H.A.P. Process - Please Help! - Forum

Good morning!

Our team is taking a listing with the seller's approved for the military family HAP government program.

We are HAFA certified and know that process - not familiar with this program.

We've printed out everything possible from the gov't website, tried to look up info. on our association website, but no info. on how the process works from the realtor's side.

The property being listed has a shortfall of approx. $70K, not including selling costs or commission's. One loan which is conventional.

The HUD in the example show's the seller with a deficiency which apparently is what the gov't program is about.

*How does this work with the lender? It's technically a short sale.

*How do we inform the lender of this type of sale?

*Do we have to go through a short sale process to get it approved, or does the lender abide by the HAP guidelines of getting the monies after the sale of the property?

*What additional contracts do we have to provide to the lender?

*What do we have to provide to the seller to submit for reimbursement? Theoretically, they're not putting money out because the house is at a loss - the lender's loss.

We appreciate any insight you can give us! As you know, every transaction is so different and it's tough to keep up on every program and become an expert at much nowadays!

Thank you!

Kathy

Replies

Wendy Rulnick June 17, 2010 at 11:57am

Check also this info on HAP, hope it helps.
Kathy Weber June 16, 2010 at 10:41pm

Juanita,

Thank you so much for the valuable information! The seller has their application completed and was having his commander sign yesterday. His PCS date is Sept. The guidelines state the 120 days on the market but I've read people have done them in 60. Homes in our area sell extremely quick since our inventory is low. (worried about this).
We're still unsure on how the % of monies the seller has to pay towards the balance works. We've read anywhere from 5-20%. That could be substantial if they owe alot. What if the seller doesn't have the funds?
We've heard that a) the lender needs to be notified of the sale through HAP, b) lender DOESN'T have to be notified of the sale through HAP(?) Since there will be a deficiency on the final HUD, do you know how long it takes for the funds to be paid by the gov't? Is it at the COE, or is there a delay after the closing? We've heard it's paid within 30 days. Doesn't make sense. Also, we're trying to figure out where we send the listing agreement(?) Is there a package you send with it? Wish there was a Realtor "to do" list! Will try and call the phone number again today in Sacramento to see if they could help - lot's of time on hold yesterday! Thank you.

Juanita Simkins said:
Kathy, I've been going through this since mid April on the buyer side (listing agent only disclosed the seller was going through HAP after the counter was signed). I had to do a lot of research by talking to lenders and anyone in the office who had been through one (one agent in our office was the 4th in the NATION last year to utilize the program). From my understanding, the seller has to call HAP and be approved for the program first before placing the home on the market. The price listed has to fall within their parameters of not to high and not too low of market value, and not sell too fast otherwise they may think it's a firesale (it's in one of their online brochures). The contract is contingent on HAP approving. It technically isn't a short sale as HAP buys the home from the seller and then turns around the sells it to the buyer (with their own contracts). It's more like a relo company transaction than a short sale. HAP (depending on where you are at in the nation) may also process those seller's according to their PCS dates (those that are leaving sooner get processed sooner). All things for the seller to ask HAP about. We are supposed to close by the end of this month and HAP never responded to the buyer side calling them to ask when they might approve the sale since my client is relying on the tax credit (good thing that was extended!). HAP may also ask the seller to come out of pocket with the difference of what is owned compared to the purchase price, and then reimburse them within a certain period of time. Not certain how or when they may make that decision. If the seller were my client, I would certainly try to be on the phone with HAP the same time they are asking all of these questions.

Hope this helps you a bit.

Juanita
Juanita Simkins June 16, 2010 at 5:00pm

Kathy, I've been going through this since mid April on the buyer side (listing agent only disclosed the seller was going through HAP after the counter was signed). I had to do a lot of research by talking to lenders and anyone in the office who had been through one (one agent in our office was the 4th in the NATION last year to utilize the program). From my understanding, the seller has to call HAP and be approved for the program first before placing the home on the market. The price listed has to fall within their parameters of not to high and not too low of market value, and not sell too fast otherwise they may think it's a firesale (it's in one of their online brochures). The contract is contingent on HAP approving. It technically isn't a short sale as HAP buys the home from the seller and then turns around the sells it to the buyer (with their own contracts). It's more like a relo company transaction than a short sale. HAP (depending on where you are at in the nation) may also process those seller's according to their PCS dates (those that are leaving sooner get processed sooner). All things for the seller to ask HAP about. We are supposed to close by the end of this month and HAP never responded to the buyer side calling them to ask when they might approve the sale since my client is relying on the tax credit (good thing that was extended!). HAP may also ask the seller to come out of pocket with the difference of what is owned compared to the purchase price, and then reimburse them within a certain period of time. Not certain how or when they may make that decision. If the seller were my client, I would certainly try to be on the phone with HAP the same time they are asking all of these questions.

Hope this helps you a bit.

Juanita