RISMEDIA, September 20, 2010—Homeowners who are underwater with their mortgage may find that relief is on the way from a bill strongly supported by the National Association of Realtors that would impose a deadline on lenders to respond to short sale requests.
The legislation, H.R. 6133, “Prompt Decision for Qualification of Short Sale Act of 2010,” was offered recently in Congress by U.S. Reps. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) and Tom Rooney (R-Fla.). The bill would require lenders to respond to consumer short sale requests within 45 days.
“The short sale, which requires lender approval, is an important instrument for homeowners who owe more than their home is worth,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of a real estate company in Tucson, Ariz. “While the lending community has worked to improve the size and training of their short sales staffs, they still have a long way to go on improving response times.”
“As the leading advocate for homeownership issues, NAR believes that quicker attention to the short sale process is vital to help homeowners who are underwater and their communities, as well as the nation’s economy,” said Golder.
“Unfortunately, homeowners who need to execute a short sale are severely hampered because lenders (loan servicers) are unable to decide whether to approve a short sale within a reasonable amount of time. Potential home buyers are walking away from purchasing short sale property because the lender has taken many months and still not responded to their request for an approval of a proposed short sale price. Many consumers have mentioned that the delay in short sale price approval exceeds 90 days, and in many cases never arrives,” Golder said.
She commended Reps. Andrews and Rooney for their efforts on the bill and urged Congress to pass the bill quickly.
For more information, visit www.realtor.org.
