The Agent Insider Blog

Now that the new HAFA program is in effect, we are getting swamped with emails from subscribers and students with questions about the new short sale guidelines and forms.  In order to answer this demand, Frontline is presenting a free HAFA webinar on next Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. EST.  This one hour [...]

Just one week before the implementation deadline for the new HAFA Program, the Treasury Department issued revised HAFA short sale guidelines.  (Well at least they didn’t wait until the last minute).  The document is called “Supplemental Directive 09-09 Revised” and it could change the ballgame by making HAFA successful.  Apparently, the Treasury Department had been listening to [...]

A few weeks ago I posted an article on this blog in which I expressed concern about deductions that could occur from real estate agent commissions because of the language in the new HAFA short sale guidelines that are about to go into effect.  That language states that agent commissions are protected up to six [...]

The deadline for servicers to implement the new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program (HAFA) is now less than two weeks away.  This means that all of the HAFA rules forms and guidelines will be taking effect very soon.  Although servicers and lenders have had the option to implement the new HAFA program before the deadline, [...]

By now, most professionals in the real estate industry are aware that the U.S. Treasury Department issued a plan called the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program (HAFA) on November 30, 2009.  The HAFA program is intended to speed up and regulate the short sale process for borrowers whose loans are subject to the government’s loan modification [...]

This week the US Treasury Department released it’s long awaited new short sale rules and forms.  The new program is called HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) and sets forth new government policies for a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. It is the new rules and procedures for HAMP participating lenders and servicers to follow when a homeowner doesn’t qualify for [...]

HUD, FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC ALL NOW AUTHORIZE PAYMENT OF SIX PERCENT COMMISSIONS A major issue real estate agents have faced when negotiating short sales with lenders and servicers was that it was always a battle to try and get paid a full real estate commission on these difficult and time consuming transactions.  The loss mitigators working [...]

Unfortunately, it looks the U.S. Treasury Department is going to miss its third self imposed deadline for issuing new short sale rules and policies to accompany the HAMP loan modification program.  Despite an earlier statement that we would see the new policies this week, the Treasury Department released written testimony from an appearance before the Congressional Oversight Committee a [...]

The Treasury Department keeps letting out hints that it is almost ready to release the final details of it’s long awaited new short shale rules and policies.   An official announcement is expected next week for the launch of the new Homeowner Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program formerly referred to as the Foreclosure Alternatives Program (FAP). Although [...]

Bank of America has started using REOTrans to help process it’s short sales.  This also means of course that all Countrywide loans will also be included.  REOTrans is an online system that many lenders have been utilizing for a few years as a portal for their REO agents.  The system allows documents to be uploaded [...]