Short Sale Tip of the Week

Submitted by Jim McNinch of Trademark Loss Mitigation

On this week’s Short Sale Tip, we cover how to escalate a Bank of America short sale file to a supervisor. On this deal BAC closed our file because they had a malfunction in their Equator.com system.

We entered the short sale into Equator (the online system used by Bank of America and GMAC to upload and manage short sales). We did everything by the book: all documents had been loaded into Equator and confirmed, and all required tasks were completed and verified. However, we “red flagged” the file after we didn’t hear anything from the short sale department. What next?

Sometimes the best way to get things done is to call. We got a hold of BAC’s Short Sale Support to find the file had been closed because of missing documents. Missing documents?? Even though Equator showed everything loaded, apparently, (or so they said) a couple of the docs didn’t show on their end. (Right!) Worse, we were told we would have to start the file over again.

This is unacceptable. Either she rectified the problem with me on the phone or we needed to speak to a supervisor and would wait as long as it took. So we waited, and waited, and waited.

After finally connecting with the supervisor and after much discussion, we go her to agree to escalate the issue and send a formal request to the corporate office of the President. At this point in the game, it is very important for us to again outline the issues very specifically and in chronological order. Lenders do not react to emotion but to facts.

Although we had to resubmit the missing files, we did have an approval the following week. You know what they say: the squeaky wheel gets the oil!  

Take Aways:

1. Don’t rely on Equator for all communication. Take the initiative and call BAC when necessary.
2. When necessary, copy the supervisor on e-mails posted on Equator – but don’t abuse it.
3. Have your facts and dates in front of you and organized when communicating with the supervisor or above. Banks deal with facts and numbers.
4. Always follow through with expectations – yours and BAC’s. If the file exceeds a reasonable time to get to the next level – escalate.
5. Having done 100s of short sales, I am convinced that a calm but persistent and professional approach works far better than an emotional one. 
6. Final note:  If the seller has a FHA loan, it can not be submitted through Equator.  You will need to call BAC to find out where to send the file.

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Connect with Trademark Loss Mitigation:

Jim McNinch
(832)330-4588
jim@trademarklossmitigation.com

Ali Kennedy
(281)296-3124
ali@trademarklossmitigation.com