If you are an agent who is just beginning to work short sales, congratulations! You have joined those forward-thinking individuals who realize that short sales are THE transaction of the next few years.
Well, if you haven’t gotten a lien holder approval letter yet (or if you have only gotten a few), I’d like to share a little bit of wisdom:
Obtaining approval letters is stressful. Obtaining approval letters takes time-sometimes so much time that everything else in your schedule goes by the wayside. Sometimes we have to beg, plead, offer our first born in exchange for the approval letter.
Sometimes that letter just comes through the fax machine unannounced.
No matter how you get your approval letter, one thing is for sure: you must check and double check all the details of that letter immediately upon receipt. Never assume that the letter is correct-that it has the correct name or the buyer or the seller, that it has the correct loan number or net amount due lender. You must carefully check all of this before moving forward. These letters frequently contain errors, so your attention to detail is vital at this stage of the game.
Every time-every single time-I receive an approval letter I do a happy dance. I’ve done a lot of happy dances-over 300 last year. For some reason, I do not heed my own warnings. Then, a little bit later, I sit down and check it out-only to learn of an error or a correction that needs to be made.
Congratulations on any approval letter that you have and/or will receive. But, do not pull out those dancing shoes until you have checked that you have gotten what you need.
Short Sale Expeditor
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Great points Melissa.
Once I triple check I conference in everyone involved and make sure they understand each detail as well to try and cut down on the “you didn’t tell me” phone calls.
Had the same thing happen and had to have the approval letter revised five times. Sellers name, address and loan numbers were repeatedly incorrect.
I have a situation right now where the selling agent received the lienholder approval (YAHOO!) but is refusing to provide that letter to my lender – she cites legal implications with the personal / private info contained on the letter. She indicates the form 90SS has always been sufficient for lenders to underwrite. The lender is refusing to go forward with underwriting until they get that letter. The seller finally sent over a copy of the letter with sensitive information blocked out and the lender (BECU) now refuses to accept that due to potential fraud implications becuase information is blocked…. HELP!!! by the way we’re up against a deadline as the approval is only good for 20 more days and counting. Does any of this make sense?? Both sides are saying “this has never been an issue”. I’m now scrambling checking with other lenders. There is ZERO information on this scenario anywhere out on the web. Any insight would be great!
Once in a blue moon, this can be a problem. Why don’t you call around to other lenders and ask how they would resolve this issue?
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