WASHINGTON – April 14, 2011 – A new bill introduced into the U.S. House Tuesday would, if it becomes law, improve the process for approving short sales, bringing relief to distressed homeowners who can’t keep their homes and hope to avoid foreclosure.
The bill, supported by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), would impose a 45-day deadline on lenders to respond to short sale requests. The legislation – “The Prompt Decision for Qualification for Short Sale Act of 2011” – was offered in Congress by U.S. Reps. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) and Robert Andrews (D-N.J.).
“Realtors and consumers continue to raise issues about delays in the short sale process, because lenders are unable to decide whether to approve a short sale,” says NAR President Ron Phipps. “After many months of delays, and with no response from lenders, potential buyers lose patience and cancel their contracts, often resulting in the property entering foreclosure. A short sale minimizes the negative impact on sellers and generally costs the lender less than a foreclosure.”
NAR has pushed the lending industry to improve the short sale approval process, which represents about 13 percent of recent home sales, according to NAR data. Phipps praised Reps. Rooney and Andrews for their efforts on the bill and urged Congress to pass the bill quickly.
“As the leading advocate for homeownership and housing issues, Realtors want to help more homeowners avoid foreclosure by facilitating a short sale when a family is absolutely unable to keep their home; however, that can only happen if lenders and servicers approve short sale offers in a reasonable amount of time,” says Phipps. “Streamlining short sales transactions will reduce the amount of time it takes to sell the property, improve the likelihood that the transaction will close and reduce the overall number of foreclosures. This benefits sellers, lenders, buyers, and the entire community.”
© 2011 Florida Realtors®
The bill, supported by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), would impose a 45-day deadline on lenders to respond to short sale requests. The legislation – “The Prompt Decision for Qualification for Short Sale Act of 2011” – was offered in Congress by U.S. Reps. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) and Robert Andrews (D-N.J.).
“Realtors and consumers continue to raise issues about delays in the short sale process, because lenders are unable to decide whether to approve a short sale,” says NAR President Ron Phipps. “After many months of delays, and with no response from lenders, potential buyers lose patience and cancel their contracts, often resulting in the property entering foreclosure. A short sale minimizes the negative impact on sellers and generally costs the lender less than a foreclosure.”
NAR has pushed the lending industry to improve the short sale approval process, which represents about 13 percent of recent home sales, according to NAR data. Phipps praised Reps. Rooney and Andrews for their efforts on the bill and urged Congress to pass the bill quickly.
“As the leading advocate for homeownership and housing issues, Realtors want to help more homeowners avoid foreclosure by facilitating a short sale when a family is absolutely unable to keep their home; however, that can only happen if lenders and servicers approve short sale offers in a reasonable amount of time,” says Phipps. “Streamlining short sales transactions will reduce the amount of time it takes to sell the property, improve the likelihood that the transaction will close and reduce the overall number of foreclosures. This benefits sellers, lenders, buyers, and the entire community.”
© 2011 Florida Realtors®
Absolutely this should be done. Banks take their time and while they do that they put the buyers life on hold with no time frame and it hurts these good people.
ReplyDeleteThe REALTOR or Investor waste time a resources. Same thing with the bank. It makes not sense to me why a bank will waste time and SPEND money to get a file open.
It is wiser and saves time and money to move the properties faster. The FASTER they get rid of properties means the faster they can get back to makeing money instead of losing the the customers and investors money.