Everybody has their own way of dealing with stress. Some people grab hockey sticks. Others drop pills or down whiskey. Some kick the dog. Me? I write. Or, I think of something funny. Like Myrl and I standing in the parking garage elevator at Old Sacramento, going nowhere, and being amazed there was a ticket machine on the 4th floor when we hadn't moved at all. Or, maybe the chinchilla my sister ticked off. There's is always something to make me laugh out loud.
As a Sacramento short sale agent, I certainly manage an extremely high level of stress. Crap gets thrown at me daily from all directions. Buyers cancel escrow for no good reason. Sellers freak out. Buyer's agents get a bug up their cute little collective butts. Or, I get third-party loss mitigators who enter the wrong fees in the wrong places in Equator, which result in messed up short sale approval letters. But the Blue Ribbon of Annoyance for this week goes to Chase Bank.
The negotiator at Chase Bank is refusing to issue HAFA short sale approval because she says the buyer can't receive a credit on the HUD. I have explained to her the new 2011 RESPA rules concerning HUDs, but she could not comprehend the words. We asked her to check with a supervisor, since she doesn't know how to read the new HUDs. Her supervisor said the same thing. No credits to the buyer on the HUD.
The title policy fee and escrow fee are not a credit even though those fees are listed on the credit side of the HUD. The new RESPA rules require that if a settlement service fee included on the Good Faith Estimate is being paid by the seller, it needs to be reflected as a credit to the buyer; however, it is also a debit to the buyer, which results in a wash:
HUD-1 – Seller-paid items
1) Q: What if at closing the seller is paying for a settlement service that was listed on the GFE, such as the Owner‘s title insurance policy? How is this shown on the HUD-1?
A: If the seller is paying for a service that was on the GFE, such as owner‘s title insurance, the charge remains in the borrower‘s column on the HUD-1. A credit from the seller to the borrower to offset the charge should be listed on the first page of the HUD-1 in Lines 204-209 and Lines 506-509 respectively.
I realize these kids are just trying to do their job. They are hammered from the top and rise to the level of their own incompetence. But criminy, Chase, can't you send these employees to HUD school?
Read more about Seller Credits to the Buyer on a HUD and Why They are Not Seller Credits
---
Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.
Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.
The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.
