No wonder our banking system is tanking!

[csgray]

Warning: this is a rant from a very frustrated person!

After looking long and hard for a house to buy, we finally made an offer on a foreclosed house. We had tried to buy a short sale about 6 months earlier but while the owner accepted our offer she could never get her lender to respond to the offer.

Our first offer on this house was basically turned down flat by the seller (Countrywide, they were the first big mortgage lender to tank.) Five days later while we were debating our response they dropped the price $7000. We made a second offer that was less than the new listing price but well in the ball park. They responded with a snide message that we should either pay the listing price or go find another house. Again, while we were deciding how to respond they dropped the price, this time lower than the offer they had just rudely turned down. We again made an offer, this time for the selling price.

After more haggling because they wouldn't pay for any part of the inspections or closing costs we had a closing date. We did all the inspections and other closing procedures and showed up at the title company on the appointed date with a large check and our pens, ready to buy our house.

Well we have now signed all the right papers, our money is in escrow, our financing is in order, and Countrywide cannot manage to sign the power of attorney correctly! The title company has had to return the documents several times so far because they can't follow directions, we are over 15 days past our closing date, and our lock is going to expire soon. Countrywide now will not even tell anyone involved when they will send the documents. If we can't close soon we will have to pay to extend our lock, and we will miss the March 15th deadline to apply for reassessment for property taxes, which could cost us a lot of money in extra taxes because the difference between the appraisal and the tax valuation is almost 30%.

If this is representative of how our financial institutions are being run, it is no wonder they are all tanking! These people can't even follow directions on how to sign a standard legal document essential for the transfer of a property, and they expect the taxpayers to prop them up!

Does anyone know if they are liable for any extra costs we may incur because Countrywide can't fulfill their end of the contract on time? According to my brother in law who is experienced in real estate law and transactions, in Washington State we could make them cover those extra costs because they didn't meet the terms of the contract. Is this true in Hawaii too? If it is, how would we go about getting them to do so? I should also say we paid every penny of the out of pocket expenses, so we have already invested a lot of money in this deal.

Mahalo for any knowledgeable advise.

Carol

[John S. Rabi]

Sorry for your troubles Carol. No, they are not liable for anything. Your loan officer should have been more educated about REO properties and not lock your loan. However, look at the bright side, it only takes a few hundred bucks to extend the lock and you probably are getting a very good deal.

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"

[missydog1]

quote:

---

Countrywide now will not even tell anyone involved when they will send the documents.

---

I feel you pain Carol. I have been through 3 escrows with Countrywide, and the third one was hell. We had to get three extensions. Loan locks, out the window, they didn't care. Appraisal screwed up on their end, they didn't care.

Waiting for docs to be issued can go on and on and on, even in a conventional purchase.
I remember rescheduling my move-in date with Big Island movers more than once. I had people standing by to do work as soon as escrow closed, during a period when it was hard to get help. It was a nightmare. But it eventually ended!

[csgray]

So what John is saying is they have no real incentive to do this on time, and Kathy is saying this is SOP for them. You would think someone at Countrywide would think it was a good idea to get this house off their books, but no one there is acting like it. AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!

Carol

[Guest]

Screw the banks, use cash.

Neither a lender nor borrower.

[csgray]

esnap: The issue is not the financing, Countrywide is the SELLER and can't manage to sign the power of attorney correctly. Even if we were buying it outright we can't complete the sale without the power of attorney being signed correctly by the seller. It is also extremely rare for anyone who is not independently wealthy to have the ability to buy a house outright. I am a teacher and not an heiress, so your advice is absolutely useless and probably more about promoting your personal/political perspective than any desire to be helpful.

Carol

[Guest]

No I feel ya. I just think that because people can by stuff with credit they tend to do so instead of saving.
We just saw the government force lenders to lower standards for lending which exacerbated the problem. It also ran real estate prices so high that folks started speculating with real estate.

We need to lower our personal standard of living. We need to pay the price of thrift and doing without till we can afford.

The vagrancies of lending institutions , I can't account for.

[missydog1]

Have hope, Carol.
All I'm saying is I found Countrywide took a long time to get things done for no apparent reason. I think it's shocking they can't do this correctly. Eventually they got it together for me, and I hope they will for you.

In my case, we had final loan approval, so they had made the commitment to do it, but they just fiddlefudged around - every day our broker would call and they'd say not today, maybe tomorrow. Then one day it happened. good luck!

[greywolf74]

Cash is king. Been there done that, got the T- shirt. Only my hell experience was with Washington Mutual on a foreclosed p.o.s. in Nanawale. Yeah they played all kinds of games. Since when is a bank supposed to haggle and counter over a property they have that is in default? I thought they were supposed to be trying to get rid of what they have on their books, not trying to make a profit and milk us all for every penny. [!][!][!]

[Bob Orts]

As an FYI, the Boyko ruling which was hailed by many homeowners and consumer advocates as a way to stall foreclosures, also ended up stalling short sales and foreclosure sales as well. Now all loans have to adhere to the ruling and that means TIME, lots of TIME. So most lenders even if they want to do something, probably can't at the speed people would think. In the past, something that took 30 days, may now take 120+ days to complete.

The lenders servicing company may not have all their internal ducks in a row so they stall. One common stall tactic is to screw up the power of attorneys, or send one based on current status even if it does not cover what is needed. Nothing proceeds without a proper power of attorney. So on short sales and foreclosures, if you’re the buyer you may be forced to stick with the program because it may be a problem to switch. If you’re the seller, your loan may need 60 POA's to give 4 trustees the authority to sign a POA to give the single servicing company the authority to conduct the transaction.