I checked in with our negotiator, Danielle. She tried to deceive us. She said the first letter Wells Fargo issues is the “Conditional Approval”. Later on, when we’re close to closing, Wells Fargo will issue “Final Approval” that waives the deficiency. Doubtful.

I had many conversations with her thereafter explaining that we would not proceed unless the deficiency waiver was in writing. She repeatedly responded, “The deficiency is waived; the waiver will be in the final approval.”

20 days later,  Danielle finally admitted that the deficiency was not waived.

This is fine, really; we expected this. Second lien holders often require cash from the sellers to get the deficiency waived. But Wells Fargo lied about the deficiency and claimed it was waived when it wasn’t. Wells Fargo’s plan was to wait until we’re ready to close, then demand cash from the seller or a commission contribution from the agents. They wanted us to be desperate to close; they wanted to create stress. We prefer a conversation, a negotiation, about deficiency waivers. Wells Fargo prefers to lie and stall for 20 days. Sigh.

The timeframe was 2.5 months from the time we received the offer to getting the approval. Bofa countered, the buyer accepted, and then the investor reviewed for 3 weeks.

The second closing was in stark contrast and was one of our quickest. It took 2.5 months from the time we go the offer to completing closing. GMAC was the first and second lien holder, though the liens were processed separately. Closing got a bit off schedule, but GMAC provided extensions, so everything closed smoothly.

In November, Bofa said the short sale price must be $475k.

We submitted an offer at $475k. 

Bofa, without doing a new appraisal, decided the price must be $520k. When I inquired about this discrepancy, I received a ridiculous but honest response:

“The value has changed since our conversation.”

Hmm.. in 2011, Bofa stock plummeted below $5. In 2012, the price inched past $7. Is this improvement because, on paper, their assets suddenly increased in value?

Either Bank of America has the memory of a 3 year old and they don’t realize you can write things down so you don’t forget, or they think the Seattle market has appreciated 17% in 3 weeks.

File is with BofA, received an offer, file gets rejected because the buyer and seller have the same last name. BofA claims there is a “potential” that the parties are related so the transaction cannot be completed.

We resubmit the file with the signed arms length affidavit by both parties. The affidavit requires the parties to not be family or business partners. We also submit documentation that the buyer and seller were once married, but divorced 7 years ago and it is a coincidence that the buyer wants this property that his ex-wife purchased after they married. They rejected again saying that there is the “potential” that the parties are related.

We’ve tried to explain to BofA that a divorce means the parties are not married and not family, that is unless it is Bof A policy not to recognize divorce.

So, here it is up the readers. Is BofA:

1) Declaring that King County and Washington State no longer get to determine who is married or not, and that Bank of America has the final say?

2) Trying to push their religious values on society and BofA doesn’t believe couples should divorce, so Bank of America won’t let them?

3) Has added a requirement that the Pope approval short sales, so we’re going to need an annulment signed by the Pope to keep this thing moving?

They’re married??? Yeah, Married!

6 month timeline:

With our first offer, Bofa countered beyond what the buyer could pay. They said, “Go find a higher buyer.” I asked how long we had to market the property, what happens now that the first deal of the Coop fell through, does the file go to DIL after 120 days, etc. No response. I requested an approved price so that we could market the property to their liking (per program guidelines). Nada.

We used Bofa’s last counteroffer as the list price, $150k. We got a full-price offer and submitted it. They still countered. First at $155k, then $151k. We went back and forth over that $1,000 difference, and eventually they accepted $150k.

The course of this short sale was like any other short sale. At no point were the rules different because it was a “Coop.” A key part of the Coop is the market price. Step 6 stipulates: “Bank of America works with you to determine a list price so you can market the property effectively.” Not true.

We received the approval today. It looks like Bofa’s usual letter. There’s no mention of the Coop program, and the seller received no relocation funds. Either the program doesn’t exist or Bofa drops participants arbitrarily and without notice.

So my question is, if I wasn’t persistently hassling Bank of America, what do they do? Are they ping-pong champions? Maybe superb poker players? At some point, procrastination must get boring! blerg.

It’s happened twice now:

1. offer is submitted to Bank of America
2. Bofa counters higher than the buyer will pay
3. property goes back on the market at Bofa’s counter price
4. offer is submitted that meets Bofa’s counter
5. Bofa counters higher again