months was rejected on 1 for information that they had from the beginning (i.e. the Borrower moved out of the house) and on the 2nd the HAFA Approved List Price is 40-50% above market.  I have been told that if the loan is owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that the chance of being approved into HAFA is slim.  You are probably better off having your client decline HAFA and submitting the offer via a traditional short sale, the new BofA Co-op Short Sale, or another program, if available.

    • It is AMS that is handling this and Fannie Mae is the investor... Interesting I will have to learn more about the BofA Co-op Short Sale. Thank you so Much!

  • One trick that I learned Mike was to call the REDC early in the morning. I'm in CA so I had to be on the phone with the negotiator at 7:15AM PST as their office is in Texas. Later in the day usually they will not answer the calls. Keep calling and ask for the supervisor. Tell them that you're next step is to escalate the file with the Executive office from BofA and push the customer service to help you speak to the negotiator's supervisor. If they want to transfer you to his/her voice mail tell them that you already called and left them a message. I used to call more few times a day until somebody got sick and tired of me as they saw the notes in the system that I kept calling and they tried to get a hold of the supervisor. Unfortunately, HAFA deals with BofA are really hard to work because of the incompetent 3rd party vendors hired to do the job. When I got the file approved I had to explain the negotiator the figures from the HUD1 and explain him how the $3,000 relocation funds needs to come out from their net proceeds.

    • Thanks Juliana and everyone for your advice! I'm up early to tackle this today.... Have a great day!

  • Mike, who's the 3rd party vendor that you're dealing with? You need to speak to the negotiator's supervisor from that company. You can also call and ask to be escalated with BofA but usually in this case when it comes to HAFA they will only refer you back to the vendor.

    HAFA with an offer it's a pretty fast process even if you're still dealing with the 3rd party vendors for BofA. I have one HAFA that I've submitted without having an offer and I had to work with REDC. It was one of the worst experiences that I had working short sales. The negotiators never answer and they don't really get to work in Equator. As a matter of fact, in Equator, I had another person in Eqautor showing as our negotiator so all the emails sent through the system were deliverable. 

    HAFA without an offer time frame: submitted mid April, got it approved by mid August. All this time waiting for the approval the property was listed on MLS and I was marketing the property. All I had to do once I got the HAFA agreement was to adjust the listed price based on the price set by the bank.

     

     

    • The 3rd party is AMS. That happens when I email the negotiator I get an email seconds later saying that she works for a 3rd party company and her email is undeliverable. I have the negotiators direct phone line and their team leaders and no reponce from either.

  • Good Morning Michael,

     

    At this stage you will want to call the customer care number, 866-880-1232, and ask that the file be escalated, and explain that the appraisal has already been done, and that it runs the risk of expiring. Given the amount of calls and emails you have sent, the file definitely qualifies for escalation. I have done this on several occassions and it has helped move things further along at a quicker pace. You may even request that they reassign a new negotiator. In addition, given the length of time you appear to have been working on this, you will also want to make sure that the property has not been set for foreclosure auction. Good luck.

  • I'm betting the problem is not Bank of America. It's the third-party vendor such as AMS or REDC. Unless something has changed with Fannie Mae, there is no reason you can't submit an offer while the process is going through preapproval. I, too, made the mistake of going the preapproved route on these HAFAs, and it's a joke. It takes more time and involves more red tape than just sending the offer. With Fannie Mae, though, you have to be very careful that you are not close to the sale date because they rarely postpone. Fannie Mae will go to foreclosure if it's faster than the short sale.

    • Hi Elizabeth, In early Sept AMS told me everything was approved and they opened a file in Equator and I needed to go in and accept it. I did that then loaded the offer and they gave me tasks, one being I needed to load the signed ARASS letter that I do not have yet. Now I keep asking for that letter and they do not repond, when I call AMS they just send me to the Negotiators voice mail box. I have their direct phone number and there team leaders number and have been leaving messages for weeks and I have been emailing on Equator and I get nothing back. Im starting to think this file has been lost!

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