Categories: Blog

Dealing with Banks on Loan Modifications and Short Sales Requires Patience

The Loan Modification Process

“We need additional documents for review!” How many times have I heard this request from Chase Bank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, GMAC, and other lenders in my efforts to negotiate a short sale or loan modification? Indeed, this is a frustrating request, as it most often follows a submission from me to the lender of extensive financial information obtained from the client. Needed for consideration for the HAMP or HAFA programs, as well as conventional loan modifications, are authorizations to release information, bank statements, tax returns, hardship letters, full financial disclosures and any other documents that the lender’s underwriter decides to require.

Challenges Modifying Home Loans

One of the biggest challenges in working with the banks, financial institutions and mortgage companies to modify home mortgages is to keep the information that they have for review current. Since it sometimes takes quite a long period of time for the loan underwriters to review the documents that I submit, it takes some document and file management practices to be sure the information is current.

I have had success in instituting a procedure in which I get an email to remind me when documents are expiring on a particular file. This way, I can contact the client and obtain the appropriately dated information to forward to the lender, thereby keeping their information fresh so the dreaded request does not come! Nevertheless, dealing with these banks on short sale and loan modification requests requires a great deal of patience from the homeowner. As a Denver real estate attorney‘s office, we are experiencing a good amount of success in getting these approved, but it just takes time – and a few well written letters to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.

Linda Zimmerman
Paralegal at the Law Offices of Eric L. Nesbitt, P.C.

Phone 303-741-2354
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