Previously, I wrote about the short sale process, and how sometimes it is a real circus in trying to deal with a bank. See related articles listed below.

     I sent in a complete short sale package on a property.  In fact it was 81 pages long.  That was with condensing pictures to more than one on a page.  To sum up that part of the story, the bank would not accept my offer.  They countered  at a near retail price which did not take into account the condition of the property.  They were unwilling to budge.  End of story.  Or one would think so.

     Instead, this is what happened.  The home was foreclosed on by being presented at the auction on the courthouse steps.  It was not purchased by a third party bidder, so it went back to the bank.  Thus, there is no longer a first or second mortgage on the house and it is classed as REO, owned by the bank.  Fine!  Now the house is in limbo until they get around to winterizing it, and listing it with an agent.  No one can even buy the house until they get around to listing it.  It is open to damage, like the pipes freezing, and vandalism.

      Who knows how long this will take, because the bank doesn't even know they own it yet.  The sale took place on the second of January, and on the 17th of January they started to call me, asking me to make all the back payments on the second.  The same bank owned the second, that owned the first.  But, of course there isn't a mortgage on the house now. 

     What makes it worse, is all their customer service people are in India.  The customer service reps do a good job.  They have not made the decision to call me.  They have been told to call me.

     I was told they did not have a working number for the owner, so they had my number, and called me, because I needed to pay $856 on back payments on the second.  When I explained that I did not own the property that they did, because no one bought it at auction, so they own it.  They responded, that they were not talking about the first, they were talking about the second.  When I told them there wasn't a second or a first on the house because they owned it, and the second was wiped out, they were totally confused.  The rep said he would make a note of what I said and that would take care of that.

     Oh Yeah!  It took care of it for that day, but they continued to call through the weekend.  I thought because it was a weekend the message for them to call had not been taken out of the computer.  It stopped on Monday and Tuesday of the following week.  Then on Wed. afternoon I received another of those calls.  I asked to talk to a supervisor in the United States.  He seemed afraid to do so.  I assured him I was not going to complain about him, because I know someone had told him to call me.  I was transferred to his immediate supervisor, and I asked if she was located in the United States.  She said she wasn't, and I told her I had asked for the United States supervisor.  This call had been the sixth or seventh call.  Although this was only the second call I talked to anyone.  I got a person in the United States, in their Florida office.  Thinking this person would have some knowledge of the laws, and system in the U. S.  I explained the entire situation.  Explaining that I was only a person who had made an offer on the house as a short sale, but the offer was turned down.  That the house was auctioned, and there were no buyers, so they were the owners.  The response was, but the second is in collection.  I asked her, "Do you know the laws of the United States?"  There is no second.  When the first is auctioned, the second is wiped out.  Besides that, ——— —-, (Name of Mortgage Co.), owns this house.  She quickly told me she would ask someone, put me on hold, then came back saying they said I would not get any more phone calls.  That was Wed. the 23rd.  So far, so good.

     I hope they have now figured out that they own the house.  In this time of mortgage crisis and so many foreclosures, this is not the time to be confused.  Disorganization, and confusion will lead to more of a downfall for this company that is still not working as a team.

     I will update you on how long it takes for this house to go on the market as an REO.  I may make another offer, but it will be much lower than before.

Related Articles:

It Time For the Short Sale Circus to Begin!

Increase Your Income With Short Sales

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