Second Mortgage Lender May Cause Short Sale To Fail

Added September 19, 2008 by Ilyce R. Glink

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Summary: When you're selling a home and you have two mortgages, you have to work with both mortgage lenders. Your mortgage lenders are among the parties who negotiate a short sale. If one of the lenders who negotiates the short sale does not agree, the short sale may not occur. Second lien holders such as PMI companies or HELOC lenders want to recoup some of their money and may scuttle a short sale if they're not included.

Q: My husband and I are in the process of selling our home, which is a short sale. We have two mortgages on the house. One of the loans is interest-only.

The primary lender is being very helpful and the second lender is not returning my calls. We found out today that if the buyers cannot see that these companies are going to cooperate soon, then they are going to take the offer off the table.

What can I do to get the second to call me back? Should I go over their head? We cannot afford for them to cost us the sale of this house.

What can I do? I have called the second lender's negotiator three times and the supervisor of the department three times and no one is calling back.

Do you have any suggestions?

A: You're in a very tough situation - but one that is shared by so many people nationwide. Second mortgage companies have been wiped out entirely in short sales because the primary lien holder (the first lender) wants as much money as possible. To "stick it" to the first lender, the second lenders just don't do anything, causing the deals to go south.

If you can figure out a way to offer the second mortgage company something, then you might get them to respond. (Please note my previous response.)

You might also want to try moving up the food chain to see if you can find someone with authority at the bank to return your calls and see if your situation can be resolved.

You might also want to call your primary lender to see if they have contacts at your second lender's office that can assist you in obtaining an answer. You can also talk with a real estate attorney to see if having him or her write a letter or pick up the phone will help you get the second lender's attention.

Sept. 19, 2008.

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