Hello BP, We are trying to work with Chase Bank on a short sale. The existing mortgage is around $80,000 and we offered $25,000. We sent a preliminary letter of disclosure for potential short sale and are waiting to hear back. The issue is that the current owner (not occupying) is still making mortgage payments, so the bank thinks everything is alright. What they don't know is that the house has been deemed unsafe by the city and we've talked to the building commissioner to hault tearing down the property. Our understanding is that the bank will have to send out a broker to appraise the house in order to move forward. Is there any way that we can assist the process and for lack of a better word, "convince" Chase Bank that they should accept our offer or at least negotiate with us? Note: The owner wants to sell asap to get the property off his back and has verbally agreed to our offer. I know that doesn't mean much other than the fact he is motivated and the decision is up to the bank now. Thank you! -Austin

Chase is not the owner of the property. Sending them letters or trying to negotiate with them directly is a waste of your time. The fact the property is worth less than what is owed or even that it is about to be torn down is not in itself a qualifying financial seller hardship. Because there is an entire short sale process involved that no one involved currently seems to understand, it would be best to bring this to a good short sale realtor, or attorney or negotiator to get it moving in the right direction. 

Offer needs to be written not verbal. Seller needs to accept offer. Offer needs to be submitted to Chase short sale department along with all of the seller’s financial/hardship documents, Chase will order appraisal or BPO to confirm that your offer is realistic, Chase will review seller’s situation to see if they qualify for any sort of assistance. Simply being underwater may not be enough of a hardship for a short sale to be approved. Final approval will ultimately be up to the investor.

There are other/additional factors as well. For example, the property may need to be listed for sale prior to accepting your offer and may need to be in MLS prior to accepting offers, etc. so I do agree with the above comment that it is usually best to contact a local negotiator/attorney who can walk you through what the next steps are. Wouldn't hurt for the homeowner/seller to open the line of communication with Chase about their intentions to get the ball rolling.

Do you guys have an experienced shirt sale agent involved? If not, stop, start over.  Not sure what a “preliminary letter of disclosure....” is, never saw one in a short sale. 

It’s always easier to get a short sale reviewed if the owner has stopped payments. No matter the value of the asset, if the owner has assets and the ability to afford the payments, getting an approval is slim. 

Many times when borrowers are current, the servicers do think everything is alright. They are in the lending business and who doesn't like when people pay their bills on time? Also, short sales require real estate paperwork, seller financials, etc so not sure if you are goign about this the right way.

I've done lots of short sales and never heard of a "preliminary letter of disclosure for potential short sale".   Sounds like a fancy way of saying you're clueless. LOL  (sorry)

You need to send Chase's Short Sale Department a "3rd Party Authorization" and request to initiate a short sale.  All the facts about the house should be included in the "Hardship Letter" portion of the Short Sale Package, and should also be detailed with the Appraiser that comes out to value the property.