I almost had some really great news – I wrote the post below last night, but was afraid to post it because the short sale contract expired today. Since I was so close to being done I was hopeful that the potential buyers would sign an extension and didn’t want to jinx myself. Well, I didn’t have to do that to myself…they decided to back out. I’m LIVID – mostly at the bank because they took so long with everything. I also sort of feel like throwing up right now. F@%$!!!
Anyway, here what I was going to post:
9/25/2012 notes: To bring you up to speed, according to my what my Homeowner Support Specialist (HSS) Heather said on 9/20, underwriting (UW) should have been done with my file (reviewing the HAFA thing) on Monday, 9/24, at which point they’d be able to send it directly to negotiating. I decided to follow up with the bank on 9/25 to see if UW was done.
Guess what - turned out that my file still hadn’t made it to UW. As part of Citi’s new process, the file was waiting on approval from a manager (formerly HSSs were able to send to UW directly). The rep I spoke with said manager approval usually has a 24 hour turnaround time - it'd been 4 days. She stammered around a bit, and had no explanation as to why it was taking this manager so long. *bang head on desk repeatedly*
She offered to set up a call between myself and Heather, the earliest availability for which was the afternoon of 9/27.
9/27/2012: The good news was that, according to Heather, prior to our call she’d sent a message to her manager to try to escalate the situation since my file still hadn’t been sent to UW. She told me that hopefully the file would be reviewed and sent over later that day, or by the next day, and gave an estimate of a week to a week and a half until UW review.
At this point I decided that it would be best to collect some updated financial documents to send over, since I did have a few that were set to expire based on the bank’s 90-day (Home Owners Association, or HOA, bill, and Profit & Loss, or P&L, statements for the 3rd quarter). While I was at it, I collected some other stuff, like last month’s bank statements and bank stubs, so the bank couldn’t claim anything was out of date. I sent everything every around 5pm on 10/2.
10/3/2012: I did a follow-up call around 5pm in order to make sure the documents I sent had been received and properly uploaded. I was told that they were not yet attached to file, but did confirm there was a record of them having been sent to the appropriate document upload email address & Heather having been copied.
While I was on the phone I also asked for a status update, and learned that the file is still not with Underwriting for the HAFA review. This was the wrong answer. I was also told by the rep who answered that I was missing another document. Also a wrong answer.
The rep told me I needed an “Arms Length Affidavit” (I’ve since learned what this is). He said that this document was necessary before the file could be sent to Underwriting, but then mentioned that it was normally sent to the realtor for the sale. In my mind, this was confirmation that he was a moron, since the realtor generally is not contacted until a negotiator gets the file.
Given that I’d already gotten two wrong answers and concluded that this guy had no idea what he was talking about, I asked him to instant message Heather to check her availability. Of course, she didn’t respond. From there I did two things, the first of which was to schedule a call with Heather for the next day, 10/4, at 4:30pm.
The next thing I did was ask to speak to Heather’s boss. The rep with whom I was dealing seemed to be inconspicuously trying to get me to not go there, but I wouldn’t let him off the phone until he transferred me. The manager wasn’t there, but I left an articulate, strongly-worded voicemail and asked for a return call.
10/4/2012: To my surprise, I received a call at 12:40pm from Citi. The person who called told me that neither Heather nor her manager were in the office (raaaaaight), but that she was calling to let me know that the HAFA had been approved, and that the file was being assigned to a negotiator. She told me that my realtor & I should be hearing from a negotiator by next Friday, 10/12.
It’s like magic! The 24-hour review that was taking two weeks resolved itself within the first 4 hours of someone’s workday. I shouldn’t be sarcastic, though. The HAFA being approved is great news in and of itself. My hunch, or at least my hope, is that it’s actually going to get to a negotiator this time, and that if the negotiator kicks it back because of something stupid someone else did, it’ll get immediate attention from Heather and/or her boss.
Again, all of that was what I was waiting to post…except that now it doesn’t matter. I’ve spoken to my realtor to see what happens next. Obviously the condo goes back on the market, but hopefully it doesn’t go completely back to square one – I’d think it would be silly to have to submit a new set of every single document that only applies to me (i.e. new Hardship Assistance package, all of the affidavits, etc.) but more illogical things have happened.
I’m thankful that this weekend’s plans include plenty of time with family & friends, and a day off for Columbus Day on Monday. A little relaxation is definitely in order.
Finally, I do want to mention that I’m very thankful for ALL OF YOU. I know many of you reading it are sending me good vibes, and every once in a while someone will mention they’ve read a recent post and it really makes me feel like I’m not in the alone. THANK YOU!
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