Bank of America is making a process change that will reduce cycle time and improve customer service for many short sales that are submitted with an offer.
The change goes into effect Dec. 1, 2011, and impacts all short sales submitted with an offer in which the homeowner is eligible for the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) program.
When a short sale is submitted with an offer and the homeowner is HAFA eligible, we will no longer halt work on the file while waiting to contact the homeowner. HAFA eligible homeowners are no longer required to call our Short Sale Customer Care to indicate whether they will participate in the program.
Instead, real estate agents can indicate a homeowner’s HAFA interest by submitting the necessary documents to Equator within 14 days. During that 14-day window, the short sale will continue moving forward. By the end of the 14 days, if we have not received the requested HAFA documents, we will continue to process the file as a traditional short sale.
This change is being made because we are transitioning the processing of all HAFA short sales with an offer from our outsourced vendor partners to Bank of America associates. A Bank of America specialist will be able to seamlessly transition a file from our traditional process to the HAFA process, thus improving customer service and the agent experience. Our outsourced vendor partners will, however, continue to process all short sales submitted without an offer.
Action required:
Short sales initiated on Equator.com that receive a HAFA eligibility message no longer require homeowners to call Customer Care to confirm their interest.- If homeowners wish to participate in HAFA, agents must submit the requested documents within 14 days. (Note: the 14-day period begins the day the HAFA solicitation letter is mailed to the homeowner. Agents can obtain the date of the letter from homeowner.)
- If you are unclear about which documents to submit, contact your short sale specialist via Equator messaging.
Additional Recommendations:
- Help your homeowners understand the benefits a HAFA short sale, including the relocation incentive at closing. Review the agent HAFA education guide to learn more.
- Provide the Bank of America HAFA Eligibility FAQ to interested homeowners.
- Direct homeowners to contact Customer Care at 1.866.880.1232 if they have questions.
