Cautionary Tale Regarding Wells Fargo

 

The Sarasota Herald Tribune recently published an article that stated that Wells Fargo had a short sale incentive/fast track program in place. The article, which is consistent with other published articles we have seen, suggested that Wells Fargo would be willing to fast track short sale approvals and even make payments to short sale sellers under certain circumstances to encourage sellers to participate. As you can imagine, we received a flurry of phone calls and did some digging.

We contacted Wells Fargo’s media department, and they confirmed that Wells Fargo does indeed have such a program.  However, they could provide no details. We then had each of our five short sale team members independently contact several Wells Fargo negotiators regarding the article. In each case, the Wells Fargo negotiators denied any knowledge of such a program (and in one instance, did so after reviewing the article we supplied to them). Indeed, if Wells Fargo has such a program, it seems that none of the actual Wells Fargo short sale negotiators have actually been advised of the program.  

Please keep this in mind when establishing expectations for short sale sellers who have Wells Fargo mortgages.

GET FLOOD INSURANCE NOW FOR CLOSINGS AFTER NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Please be advised that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is set to once again expire at midnight on Friday, November 18, 2011 unless it is reauthorized by Congress and signed by the President prior to November 18, 2011.

Therefore, Buyers of property who require flood insurance are strongly advised to make application and pay for flood insurance before 5:00 p.m. on November 18, 2011 to avoid any flood insurance hiatus and be able to still close any time after November 18, 2011.

If that is not possible, an alternative is for the Seller’s existing flood policy to be assigned by the Insured Seller to the Buyer.

A reminder that cash buyers will still have a thirty (30) day waiting period from when they make application and pay the premium before their flood insurance can be bound, even if they apply for and pay for flood insurance prior to November 18, 2011. Please keep that important thirty day widow in mind when setting closing dates for cash Buyers who want flood insurance.

Please contact us if you have any questions.