I am currently doing a 9 day short sale with a realtor. I have a question for you (your advice). Is it wise to pay my mortgage this month. The 1st and the 2nd is due on the 1st of August. I am asking because it is believed that if you pay your mortgage you do not have a hardship. Under the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) short sale regulations that take effect 1 August you have to pay 31% of your monthly income on your home mortgage. These guidelines are tools to facilitate the traditional short sale process. Other guidelines for HAFA are: -Under HAFA, the owner must make mortgage payments up to 31% of their income. Failure to pay the mortgage will disqualify the owner from participating in HAFA.-First-Mortgage lenders must waive the deficiency and must negotiate with second-mortgage lenders to waive their deficiency as well.-Sellers can receive “cash incentives” at closing for up to $3,000.-Lenders are given a government incentive of up to $6,000 to pay to second mortgage holders.-Property must be listed with a Realtor.-HAFA imposes strict and short time-lines on participating lenders.-Lenders must start the process at the time or even before the property is listed with a Realtor.-Lender must approve the short sale, including the amount they will receive within 10 days of receiving the accepted offer.
Hello,Unless you have a short sale agreement signed by the lender, it would typically be best not to make your mortgage payment this monthThe first thing to be aware of is that a lender is not going to modify a fully performing loan. You will typically need to be 60-90 days behind before they will discuss modification to permit a short sale. They will only modify to mitigate their risk . As long as you are paying, they have no incentive to modify to permit a short sale.
Fla and NY, we are originally from Queens, NY and looking to move to Florida. My understanding is that if I don't pay I will not be eligible under HAFA with the guarantee of not having to pay a default deficiency.
Yes that may be true. However if the lender believes that you are in a position where you are able to make payments, the lender will consider the amount of the deficiency potentially collectible against the mere $6000 incentive provided by the government
Eventhough I am almost 50% underwater and have borrowed to make payments from my 401K. In my hardship letter that my realtor still holds until the end of the 9 day sale states my hardship further.
my answer stands however you may consider obtaining an opinion from local counsel
Experience: 25 years of experience helping people like you.