Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lori Young on March 3, 2010 at 7:55am

Seems that would be the smart way. I spent an hour on the phone today addressing this same issue. You will have to have that file closed out and start a new file. You will also have to have BOA email the borrower to do the borrower log in part all over. You would think you could just submit a new offer on the offer bar but this is not authorized. We could before but now we can not. Good luck. Make sure you give BOA the borrowers email address. I also ask for them to send the "what is the color of your first car question with the answer red" this seems to be a big issue for the borrowers. If the borrowers have all the docs saved in PDF, should be no problem. The borrower will have to answer the same questions and upload current docs. Good luck. By the way I have a great supervisor Equator phone and email if you need a good contact. Email me at [email protected]

Permalink Reply by Anna Mackey SDHS on March 3, 2010 at 8:10am

Lori, I was just told by a supervisor at BOA that it is no longer mandatory for the seller to call in to create an account and email / password in equator... he told me it is now OPTIONAL and only IF the homeowner WANTS access to his equator short sale account to keep tabs on the process. Have you heard of this?

Permalink Reply by Blair Newman on March 3, 2010 at 8:14am

Thanks Lori, that is not what I was hoping for as everything is in place and the trustee sale date around the corner. I will see what I find out today when I talk to them about the new offer and see if I get anything different. It makes perfect sense to leave everything in place except for the new offer and buyer/lender information. Doesn't make sense to start at the beginning after it has already been approved, we have done that once already back in October but not through the Equator system. Thanks for your help. I may try to hit you up on the Supervisor if I can't get any good answers this afternoon.

Lori Young said:

Seems that would be the smart way. I spent an hour on the phone today addressing this same issue. You will have to have that file closed out and start a new file. You will also have to have BOA email the borrower to do the borrower log in part all over. You would think you could just submit a new offer on the offer bar but this is not authorized. We could before but now we can not. Good luck. Make sure you give BOA the borrowers email address. I also ask for them to send the "what is the color of your first car question with the answer red" this seems to be a big issue for the borrowers. If the borrowers have all the docs saved in PDF, should be no problem. The borrower will have to answer the same questions and upload current docs. Good luck. By the way I have a great supervisor Equator phone and email if you need a good contact. Email me at [email protected]

Permalink Reply by Blair Newman on March 3, 2010 at 8:18am

I don't know if it is "Mandatory" or not but I know that through the BofA system that they have the borrower set up, they have to submit the needed information required from the bank, if they don't sign up I don't see how they would be able to get that information since it is not an Agent task on the system but rather a borrower task that they must fulfill. An idea if they don't have access to e-mail for some reason is to set up an email account for them so that you can help facilitate what is needed from the bank with the borrowers permission.
Anna Mackey SDHS said:

Lori, I was just told by a supervisor at BOA that it is no longer mandatory for the seller to call in to create an account and email / password in equator... he told me it is now OPTIONAL and only IF the homeowner WANTS access to his equator short sale account to keep tabs on the process. Have you heard of this?

Permalink Reply by Anna Mackey SDHS on March 3, 2010 at 8:22am

Well, if we are delegated by the homeowner and the info could be derived from their financial statement, wouldn't that be OK?

Blair Newman said:

I don't know if it is "Mandatory" or not but I know that through the BofA system that they have the borrower set up, they have to submit the needed information required from the bank, if they don't sign up I don't see how they would be able to get that information since it is not an Agent task on the system but rather a borrower task that they must fulfill. An idea if they don't have access to e-mail for some reason is to set up an email account for them so that you can help facilitate what is needed from the bank with the borrowers permission.
Anna Mackey SDHS said:

Lori, I was just told by a supervisor at BOA that it is no longer mandatory for the seller to call in to create an account and email / password in equator... he told me it is now OPTIONAL and only IF the homeowner WANTS access to his equator short sale account to keep tabs on the process. Have you heard of this?

Permalink Reply by Craig Baranowski on March 3, 2010 at 11:30am

Blair -

I have yet to get into this issue with Equator. As you know with BofA each short sale approval is specific to a unique buyer. Sometimes you have to start completely over...however before you do anything make sure you update all of the financials for your seller. This prevents the file from getting closed completely due to an aging issue with the file and you can bypass the phase 1 and get right to a phase 2 negotiator.

Permalink Reply by Wanda martinez on March 3, 2010 at 1:23pm

Dear Blair,
This same issue happened to me about 2 wks ago. and the last negotiator said that she is not responsible for that file since it is a new buyer. However, the turn around in the Equator system was only 2 wks and today I got a response back saying that we will close by the end of the month. I just submitted the same file to the Equator but put an ALERT on the comments about this file been approved already, the name of the old negotiator, copy of the old approval letter and what happened. It was picked up in less than 72hrs and the new negotiator has given us the counter (which it was the same as before). The e-mail received was the final approval. So, this system seems to be working so far at least for this kind of cases... Good luck,
Wanda Martinez -

Permalink Reply by Blair Newman on March 4, 2010 at 5:57am

Thanks Wanda! I was told yesterday to submit the new offer on the system and found under tasks that I can upload the new document. Great idea on also noting the previous negotiator as well as the approval letter to help expedite the process. So I will try what they tell me and see if that works. I will make sure to add those notations as you had mentioned. Thanks for the heads up!

Wanda martinez said:

Dear Blair,
This same issue happened to me about 2 wks ago. and the last negotiator said that she is not responsible for that file since it is a new buyer. However, the turn around in the Equator system was only 2 wks and today I got a response back saying that we will close by the end of the month. I just submitted the same file to the Equator but put an ALERT on the comments about this file been approved already, the name of the old negotiator, copy of the old approval letter and what happened. It was picked up in less than 72hrs and the new negotiator has given us the counter (which it was the same as before). The e-mail received was the final approval. So, this system seems to be working so far at least for this kind of cases... Good luck,
Wanda Martinez -

Permalink Reply by Blair Newman on March 4, 2010 at 9:11am

Question for you, I have conflicting stories each time I call.... Please help. Did you go into Equaotor and "Initiate New Short Sale" or did you have to wait 5-7 business days for them to cancel the existing one before you got the new offer into the system. I have been told two different ways. I was also told a third way to go in and just submit the new offer only but I don't think they were correct as no one else has been able to confirm that. Although there is a way to do it if you go to the Library section and then click on Tasks there is a place there to submit new documents. Don't know if it would work though. I think that is what the other short sale support rep was talking about but then again, maybe not, just don't want to lose any time as you know!

Wanda martinez said:

Dear Blair,
This same issue happened to me about 2 wks ago. and the last negotiator said that she is not responsible for that file since it is a new buyer. However, the turn around in the Equator system was only 2 wks and today I got a response back saying that we will close by the end of the month. I just submitted the same file to the Equator but put an ALERT on the comments about this file been approved already, the name of the old negotiator, copy of the old approval letter and what happened. It was picked up in less than 72hrs and the new negotiator has given us the counter (which it was the same as before). The e-mail received was the final approval. So, this system seems to be working so far at least for this kind of cases... Good luck,
Wanda Martinez -

Permalink Reply by Del on March 10, 2010 at 7:03am

Need feedback on this; I opened a new file under Equator system, Seller has completed their task and now all I need to do is upload the actual offer documents. After a week of dragging their feet it turns out the buyer is no longer interested in purchasing the home and now I have the dredded red color on my task log for not uploading the docs. Should I just upload the file and move forward until I get assigned to a negotiator or should I let Equator know to close out this file? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks

Permalink Reply by Blair Newman on March 10, 2010 at 7:59am

Del,
Since you have not yet received an approval or even assigned a negotiator, call short sale support and make sure to talk to someone that has access to the Equator system (not all support people do). Once you have someone that is explain the situation. From my experience with them each buyer is a brand NEW file so that file in my situation had to be closed out and they refer to it as "Buyer Walked". I immediately initiated a new short sale on Equator and they sent me the same new tasks over again. (A pain but if you can do it right the first time and make sure on the supporting offer documents that you match it exactly to the HUD-1) Counter your offer back with no termite, no home warranty and 5% commission total. (That's what they hit me back. They gave a $100 credit for termite report) I was told by someone else to check to see if the borrower needs to set up a new account through BofA because they may need to send over their documents again (pay stubs, bank accounts, hardship etc.)
I know it sucks to start over but they will need to close out the old file with the buyer that "Walked". I wouldn't wait for an approval because you will need to start all over anyways once you get the approval with a new buyer and submit offer etc. I would also call in 2-3 times and ask the same questions because I found I would get different answers each time. I know they have a lot of new people working there but they have some people that really know what is going on and can help you. Hope that helps. Bottom line they are getting it figured out finally and becoming much more efficient through the Equaotr system. I like having the control of being able to upload the documents myself instead of sending over a "Blind Fax" and who knows who is getting it and where it is going. Great system and hope it will expedite the process for the banks, the borrowers and us!
Del said:

Need feedback on this; I opened a new file under Equator system, Seller has completed their task and now all I need to do is upload the actual offer documents. After a week of dragging their feet it turns out the buyer is no longer interested in purchasing the home and now I have the dredded red color on my task log for not uploading the docs. Should I just upload the file and move forward until I get assigned to a negotiator or should I let Equator know to close out this file? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks

Permalink Reply by Paola Martinsen on March 14, 2010 at 10:06am

Unfortunately, you have to start over on Equator. If the BPO is within 3 months or the appraisal is was done within 6 months you wont need a new one. It should be quicker the second time around. You can always contact the negotiator and see if he can help you push the file along quicker.