[quote=sdrealtor]I get emails almost daily from short sale companies looking to pull these kinds of shenanigans. They are slimebags. From what I see in the SD market there isnt alot of this going on. Thhe market is strong enough that the lenders recognize they can get full retail on the properties so there isnt much margin to facilitate these things on short sales. Not to say it doesnt happen here (I’m sure it does to some degreee) just that it isnt all that prevalent in this market.[/quote]
I actually managed to have a sit down with an Escondido atty who was doing this.
Its pretty easy.
She did not even have MLS access.
Instead, she just went through the UT announcements about the NOT’s and knocked on the door.
The borrower was happy at avoiding a foreclosure.
The bank was happy to have cash instead of a property.
The atty was happy because she found a new buyer while in escrow to buy and sold it about a week after buying (with a healthy markup).
The new buyer was happy because it was a small premium for not having to deal with a short sale or an REO.
Honestly, I think the only one acting dumb or unethical here are the banks for the following reasons:
-They aren’t doing research prior to contracting to sell and thereby getting low prices for their collaterals (thus costing shareholders and possibly taxpayers)
-They aren’t being proactive regarding foreclosure alternatives (thus leaving it to others to figure out how to avoid it.)
They set it up as a sink-or-swim for borrowers with fucked up loans and then feign surprise when the borrowers look after their own well-being.
It seems to me that everyone other than the banks are looking after their own interests in a fair way.