Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois
Short sale/HUD-1
I owned a 2-unit building that I
became financially unable to keep.
After discussion, the lender's agent
(the company's separate division
targeted to assist homeowners in
need) agreed to submit my request
to the lender for a short sale. I
secured a buyer and the buyer's
finance approval. I was told by this
agent that the lender would not even
look at the contract w/o a HUD-1
attached to it. This seems odd as the
HUD 1 is for settlement? Most title
companies are questioning this. The
lender had not even viewed and
accepted the contract. Is this
normal?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Short sale/HUD-1
Nothing wrong with their request, but I think you are barking up the wrong tree by asking a title company to do this. A title company cannot represent you. You should have an experienced real estate attorney assist you in negotiating this short sale.
Re: Short sale/HUD-1
Most, if not all, banks require a HUD-1 or "Pro Forma Closing Statement" to see what the numbers will be in the proposed short sale closing. The problem is that most title companies in this area won't do a HUD-1 based on a potential closing several weeks or months in the future otherwise they'd spend all their time doing that instead of closing files. Besides that, I would say that generally these short sales are tough to pull off without an expert (attorney or otherwise).
You should know that many attorneys (including myself) will not charge you upfront for a short sale but are instead paid by the bank at the closing (who are also in a sense paying all other closing fees as well). Finally, make sure that the "deficiency" is waived by the Seller's bank.
If you'd like to contact me to discuss some of these details, please do so. I never charge for consultations of this nature.