Many of those who have attempted to purchase short sales understand that the name is not indicative of a quick sale. In fact, short sales have been known to take 3-6 months while the lien holder(s) attempt to funnel through as many approvals as they can. Well, the reality of this long wait is that many buyers can not hold out that long and look for other homes to purchase. I've been on the seller side of a short sale and Bank of America took so long to respond that we were in and out of escrow seven times because the buyers could not wait.
Well, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now requiring lenders to make a decision no more than 60 days after receiving an offer. The regulator for Fannie and Freddie, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said that this is a step to"develop enhanced and aligned strategies for facilitating short sales, deeds-in-lieu and deeds-for-lease in order to help more homeowners avoid foreclosure." Additionally, if a loan servicer makes a counteroffer, the borrower is expected to respond within five business days. The servicer must then respond within 10 business days of receiving the borrower's response.
The new short sale timeline will take effect this June.
