Wells Fargo Watch

We have been "working" with wells Fargo on the short sale of our home Since January of 09 It has been a real nightmare! We have basically given up hope of selling our home and are just waiting for foreclosure. After my husband had 2 seizures, while driving ,he lost his liscence. Since he worked an hour away we had to move closer to his work. Financially we couldn't pay rent and housing and double utility payments. We let Wells fargo know the situation but they had no programs to help us since we weren't living in our home anymore. So we asked about a Short sale since we knew that between what we owed on the house, its condition, and realtors fees we would be unable to sell it outright. So Wells Fargo put us in the shortsale Department While our agent filled out all of the paperwork and we filled out the reason why we needed a short sale, our finances etc. The Price we listed the house at, comparibles, and everything else they asked for. Then a month later we get a letter stating that unless the 2nd mortgage company [ which was also under wells Fargo] gave wells fargo Mortgage a release in 4 days then they would put us back in foreclosure. So We called Wells Fargo home Equity and they wouldn't release the title unless we had an offer on the house, which is standard procedure, and Wells Fargo mortgage company knows this. Wells Fargo Homemortgage put us back into Foreclosure even though they knew all of this. A month later we had 4 offers on the house. We Negotiated the best one which ended up being 2000 less than what we owed on the house. So we faxed the offer to the Foreclosure Department with a release from the Home Equity loan company. A week later we find out that they claimed they never got. Then we faxed it 10 more times which they say they never got. Finally we faxed it (hoping it would get received) to Jackie who worked with us in the shortsale department she finally put it into their system. So after a month of ignored faxes and about 3 months of having our home listed on the market. Jackie in the Shortsale Department said that the offer was rejected and that we had to raise our asking price from $125,000 to 145,000 [within 7 days otherwise they would foreclose] because the bank's appraisal that they did at the beginning of this process came in at that price. First off They never told us what the appraisal came out at, and they never informed us that there was such a huge difference. secondly let me state that there is no way our home is worth 145,000. In fact the guy who did the appraisal confirmed (off the record) that our home was priced appropriately. If we could actually sell our home for 145,000 then we would and wouldn't have to go through all this crap. So we asked for the Negotiator to call us because we disputed the price difference and we didn't want to raise the price on our home to such a ridiculous amount. We were also informed by Jackie that if we signed that paper agreeing to the price increase then we were stuck with it and it couldn't be changed. So there we were stuck either we raise the price of our house knowing it wouldn't sell or we go immediately to foreclosure. So after waiting fruitlessly for the Negotiator to call us (within 5 days as promised) we finally raised the price and relisted the house. We have requested a copy of this appraisal which they have never given us. We have asked for a new appraisal to be done. However, In order for us to dispute the appraisal amount we have to talk with a negotiator. We were informed that we can't talk to the negotiator but we have to wait for them to call us. That was a month ago. Before we raised the price our house was getting 10 showings a week. We had 4 offers within 3 weeks of being on the market. Now no one really looks at our house. Who in their right minds is going to buy a house that's price was jacked up by more that $20,000 dollars without a good reason for the price increase? I find it very suspicious that Wells Fargo's appraisal came in so high. $145,000 was our original loan amount 8 years ago. According to them and the FHA guidlines the minimum amount they can accept is 127,900 (which is what we owe them). I really feel that they are inflating our appraisal price so that they don't loose anything. We have had people recommend hiring an attorney. I laugh because if I had the money for a Lawyer I wouldn't be having to shortsale my home. Plus what am I going to sue them for? I know its not their fault that we can't make the payments. I just wish they weren't such Jerks to work with. Is anyone else having this kind of trouble on a short sale with Wells Fargo?

First of all, doing a short sale through Wells Fargo is not fun at all. I have been doing one with them and have had a very, very difficult time. As I understand, the IRS is not going after people for the losses- and that will go from this year until possibly next year.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Get a very, very good agent who is willing to go to work for you. Your agent may have to get a bit nasty to get answers, but I don't recommend nastiness as a normal procedure. So one likes getting yelled at, and people who are chewed out tend to give poorer service. My agent has only had to do that twice in about four months- and only as a last resort.
2. Any time you or your agent talks to Wells Fargo, get the names of the people you are talking to and write down everything. Get what they say in writing if you can. We've had one agent tell us one thing and then another agent tell us another thing.
3. Make sure that any potential buyer is well aware that this is going to take a while- possibly a few months.
4. Don't make the assumption that just because Wells Fargo is likely to lose more money by foreclosing that they are going to be motivated to work with you. In my case Wells Fargo stands to lose over twice the amount a short sale would lose (a short sale offer I have), and I still have difficulties getting them to call me back and have actually lost very good offers because of this.
5. If you are not making payments and Wells Fargo is calling you up all the time, ask for a "do not call" letter. They have to do it. And don't be concerned that this will mess up your short sale- they would rather work with your agent on the short sale anyways.
6. Here are some of the steps that will probably occur:
(a) Get an offer.
(b) Send in offer and all other paperwork. This is quite a bit. You have to have a letter explaining your hardship, an statement of your finances (they might have a worksheet for you), a sheet analyzing the loss (your agent will have to prepare that), a letter with the offer stating that the buyer actually has financing, and possibly some other stuff (I don't quite remember all of it). Be careful with this- this was one point in which one agent said that certain things were required, and later on another agent said that we needed additional stuff we had never been told about.
(c) Wells Fargo will assign someone to work with your case
(d) Wells Fargo will have to have the house appraised. Possibly a PMI company will have to appraise it.
(e) If the offer is at least as high as the appraisal, then Wells Fargo will have one of their lawyers check and see what the loss is.
(f) Wells Fargo will/may have a committee decide whether or not to accept the offer.
(g) If everything has gone through perfectly and Wells Fargo accepts the offer, then Wells Fargo will send the paperwork approving the sale.

Another couple of notes:
1. Sale is "as is."
2. You cannot make a profit or receive money in any way.
3. Snags can always occur. My first offer was a complete joke. Someone was trying to take advantage of the situation, and there is no way that Wells Fargo would (or should) accept the offer. I was fortunate to get a real offer after that.
4. If something happens with your first offer and you immediately get a second (or even have a second in waiting), do not expect things to pick up where they left off. You may go back a few steps- even if it doesn't seem to make any sense whatsoever to do so.

I sincerely hope that everything goes will for you with your short sale, and I hope that whatever caused the situation that is requiring a short sale will be ameliorated.