Congratulations AHMSI Short Sale Department-You Just Bought Your Investor Another House!

The only thing I hate more than reading "rants" by agents is actually writing them myself.  That being said, I'm about to write what many will consider to be a "rant".  I'd rather justify it in my own mind as being a way to share my experience with other agents, in hopes that they have a better sense of what AHMSI is all about.  Ok, now I feel better. :)

Let me preface this by saying that AHMSI (American Home Mortgage Servicing) was one of those lucky devils that received $2 BILLION in TARP Funds.

Back in October/2009, I took a listing for an Arizona pre foreclosure client.  The Sellers had not made a payment in 8 months, and their loans were with AHMSI (1st mortgage) and Greentree (2nd mortgage).  Despite missing his past 8 payments, he was amazed that, despite receiving a "Notice of Trustee Sale" from AHMSI within a few days of missing his 3rd payment, in April/2009 (which AZ law allows), AHMSI kept postponing the Trustee Sale, despite the fact that he had not even spoken with them.  Needless to say, I was dumbfounded (but I've never proclaimed to be very smart).

Anyway, as any good agent would do, I went over his Arizona pre foreclosure options.  To make a long story short, he decided that a short sale was his best option (2-3 years vs 5-7 years to get another government-backed loan pushed him over the edge).

So, I put the house on the market, at slightly above market value.  I dropped the price every 2 weeks, and lo-and-behold, after 30 days on the market, we got our first offer.

I don't want to bore you with the details, so I will tell you that today, we lost our 5TH BUYER on this transaction.  Yes, you heard that right.  I put 20-30 hours in on each previous buyer, hoping that AHMSI would come to their senses. Now, after putting in 100+ hours on this listing, I will get paid nothing.  What the hell was I thinking?

Today, I wrote the following letter to our negotiator at AHMSI, who has, unfortunately, been our negotiator through all 5 of our buyers:

HXXXX,

Congratulations!  The buyer has decided to cancel escrow yet again (our 5th buyer).  They grew sick of waiting, and having you change the terms of original approval once we finally received approval from the 2nd (Greentree).  They, like the other 4 buyers, found another lender who was actually willing to work with them.
To refresh your memory, you had approved the short sale and accompanying HUD.  Once we finally received approval from Greentree in 2nd position, you decided you were going to give Greentree $0.00 (after already approving the request to give them $4,495.00), and gave the buyers 15 days to close escrow.  Everyday after 15 days would cost them a per-diem charge of $50 per day.  Anyone in the business knows that a lender cannot approve and close a loan in less than 30 days.  The buyers, who have waited patiently for 4 months, decided to purchase another short sale that was being handled by a competent negotiator who understood the benefits of a short sale vs foreclosure.
If/when AHMSI finally decides to foreclose (at a cost to your investor of $30-$40,000) and the home makes it's way back on the market as an REO (today the home is worth about $70,000, and you just turned down an offer of $89,900), I will make sure to present all of our documentation to the proper government oversight agencies, as well as both of my senators from AZ.  I will also be sending a copy of this email to the local news stations in the Phoenix market.  I can assure you they will listen, and will report on it (if you don't believe me, visit www.forsalephoenixhomes.com and see some of my recent interviews on the news stations).  I would predict that the investor you are "looking out for" will end up netting around $20,000 once the property sells on the REO market.  Had you approved this short sale, your investor would have netted over $73,000!!!  Yes, that's correct...  Your decision to squeeze the Seller/Borrower (who has literally no money, as evidenced by the paperwork I've sent you) for an additional $2,100 will end up costing your investor over $50,000!!  But, at the end of the day, as long as AHMSI gets their servicing fees/penalties, isn't that all that matters?
It's sad that the investor that you represent has no clue about this deal, and the money you have cost them.  Perhaps by shining some light on this matter through the media, your investor clients will start asking AHMSI questions.
I've recommended to Mr. XXXXX (the Seller) that he no longer waste his time trying to do "the right thing" (an Arizona short sale), and simply hand the home back at the foreclosure that is scheduled for the end of this month.  Unless, of course, you choose to continue postponing the foreclosure date, in order to collect even more late/penalty fees from your investor when the property finally sells.  After 8 months, and 5 different deals denied, I think it's very evident that AHMSI feels that it is in their best interest to drag deals out and collect late fees/missed payments, rather than do what's best for their investor clients, and their borrower clients as well.
This self-serving attitude of AHMSI has been written about lately in various blogs, articles, etc.  I'll make sure that Mr. XXXXX' voice is heard as well.

Best Regards,

Bob Hertzog

Now, I must tell you that in the past 1 1/2 years, Summit Home Consultants has only lost ONE short sale deal, and it was due to the fact that the Seller's lender decided to purchase PMI on the deal, without the Seller's knowledge.

What is more unfortunate is that AHMSI has done a very good job of hiding their contacts for escalation and/or contacts for people in the company that can actually get things accomplished.  I've asked my "negotiator" if she could transfer me to her supervisor on several occasions, only to be told, "I don't have a supervisor".  Nice, huh?

On one hand, losing this deal to foreclosure (if AHMSI actually decides to go through with their threat of foreclosure on July 25, 2010) kills me inside.  On the other hand, when a servicing company decides to put their best interests in front of the clients they serve (their borrowers & investors), what is a guy to do?

Just last week, I was interviewed by Reuters, Investment Business Daily, and Channel 12 News (our local NBC affiliate) in regards to the latest happenings in the Phoenix short sale market.  In all three interviews, I made it a point to tell the reporters that I've recently noticed a significant change in lender's attitudes regarding short sales.

In my opinion, lenders that have what I call a "retail element" to their business (i.e. BofA, Wells Fargo, Citi, etc.) have a "new attitude" when it comes to customer service and short sales.  The servicing lenders (i.e. AHMSI, Greentree, IndyMac, etc.) could care less.  In other words, those with an interest in retaining banking customers are finally realizing that they need to work with clients in order to improve their image to the general public, and are actually beginning to approve short sales in a timely manner.

Those whose only job is to service loans for investors could care less about the concept of customer service.  They have completely lost touch with their customers (both the borrowers and the investors that they service), and are totally focused on themselves, and how they can screw not only the borrowers, but the investors that have entrusted them to look out for their best interests.

Now, let's get back to the deal at hand.  For the first time, I've actually gotten to the point where I'm walking away from a listing, and encouraging the Sellers to allow the lender to foreclose.  We've already asked them to consider a deed-in-lieu, but they refused.  So, at the end of the day, my sellers, after trying to do "what's right", would actually rather let the lender foreclose.  Sad story, but true.  The "silver lining" of this story is that neither AHMSI or Greentree can come after my client, as he is protected by the Arizona Anti Deficiency Statute.  Despite my efforts to convey this message to AHMSI, our negotiator could care less.

It will be very interesting to see if AHMSI will actually foreclose on the property, or delay it yet again, in order to get even more penalty fees down the road.  As far as I can tell, the sellers have missed 17 monthly payments.  I'm curious to see how many more they miss before AHMSI actually forecloses on the property.  Lord knows, the more they can delay it, the more penalty fees they will receive when the property is actually disposed of.

The saddest part of this story is that the investor that AHMSI represents knows nothing of what has happened in this transaction, and never will.  This "negotiator" at AHMSI has cost their investor(s) over $50,000, and they will never know what truly happened.

I've promised my sellers that I will do everything in my power to bring this situation to light.  Today, I contacted several media outlets, and am awaiting their responses.

My goal is to follow this deal until the day it sells as an REO (at a significantly reduced price), and show everyone that will listen how this "servicing agency" looked out for the best interests of their clients (borrower and investor).

For those of you handling AHMSI short sales...  LISTER BEWARE!  These people are pond-scum, and their actions need to be brought to light!  Don't believe me?  Just do a Google Search for AHMSI Short Sales, and, as an old-timer once told me, "you'll smell what I'm steppin' in".

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Bob Hertzog

Summit Home Consultants

www.forsalephoenixhomes.com

Copyright © By Bob Hertzog 2010 *Congratulations AHMSI Short Sale Department-You Just Bought Your Investor Another House!*