Well, Bank of America is at it again!  I have a property listed for sale as a short sale, with BofA as the first lienholder.  It took some time for BofA to let me know that a company names Seneca Servicing was handling the document collection & review.  On 6/26/14 I received a call from the person assigned to the file who said that they needed a letter of explanation about my seller's transfer.  That letter was uploaded to Equator on 6/27/14 at 1:13 pm.  I sent a message to the person at Seneca Servicing that this letter was in Equator.  On 6/30/14 I received a message through Equator that they had declined the short sale for "missing documents".  I promptly sent a message to the person at Seneca Servicing asking what documents they were missing and attaching all the documents with that email.  I heard absolutely nothing from them.  I then called and left a message - again, nothing!  I called on 7/1 and left a message - and again, nothing!  Today I get a message to call Bank of America customer care - only to be told that they are now getting ready to Service Release the file to a brand new company!  The buyers have given us until the 18th of July or they are walking!  So thanks to Bank of America and the person at Seneca Servicing not looking at the documents that were uploaded to Equator, this buyer will now be walking and we will have to get a new contract and start all over!  And, oh by the way, I again tried to get in touch with the person at Seneca Servicing - again, not reachable!  Even tried her manager - again, not reachable!

Any suggestions as to who should I go to from this point on would be great!  I am frustrated with Bank of America!  I even tried to call the guy from Bank of America's Social Media department that had called me a few weeks ago when I wrote something on this site - and he has not returned my phone calls!  

I am beginning to believe that Bank of America is talking like they want to help homeowners complete a short sale, but apparently, it does not appear that they truly do want homeowners to complete a short sale!

Thanks!

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Same old dirty tricks. Read an article where CFPB is investigating this practice and the practices of the "non regulated" "non-banking" entity receiving. Definitely file the complaint with the CFPB

That may be the route I may have to go.  I am going to file the complaint with CFPB - maybe that will get some reaction!  Thanks for the suggestion!

The Buyer's date of July 18th is unreasonable.  Someone needs to set their expectation that 90+ days is normal IF the file remains with the same servicer.  In this environment, it's not unusual for a file to be service released again and again. Record ALL telephone calls - put ALL messages in Equator - even just to confirm the discussion of your telephone call.  Keep good records and notes.

Best of luck ! 

Thanks Thom.  The contract actually was fully executed around the 3rd week of May.  So they have given us a reasonable amount of time to get the approval.  However, it took over a week to find out who to send the contract to, since I could not upload it into Equator (got a message saying that the loan # was already active in Equator) and then I got the run around from Bank of America as to who the company was doing the review on behalf of Bank of America!  So we lost about a week or so trying to get that done, then we uploaded all the documents they requested - the final request was to have a letter of explanation for the owner's transfer to Japan.  That was requested on June 26 and uploaded on June 27 - and then the short sale declined for missing documents on June 30!!!  So I am very frustrated!  And now buyers are threatening to walk from this contract - and BofA is saying that the file is going to be service released on July 15!  Not sure if I should even try to go ahead and resubmit everything since we have all the documents and see if in a 2 week period of time we can get an approval!  Would you suggest doing that?

Hi Barbara -  If the Buyers are paying cash and can close within a week, then yes.  If they need 30 - 45 days to close then no - unless you can get BofA / whomever the new servicer is to stay any further service releases so you can get it closed.  Make sure you have a 100% complete package with all updated financials, etc. from the Seller.  This is getting to be like "walking a tightrope without a net" !

The worst of it is - we (agents / brokers) tend to carry the load of the worrying more than the Seller does! 

If this is a work relocation, is his company helping?

Barbara,

If you have a twitter account you can tweet for help to @BofA_Help and put 'Need help with BofA short sale. PM me for my phone #.'

Someone will respond to you depending where you are, in a few hours or by tomorrow morning.

Linda

Thanks Linda.  I have already tweeted on Twitter - got a reply back that they would get in touch with me today..  I am waiting on their call.

It's unfortunate but this is happening a lot with B of A and them service releasing loans it's happened to me with my last 3.  It's a nightmare for sure.  I've gone the twitter route and there is nothing that can be done when it comes to service release.  The only way that it would be held back is if you have an approved short sale and you are in escrow.  I would suggest getting all the info you can now about the company it's going to so that you are ready to go once they have the loan details up and running.  This will also include a new LOA for 3rd party.  Sending positive thoughts...

Thanks Patsy.  I have until July 15 when the service release happens.  BofA said to start sending them the documents.  Interesting thing is that the servicer they are servicing releasing the file to is the same lender who holds the 2nd.  But they are not doing anything about approving the 2nd until they get the approval of the 1st.  Question:  do you know if the appraisal that was done for BofA only a few weeks ago will be good for the new servicer or will they be doing a new appraisal?  I don't know if I should try to re-initiate a new short sale today and try to see if I can get an approval by July 15, since I have all the documents, or if I should hold off until they do the service release - assuming that the calls to the Office of the President, the manager of the person I have been dealing with at Seneca Servicing, the twitter message - assuming none of those things work to get us an approval.  You are right, it is a nightmare!

The process will more than likely have to start all over.  Each servicer has their own way of doing things.  Keep in mind that when B of A releases the loan on the 15th it probably will take till the end of the month to get the file uploaded to the new one can see it.  Who has the 2nd?  I have found that if you keep the buyer in the loop and explain the process to them they will hang in there.  

I am so sorry to hear of your troubles. Ordinarily, B of A short sales are fairly straight forward. The third-party negotiators can make the process simple or horrid, it's like a 50 / 50 chance. Lately, as soon as B of A hears a file is headed for short sale, though, it dumps the loan to an outside servicer. It's not you. It's all of them.

Sorry for your troubles. Typically in a situation like this we would reach out to our escalation contacts at BOA and ask them to work the file instead of the 3rd party vendor. In regards to the service release date, when is that set for? If the short sale isn't approved there likely is not a way to request that the servicing rights are retained. If the short sale is approved then you can request that they retain the servicing rights and let you close, but a request like this is not always approved.

If you need anything do not hesitate to reach out to me as my door is always open.


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