Anyone ever done a short sale?

[Goose and Fig]

After multiple attempts to modify our mortgage, we have decided to do a short sale to unload our old house.
I thought this was a fairly simple process- but now our mortgage company is asking for all of our financial information. We have already faxed them all of this stuff a dozen times for the modification. Why would they need this stuff? Is this standard practice?
We didn't have to provide our financials when we sold our other house. What the heck?

 

[kdcrws]

Quote:
After having ours on the market for over a year we ended up deeding ours back to the bank....They say that's less harmful to ur credit than a short sale. My husband was even able to get a business loan afterwards. I've heard short sales are a major pain. The bank for ever to approve buyers and it'll take twice as long to sell. Good luck to u!

 

[Sjisty]

We just completed our short sale. Our buyer's offer was made about 14 months ago. We had to fill out a monthly budget twice, send our pay stubs twice, send our federal tax return for 2 years, send our bank statements (I guess to prove we weren't hiding our millions), and wait ... wait ... wait ...

We were with Bank of America and were told it would take an average of 6-9 months - it took 14+. The whole thing was a nightmare, but we had no choice; my husband has been unemployed for 12 out of the last 20 months (he's in construction). We closed last week and are now being harassed by the second mortgage company. They agreed to release the lein on the house for $3000, but now say we have to file bankruptcy or they will come after us for the balance.

As a result, our finances are a mess. Two years ago our credit rating was 811 - now I'm afraid to check. We do have the house we bought before we put the old one on the market, so we at least have a place to live. The second mortgage company is calling constantly wanting to know when we will pay them (we can't). We were told (by the realtor) that they would not come after us for the balance - they were wrong.

 

[Goose and Fig]

Wow- sounds like we're in for the long haul. The good part for us is we have a roof over our heads for the winter. By the time this sells we will have the new place finished. We're not too concerned with our credit- the whole point of doing this is to be mortgage-free, and eventually off-grid.

I'm just so freaking sick of sending the same stuff over and over and over. We're self-employed, and I do taxes once a year- not 12! What a pain in the *bleep* this is turning out to be

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Unfortunately, many do end up in bankruptcy court. A short sale IS basically telling your creditors that you are essentially bankrupt, that you can no longer afford to keep the mortgage payments going as this has become intolerable.

Short sales RARELY take a short time. Even the people that end up buying the property get harassed
by the bank as they try to squeeze everything they can out of the "deal".

A lot of people simply mail the keys into the bank and quick claim the deed back to the bank. This really is the simple way, yet the bank can STILL go after the monies owed in the contract of the loan.

In essence, it is sort of like taking your car back to the finance company and telling them its theirs. The finance companies "short sale" the vehicle, sometimes for a tremendous loss and YOU are stuck owing the balance. The bank can and many times does go after your assets. This in itself can be a nightmare.

Foreclosure may not be an answer, but at least one has a roof over ones head during this VERY LONG process.