Some of the big lenders are making grievous errors that are costing homeowners, buyers and their agents time, money and much aggravation. The biggest problem is that oftentimes departments claiming to help borrowers do not communicate. Let’s look at an example.

Let’s say a seller is in the middle of a short sale, almost to the approval phase when, to his excitement, he discovers his loan interest rate has reset and lowered – maybe he can actually afford the payments now, and wouldn’t that be great to keep his home! So he calls the loan modification department, and the representative tells him they can help him work it out, but he must cancel his short sale, so together they contact the short sale department and the seller cancels his short sale.

The seller has nothing in writing stating that his loan modification will be granted, and no promises are made. Here is the issue: the loan modification department let the seller cancel the short sale without providing terms and explaining how any agreements will work, including any monetary consequences involved. If the loan modification does not work out in his favor, the seller may have no options left but to foreclose (unless the lender allows another short sale attempt).

The above scenario is frustrating, and as much as it would make me very happy for all the distressed sellers out there to discover there was a way for them to keep their homes, I do not believe that anyone should make a decision without facts, including either a written offer with terms or a written agreement.

The solution here is for the loan modification department and the short sale departments to communicate and change their policy. Sellers should not be required to cancel their short sales until they know whether they will qualify for a loan modification. Even if they do qualify, they may not like nor be able to afford the new payments. Therefore, there should be a holding period for the short sale, where the seller and the loan modification department have to work out a plan. This period should take no longer than 10-14 days. If at the end of that period the seller is not satisfied with the terms offered, s/he should be able to jump back into the short sale.

This is a simple solution that will prevent unnecessary foreclosures…because NO ONE SHOULD MAKE A DECISION WITHOUT LEARNING ALL THE FACTS AND CONSEQUENCES FIRST. I challenge big lenders to do the right thing and truly help distressed borrowers by not pushing them into a corner from which they may not be able to escape.