SHORT SALES: WHAT IS A SHORT SALE?

SERVICE: The Law Offices of Sulaiman & Associates will conduct an in-depth study of all the documents and the specific narrative of the Client/Borrower to discover what is the best course of action to be taken in regards to a Short Sale Strategy for the Client/Borrower. A Short Sale is only one of many options and an untimely Short Sale may have unintended consequences. The Firm’s goal is to educate our Clients and with our advice and counsel guide our Clients through the potentially treacherous waters of a Short Sale. We are committed to researching, formulating and finally executing the best strategy for our Clients. This is our Commitment to all our Clients.

QUESTION: What is a Short Sale? Can I refinance or sell my house?
ANSWER: SHORT SALE: You can sell your home anytime before the Foreclosure matter is complete. The Foreclosure matter is complete at such time as the Redemption period has expired. However, once the Foreclosure has been filed the number of buyers willing to buy at retail and Lenders willing to refinance a Borrower already behind in payments all but disappear. People do not want to pay retail when they find a house in Foreclosure. Everyone wants to get the best deal possible. A Short Sale occurs when the Borrower owes more on the loan than the house is worth, and a Buyer agrees to pay an amount that is not sufficient to pay off that Borrower’s loan balance. For a Short Sale to be a Short Sale, your Bank would have to accept an amount less than the full loan payoff. A Short Sale is a settlement agreement. Because it is a settlement agreement, no two Short Sales are the same. You may be liable for taxes related to the amount of debt from your original mortgage that is forgiven, but current laws may protect you from such taxes if it is your primary residence. Your Lender may also request as part of the settlement to pay the Lender back the amount the Lender did not collect at the time of the sale of the property. If you have a great deal of equity in your property, there are a number of solutions available but they must be acted upon immediately since your equity shrinks with each passing day. Again, do not deed your home to anyone without at LEAST first consulting with an Illinois Licensed Attorney. We can assist you in every step of the Short Sale process. A qualified Attorney is absolutely needed for this process to negotiate and avoid any deficiencies by severing all future liability.

DESCRIPTION:

A Short Sale is the result of a negotiation with the Lender. The Borrower must convince the Lender that it is in the best interests of the Lender to allow a Short Sale to take place. The Lender typically loses between $20,000 and $70,000 per foreclosed property that the Lender must take back through a completed Judicial Foreclosure. There are too many variables to list as to what impacts a Short Sale. One of the most important issues for conducting a proper Short Sale is at which point the Borrower attempts to try to complete the Short Sale, in the beginning, middle or near the end of the foreclosure process. The benefit to the Lender is that it does not have to continue the foreclosure proceedings to the end. The benefit to the Borrower is that there may be no deficiency judgment from the Lender if there was only one loan. However, in the recent past most homes were purchased with two loans and the Secondary Lender will release the lien only if there is some financial benefit to the Secondary Lender. Usually the Secondary Lender requires the Borrower to agree to pay them something towards the balance owed. The obvious negative result of the Short Sale to the Borrower is that the Borrower no longer owns the property, and therefore will no longer be able to possess the home.

Short Sales, to a very large degree only benefit the Lenders. The new Buyer of the property requires a clear title. The new Buyer will not buy the property, and the new Buyer’s Lender will not lend to the new Buyer funds if the title to the property is not completely clear of all liens (mortgages, mechanics liens, tax liens, etc.). The Borrower is effectively doing the work of the Lender in clearing up title, essentially what the Lender would have to do in a foreclosure proceeding.

Our Firm is qualified in properly prosecuting a Client’s instruction to complete a Short Sale in a timely and professional fashion. Unless Short Sales are part of the practice of the Attorney or Realtor you are working with, please be aware that they are likely wasting valuable time, and may do you harm if they are not telling you up front that you may be still liable to the Secondary Lender. This is a very highly specialized field, and proficiency with Short Sales comes after years of experience working with Lenders. There is no typical Short Sale, and the procedures in securing them are as varied as the amount of Lenders who lend.

Each Lender has a different procedure for conducting a Short Sale. Again, once the Short Sale is complete the Borrower/Homeowner will no longer own the property and may actually owe money to the Lenders as part of the settlement if not prosecuted correctly. Please hire competent counselors to complete a Short Sale and check their credentials and how find out up front how a Short Sale may affect you before you take on this time consuming process that may or may not work, that will not allow you take money through the equity that is in your property and that can leave you without a home.

Please hire competent counselors to properly conduct a proper Short Sale on your behalf. Whomsoever you hire to assist you, please check their credentials and find out up front how a Short Sale may affect you. Many of our Clients have invested valuable time and resources in trying to secure a Short Sale when they should have been fighting to save their home. Please take the time to find and speak to the most qualified people in this Specialized Field of Law. Contact us today at (630) 575 – 8181 for an initial consultation with an Illinois Licensed Attorney.

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THE LAW OFFICES OF SULAIMAN & ASSOCIATES, L.L.C. PROVIDES CONSUMER INFORMATION ABOUT THE LAW DESIGNED TO HELP CONSUMERS SAFELY INFORM THEMSELVES OF THEIR OWN LEGAL NEEDS. BUT LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT THE SAME AS LEGAL ADVICE, WHICH IS THE APPLICATION OF LAW TO AN INDIVIDUAL\'S SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES. ALTHOUGH WE GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TO MAKE SURE OUR INFORMATION IS ACCURATE AND USEFUL, WE RECOMMEND YOU CONSULT A LAWYER TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION. PLEASE CONTACT OUR OFFICE AT (630) 575-8181 OR EMAIL US AT INQUIRY@SULAIMANLAW.COM FOR COPIES OF THE INFORMATION FOUND HEREIN OR TO SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION WITH A LICENSED ILLINOIS ATTORNEY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND COOPERATION AND UNDERSTANDING.