With each new short sale case, there are new revelations and connections to be made. We’re finding that lenders are filing Notice of Default with less and less “notice” these days, sending homeowners into a spin of panic. A homeowner recently called us and said he had 1 week until his foreclosure date. With Wells Fargo, this foreclosure stop is many times doable, but with this one the road block ended up to be the “waiting” for investor approval, which ended up being Freddie Mac. So, Wells Fargo got our short sale package quick, but when it hits the desk of Freddie Mac we WAIT to hear. Well, on our team, we can’t stand waiting – so our short sale manager, Edson (on his day off), called and hounded Freddie until someone would help him. He actually started with the 800# and worked his way through the loop. The Freddie Mac rep gathered tons more info from him and then we had to wait again to get approval from the “trustee” directly. In this case, having a law firm involved made a big difference, in that Freddie Mac called our attorneys we partner with first – and then our team. With 5 hours to go – the clock was stopped! Congrats to the homeowner on Cox Neck Rd in Chester, MD on this first step. We’re working on the next hurdles as we speak. Now, as for the Freddie Mac angle, news just hit the wire concerning the trends of increased Freddie Mac short sales:

June 30, 2010 – Freddie Mac CEO Ed Haldeman said the company has seen the number of its short sales increase 600% from 2008 as lenders look to dampen the impact of foreclosures hitting the marketplace.In a statement put out this week, Haldeman said Freddie Mac is doing everything it can to prevent more foreclosures, and that short sales are becoming an ever-popular tool in situations where foreclosure is imminent and modifications have failed. That number could increase as the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program takes hold. The Treasury Department launched it in April to provide cash incentives to servicers for conducting short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure.