Recently, I had a client who was waiting on a short sale response from BofA. We were only a few thousand away from a previous approval given months ago so we figured some minor countering would be in order and the approval letter would be on it’s way. That’s when things started getting weird….

Of course, during a non-HAFA short sale the foreclosure clock keeps ticking. This was expected and the buyer found a Notice of Sale attached to the door while showing family the neighborhood.  With a sale date within two weeks the listing agent started bugging the negotiator to postpone the sale. A few emails back and forth through equator and the negotiator had confirmed that there wasn’t going to be a sale. With most servicers the postponement can’t be made until with 5-7 days prior to the sale date so two days out the listing agent confirms with the negotiator again. I know that communication from loss mitigation and asset services is poor but two confirmations led me to believe that the asset department got the memo.  Poor assumption… 
One day out from the sale date we receive a counter. We were expecting this but not the terms that came along with it. The negotiator had countered at 2.5 times the amount of their previous approval. Stunned the listing agent began trying to contact loss mitigation rep without any success. Without any knowledge to the validity of the counter the buyers counter back with their original price and terms.

Fast forward to the day of the “postponed” sale. I checked the bid posting list and no bid amount was specified for the property. Most of the time this means it’s going to be postponed. My business partner was heading down to the courthouse to pick up a potential flip so I went along to hear those golden words, “Postponed due to beneficiary request or mutual agreement”.  After about an hour of waiting on sale updates the home is called. Waiting for those magical words I hear…. Property XYZ to be sold with an opening bid of $XXX,XXX (much lower than my client’s offer).  Floored I email the listing agent to make sure there was a postponement. He assured me there was and tried to contact the negotiator again. Of course, his phone calls and emails were not returned. And that was it. The property was sold to the highest bidder.

I understand that a short sale is not an entitlement and the bank has the right to foreclosure if all legal paperwork has been done but let this serve as a warning. What they say is not always what they do.