Courtesy of The Palm Beach Post, comes some fresh news for Florida, offering up to $20,000 to short sale vs. foreclosure.
The limited time offer has received little promotion from the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, which sent emails to select Florida Realtors earlier this week outlining basic details of the plan.
Only homeowners whose short sales are submitted for approval to Bank of America before Nov. 30 will qualify. The homes must have no offers on them already and the closing must occur before Aug. 31, 2012.
This signals, in our opinion, the pressure they are feeling in Florida as the housing market continues to languish and the continued pressure to clear up these loans that are facing imminent foreclosure. Other interesting facts in the article include the fact that the current foreclosure timeline is almost 676 days – almost two years!
“I think this is a positive sign that the bank is being creative to try and help homeowners and get things moving,” said Paul Baltrun, who works with real estate and mortgages at the Law Office of Paul A. Krasker in West Palm Beach. “With real estate attorneys handling these cases, you’re talking two, three, four years before there’s going to be a resolution in a foreclosure.”
Guy Cecala, chief executive officer and publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, called the short sale payout a “bribe.”
“You can call it a relocation fee, but it’s basically a bribe to make sure the borrower leaves the house in good condition and in an orderly fashion,” Cecala said. “It makes good business sense considering you may have to put $20,000 into a foreclosed home to fix it up.”
Bank of America says that if the program shows promise in Florida, it could be expanded to other states. Other companies, including Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase also have similar programs.
More details:
Bank of America’s plan excludes Ginnie Mae, Federal Housing Administration and VA loans.
Similar to the federal Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, or HAFA, which offers $3,000 in relocation assistance, the Bank of America program may also waive a homeowner’s deficiency judgment at closing.
A deficiency judgment in a short sale is basically the difference between what the house sells for and what is still owed on the loan.
HAFA, which began in April 2010, has seen limited success with just 15,531 short sales completed nationwide through August.
In our opinion, this is just again a math decision a bank makes that falls in line with the bank’s decision. How does the bank minimize their lost? Short sale with a $20k kicker; or something else?
Post your thoughts in the comments!
