Elizabeth Weintraub • Sacramento Short Sale Agent • Land Park

I can hear the high-five slaps now. That's how I felt when I heard Chase Bank was going to Equator, but I had nobody to high-five but my cat. So, I tossed back a shot glass of diet coke, let out a whoop and slapped my desk. As a Sacramento short sale agent who has closed way too many of her fair share of Chase Bank short sales, I can hardly wait for Equator.

Yeah, I know everybody bitches about Chase Bank and short sales. They say Chase Bank takes too long, it loses paperwork, nobody returns calls, and it's a lousy short sale system. I don't disagree with that assessment. Chase is somewhat overwhelmed and understaffed, just like every other short sale bank. I tell buyer's agents it will be a 90-day to 120-day wait for short sale approval if Chase Bank is involved, and I'm usually right on the money. They take forever but a Chase Bank short sale, even a double Chase Bank short sale, will eventually close.

Like I wrote a while back about the worst thing to expect in a Chase Bank short sale, it's the system at fault and not the negotiator. I can't say that Chase Bank short sale negotiators are perky. It's the opposite. Most of them sound like they're dropping percodan. I imagine they are sitting in a small room, maybe 3-feet by 3-feet with a desk and a bare light bulb hanging overhead. This is where they also nap. Are they sleeping or awake when I talk to them? I do not know. Hard to tell.

I have a Sacramento short sale with Chase that was recently approved at an outrageous price. It was approved at this price because I asked the buyer to submit an offer at the preapproved price. It was the only way to get approval. The preapproved price is wrong. The BPO agent royally messed up the BPO. Probably doesn't know the neighborhood or maybe it was some newly licensed agent. But the BPO was off by $20,000.

After short sale approval, we submitted the buyer's appraisal. The appraisal was prepared by a professional and licensed appraiser independently hired by the buyer's bank. The appraisal, as expected, came in $20,000 lower than the approved price. We submitted it and asked for a revised approval letter. The negotiator said the investor rejected the appraisal. What? The appraisal has a case number assigned to it. It means any other FHA buyer for the next 6 months will get this appraisal. To reject the appraisal is to send the file to foreclosure.

Was this a ploy, I asked? Did the investor secretly desire foreclosure? Sometimes banks are paid more by the government to do a foreclosure. Or is the investor accusing of us shenanigans? Is the investor saying we manipulated or fixed the appraisal? Because that assumption would be insulting, grounds for a potential lawsuit, against the Code of Ethics and totally untrue. It's one or the other. So, if it's not because Chase Bank wants to go to foreclosure, then they better order a new BPO pronto and get this closed. I'll stake my reputation on it, I told him. Thankfully, the new BPO is being ordered next week.

Equator will solve the delays for Chase. But it's not gonna get rid of the inept BPO agents. That will continue to plague.

I've heard some short sale agents bad-mouthing Chase Bank because a Chase Bank short sale takes too long. In the overall scheme of things, taking too long isn't the worst thing a short sale bank can do. The worst thing a bank can do is reject the short sale. I have not had a rejected short sale with Chase Bank, knock on wood. In this profession, as a Sacramento short sale agent, it's not wise to never say never, though.

My average time with Chase is running about 120 days. I just closed a Chase short sale on a condo in Sacramento. I don't know why I take these condo short sales. They pay jack crap. I think I made about $1,100 on this last sale. Averaged out over 4 months, that amounts to $9 a day. Obviously, I don't sell short sales just for the money.

I took this short sale listing because it was referred to me by a client. I always take my client referrals. No matter what. It's a matter of principle. I can't ask a client to refer people to me and then reject them, sort of defeats the purpose of referrals. As a courtesy, I take the referral, regardless. You will never see me reject a seller who was referred to me. Ain't gonna happen.

A shot all of my photos in March. Uploaded the listing documents to DocuSign, put on a lockbox and, within a few weeks, we received a really good offer. Two days later, Chase Bank had the entire short sale package, complete with HUD. It took the bank about 10 days to assign a negotiator and schedule the BPO. However, by the end of April, Chase requested all new documents, a new HUD, a closing date of May 30th, and then asked us to redraw the entire contract because one of the sellers had married a few years ago. Chase Bank did not want the seller to sign with a married, legal name.

I love these HUD changes. If all else fails to close the short sale, point to the HUD and ask for a revision. I think that is the short sale negotiator creed. Must be in the Chase short sale handbook. The things negotiators demand are outlandish. They want a middle initial on the HUD. They want the ampersand changed to the word AND. Or they will demand the buyer's side be completed, when we don't have docs and can't really complete it. So, we make it up. HUDs are for the borrower, not the short sale bank. These negotiators have never even heard of RESPA.

By the end of May, escrow and I were still arguing with the negotiators at Chase Bank about the HUD. As usual, the negotiators could not understand that a seller credit on the HUD was not really a credit. It's shown as a credit because it's reflected on the GFE, but it's not. Chase promised us the approval letter was coming, and after several weeks it arrived. We were set to close escrow at the end of June.

What could go wrong now? Well, how about the buyer's loan went south? We started over. Removed one of the buyers from the contract, and resubmitted to Chase. Again, Chase kicked it out because it was confused over the HUD. I reminded Chase that it had already approved this file once. I again explained the HUD process. Meanwhile, the buyer slipped back into a coma, underwriting.

This buyer was in underwriting for more than 30 days. I kid you not. She was unconscious. It got to the point where I questioned the buyer's agent about where she found this mortgage loan officer. I accused her of finding him a Cracker Jack box. Say what you want about Wells Fargo loan reps, eventually they get the job done. Docs were ordered on July 29th. In title August 9th. Chase Bank gave us the short sale extension we needed, and this Sacramento short sale closed.

I continue to tell myself that the worst thing Chase Bank could do is reject the short sale. That sentiment, in a nutshell, is how I survive Sacramento short sales with Chase Bank. They do eventually close.

Before I jump right into talking about a short sale, let me give a little plug and share a tip with my readers, especially my older readers. You know, I wish somebody would publish a book for women about all the crap that can go wrong when you get older; so I could prepare for the inevitable in advance. It's not like I have a mother around to ask; I am an orphan.

The first thing to go is vision. I noticed this about 15 years ago, just before my 45th birthday. All of a sudden, the print on the back of canned goods had shrunk. Why were they doing this to me? I started holding reading material at arm's length and squinting. I was turning into Mr. Magoo. I even painted with nail polish little dots on my stove buttons so I'd know where the off setting was.

Although I type by touch, sometimes I look at my keyboard. The way these cheap-ass keyboards are manufactured today, the print on your keys will wear away before the keyboard ever bites the dust. I had purchased other sticky replacement keys, but the print on those rubbed off, too. Aramedia.com sells large print keyboard stickers. They aren't the cheap ones, either. I can finally see my keys without wearing my contact lenses or reading glasses.

See, it's the little things in life I embrace and relish. These are the things that make me the happiest. Another little thing is getting a release of liability on a Sacramento short sale. To many short sale sellers, this little thing is a huge, huge deal.  In the past, I didn't have any difficulty with Chase Bank or Chase Bank short sales. I'd simply push the negotiator and get a letter with a release of liability. But in short-sale land, things change every single day. What was true yesterday is not true today.

Lately, Chase Bank has been issuing approval letters that are preliminary approvals, just like Wells Fargo. Although, the last letter I received from Chase did not reserve the right to pursue a deficiency judgment, it also did not address a release of liability. It was ambiguous. Because banks have rights in short sales, I advised my clients to get a legal opinion. I can't give legal advice. I'm not a lawyer. I'm just a Sacramento short sale agent.

Chase Bank would not respond to my request. I tried talking to the negotiator, citing California Civil Code sections, but it was like talking to a wall. She told me Chase would not pursue but Chase would also NOT put that promise in writing. Moreover, on top of that, she couldn't guarantee what the investors would do. So, the lawyer wrote a letter to Chase last week. Lawyers have power. I love lawyers. Yesterday, I received a revised short sale approval letter from this very negotiator clearly stating the following:

"JPMorgan Chase Bank agrees to release it's [sic] interest in the above collateral and forgive any deficiency balances upon receipt of $XXX,XXX.XX in certified US funds."

It just doesn't get any better than that.

Photo: Big Stock Photo