On March 26, 2018, NAR submitted a letter of support for H.R. 5237, the "Fast Help for Homeowners Act," introduced by Reps. McNerney (CA-D) and Jones (NC-R). The legislation H.R. 5237 would help to streamline the short sale process by requiring a lender holding a second mortgage on a property to review and make a decision on a short sale agreement within 30 days. If the lender does not make a decision within that time frame, the short sale will be deemed approved on the 30th day.
Enormous amounts of time are spent on potential short sales that result in foreclosures. Even if successful, the process still takes many months and countless hours and often requires re-marketing of the property because buyers lose patience and terminate the contract. The short sale process is even more challenging to complete if the property owner has two mortgages loans on the property. In these situations, cooperation of the first lender and second mortgage lender are needed for the process to move forward, creating unnecessary difficulty and frustration for the property owner.
Establishing a time frame for responding to potential buyer offers will reduce the amount of time it takes to sell the property, improve the likelihood the transaction will close, and reduce the number of foreclosures. This will benefit the lender, the seller, the buyer, and more importantly, the community.