If you have been considering a short sale, you are probably more than familiar with the term “deficiency” or “deficiency judgment.”
Remember, a deficiency (or deficiency judgment) is defined as the difference between what is owed on your short sale and how much your property sells for.
Lenders are now pursuing these deficiencies relentlessly, making business arrangements with Private Mortgage Insurance Companies and 3rd party collections agencies in effort to cash out on their outstanding debts. BUT, as aggressively as these banks have been pushing us, we experts have devised multiple ways to push right back.
Now here are the TOP 5 WAYS to RID yourself of the dreaded “short sale deficiency” as much as humanly possible
1. Use a 3rd Party Negotiator. Trust me, this is not some “pitch.” This is a tried and true rule of thumb for successfully negotiating your short sale. Our recommended short sale negotiators are completely free to you and your agent, so there is no reason not to. The fact that they have done hundreds of transactions and boast a 94% success rate doesn’t hurt either.
2. Have a complete short sale package! Do not neglect a single aspect of the short sale check list. This assures that the transaction is not held up my “missing bank statements” and “financial sheets.” Although these things appear unimportant, “incomplete” short sale packages cause significant delays in the negotiations process, ultimately cutting time out of the “negotiations phase” while making it extremely difficult for the negotiator to “present the argument” that you cannot afford to pay a deficiency. It always ensures amicable communication between the negotiator and loss mitigator. Your Short Sale Solution Llc
3. Do NOT intervene and begin speaking directly with the lender! There are some local lenders, credit bureaus, etc. who require that they speak directly with the homeowner ONCE or TWICE during the process. As a general rule of thumb, however, it is not wise to speak directly with the lender because of the following two reasons:
a. Loss mitigators are trained to get you to “slip” information that may be used against you
b. Loss mitigators will not take your 3rd party negotiator seriously if you make yourself too accessible
4. Account for every single expense you can think of on your monthly expense/financial sheets. This is extremely important. Do not under report in attempt to appear “financial responsible.” You do not need to feel ashamed or guilty for reporting a negative income or an extremely high debt to income ratio. The less they believe that you can pay the deficient balance, the more they will be inclined to waive or reduce it.
5. Continue negotiating the deficiency AFTER your short sale. If you signed a promissory note for the deficiency or the lender “reserved the right to pursue the deficiency,” I’ve got some news for you. You still have the chance to further reduce your deficiency balance. Should the lender exercise the right to pursue the deficiency via their own efforts, a collections agency or a PMI co, a certified Debt Settlement Expert can help negotiate the debt even further as it is an “unsecured debt” like credit cards. Negotiating unsecured debt is very different from negotiating short sales, therefore you will want to work with a specialist who deals with this particular type of debt.
There you have it, the top 5 ways to rid yourself of a short sale deficiency (that is, outside of filing for bankruptcy).
