Stella Barbour - Real Estate Agent - Serving Virginia and Maryland

I have had a difficult time getting anything accomplished with National City Mortgage on both my short sale and a loan modification that I am working on. I sit on hold for no less than 45 minutes at a time and then I will get someone rude, not helpful, and tries to rush me off the phone. Curious if anyone else is having this type of response from them?

A previous customer of mine came by the office today (the Law Firm I work at) to show me the loan modification paperwork that she had from a Company she hired. They charged her $3,000.00 to retain them, up front, with a balance due of $3,000.00. That was in the agreement. She had high hopes that her loan would be modified especially after the loss of her husband's job.

Today, I tried to call them to get status of her modification, and the number is now disconnected. The company doesn't even exist.

Please inform all of your customers to check with BBB and other goverment agencies or better yet, hire a law firm that they are familiar with and that is LOCAL to them. Report Fraud to Government Agencies. We all have to work together to get these types of organizations off the streets.

I am finding the following improvements while working with short sales:

* Phone numbers for the negotiators for the banks are getting easier to get.

* Wait time on the phone for someone at the bank to help you is getting shorter.

* More service reps are trying harder to help the situation instead of telling me to call back in 5 days

* Banks are becoming more realistic with the prices of homes.

* Banks are asking for less information up front.

I think that we will be able to help our clients succeed in their short sales and prevent future bankruptcies which helps improve our economy for the future.

We all work hard for our clients, but it makes us feel better when we make it all happen.

Is anyone else getting better results?

Please share as it gives others hope.

My clients ask me to list a rental that a tenant was moving out of. I told them to make sure that they turn the power on after the tenant moves out and keep the heat on or winterize the property. They said no problem. After another agent found a tenant for my listing I met them at the property for a walk through. As we went inside to view the property, the floors were flooded and the ceiling was ready to fall through.

Guess what???? My clients did not do what I asked them to do, pipe froze and burst, and now it will be costly.

Please remind your clients how important it is to keep the pipes from freezing.

Since I wear two hats, one as a bankruptcy paralegal and the other as a Real Estate Agent I have clients coming to the office to file bankruptcy who have their home on the market for a potential "short sale". They are being told that you can still sell your home while in Bankruptcy or Bankruptcy will not have anything to do with the sale by their RE Agent. In Virginia, if you file Bankruptcy then the listing agreement as all agreements and contracts are voidable and you cannot continue the sale until motions are filed and orders are signed by a Judge stating that you can continue this sale especially if there is a contract being reviewed by the "third party, BANK". If your seller is considering bankruptcy, you need to refer them to an attorney for the advice and the proper procedures that will need to take place so they can make a more informative decision on "when" or "if" to file their bankruptcy.

*I am not an Attorney and not giving advice but opinion on previous experience.