Courtesy of The Financial, here is some potentially positive news coming out of Bank of America: a new Short Sale executive has been hired!
The good news is that Matt Vernon, the new Short Sale and REO exec, recognizes the volume of short sales that Bank of America deals with. Among other things, he is charted with:
…(Matt will) implement initiatives to manage and streamline the bank’s efforts to use short sales and other property liquidation tools to prevent foreclosures and oversee the management and marketing of properties in the bank’s real estate owned portfolio.
His own quote shows his commitment to improving the process:
“The distressed economy is creating extraordinary volume on mortgage servicers in short sales and post-foreclosure REO activities,” Vernon noted. “We know we need to improve processes and efficiencies in these areas. We have begun taking productive steps, and I look forward to working with real estate professionals, customers, investors and our team on ways we can accelerate that progress.”
We have talked in these posts before about the volume issues that Bank of America faces, and the frustration of many who handle Short Sales with this lender. It’s good to see the new guy on board is making statements right out of the gate addressing the concerns that many have. It’s also encouraging that he specifically mentions the customer base he hopes to work with – real estate professionals, and investors.
The final blurb about him:
“Throughout his 15 years with Bank of America, Matt has demonstrated tremendous acumen in strategic planning, performance, customer focus and other areas that will serve him well in his new position,” said Rebecca Mairone, national servicing executive for Bank of America Home Loans. “This gives him a clear understanding of realty markets and the real estate professionals who play such an important role in short sales and REO marketing.”
We tried to do some research on whether this was a newly created position; or if it wasn’t, who was running it previously, but didn’t come up with anything. It’s going to be particularly interesting to see if this lives up the promises made. Bank of America has built itself quite a reputation in the REO / Foreclosure / Short Sale marketplace for being notoriously difficult and time-consuming to work with; so ultimately any news of an improvement or growth in the staff or management should be a positive sign.
What are your thoughts?