We are trying to buy a short sale, Wells Fargo is the sellers bank. A couple weeks ago we signed the arms-length agreement and thought we were about done. Today we find out that we are rejected because they think someone we are related to works for Wells Fargo. We don't know anyone who works for Wells Fargo (or Wachovia) let alone a relative! Sounds like a bug in their system? Of course all we can talk to is our realtor, who talks to their realtor, who talks to the negotiator and no one seems to know who this mystery relative is.
Anyone ever see this before? It sucks, we thought we were going to move soon, now we have to start over :(
Sam
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I asked for a copy of the rejection letter. It just says the offer does not meet WFHE policy. The sellers agent is waiting a return call from a supervisor.
So the Wells Fargo refuses to tell the seller or their agent (or ours) why they rejected the sale. At least that's what they tell us. We have decided to give it up and have found another house (not a short sale) and should be moving in a few weeks. Thanks everyone for your help. Normally I might fight more but our family really just needs to move to a bigger house ASAP.
Escalate it and provide proof to them. This does happen occassionally. In California they are REALLY tough on Arms Length..no connection anywhere!
Unfortunately we got word of this at 5:00 on Friday. Our agent claims the bank will not tell us who it is. She claims they only have seen this once and wanted us to just sign a cancellation and forget about it. That is until I made it clear that I was not going to just let it go. Now she is promising to talk to her attorney and call Wells Fargo on Monday... I will see what happens on Monday. We live in Florida BTW.
I re-read the arms-length and nowhere in there does it mention being related to a Wells Fargo employee. We just can not have any dealings with the seller, whom we have never met and now lives ~100 miles away. He had to move for his job which is why he is short selling.
We are two months and, I think, most of the way through the process. I hate to just give up. Besides I find it insulting that they would claim we are up to something wrong and not even provide evidence of that wrongdoing. I would provide proof, but I don't know what I am proving.
I agree with the escalation. Sometimes those can take a while too! Ask the listing agent if she has any managers numbers. I sometimes use previous managers or negotiators numbers to get my questions answered on unrelated files. It's so important to build a good rapport with the short sale lenders.
Maybe it's a relative you don't know. As Kimberly says, get the agent to escalate this to a supervisor level. Let us know what happens
I agree you need to have the listing agent escalate.
I would advise buyers to go a step further and write a letter stating you do not know the seller or his family. As you mentioned, you were told he relocated due to a work transfer and you have never met him. State there is an apparent mistake in their verification process. Ask them to tell you who they believe you are related to in order to provide documentation that they are incorrect, and proceed with the sale. I would further state that the (attached) Arms Length Transaction Form was signed with full knowledge of the legal actions possible when falsely signed. I would have this notarized and forwarded by your agent to the listing agent.
While this will take a little effort on your part, it puts the issue back in the bank’s court and will be helpful for the escalation process. Good Luck!
I have not seen this, Sam. Have they told you whom they think you are related to?