Any ideas, I have a Short Sale that was originally Countrywide now its BoA on both 1st. and 2nd. The seller tried to work with Countrywide for over a year, they even tried a loan modification to keep their condo. The seller lost his job and relocated out of the area. Property has been vacant for 6 months. I received an excellent offer back in March and that buyer is still in place.

BoA said without seller contribution they will not approve my Short Sale. They want either $10,000 or a promisory note for $15,000 paid monthly over 10yrs no interest. The seller will not and cannot contribute and has offered to just mail the keys back.
I've sent BoA a new HUD1 showing how the deal makes sense even without seller contribution. Agents are willing to cut commission, restructure contract, or get a buyer contribution. Still the negotiator has refused. Please help!!!!! Debbie

What carrot do they hold out for the Seller (Owner of Record) . . . . what incentive ? A promise to not pursue him/her with a Deficiency Judgement ? What do they think would motivate, or entice, that person to give their money away in exchange for . . . . seemingly nothing ? Besides, you can't get blood out of a stone !

I agree there is no reason for the seller to contribute, there isn't an incentive. It's the BoA way or nothing. Both of the seller's loans are purchase money so BoA cannot file a Deficiency Judgement.

I believe California is not a deficiency state, so the lender cannot collect the deficiency if the seller forecloses. Therefore, make sure you let the reps at Countrywide/Bank of America know this in case they are not thinking about this. Sometimes things like this determine their decisions.

I think the firt thing you need to do is to speak with the negotiator's manager (team lead). They must give you their manager's contact info there. Then if that doesn't get you anywhere, you need to speak with that person's manager and so on. I have several files with Countrywide/BofA and I know their system very well. Once you close deals with them over and over, you figure them out and have a much better chance at succeeding.

I will tell you one thing. It is a trained strategy for the negotiators at Countrywide/BofA to demand a cash contribution or prom note from the seller on these short sales. If they don't request it, they are not doing their job properly. Another good counter-attack is to prove to the negotiator that the seller cannot afford to do a cash contribution or prom note. This can be done by having the seller write out an addition to the hardship letter explaining their situation better or send in supporting documentation about the hardship. This will help prove that you can't squeeze blood from a turnip.

Hope this helps. Keep us updated on here about this situation. I want to know how it works out.

I am currently working on short sale with CW/BofA as well and fully suspect I will be negotiating the same scenario very soon. So I am interested in the outcome of this. I talked to another agent recently that lost a deal because his seller could not do a cash contribution and refused to sign the promissory note. My feeling is that the promissory note is an unsecured debt and does CW/BofA really expect to collect on it? In the end what risk does the seller take on by signing the promissory note really?

A promissory note is an unsecured debt just like a credit card. If a seller was to sign one, then they would be attached to this revolving debt every month on their credit report. The banks know that they still have a smaller percentage of people that will pay on the promissory note, but the majority won't. Countrywide told me one time that they may collect on about 10% of the promissory notes that are signed. This is already expected.