I have a short sale in progress and it's becoming a little more difficult than I hoped. The couple on the mortgage is divorced and she moved many states away. The divorce paperwork only states that neither can interfere with the sale of the property but that's all. Is it possible for the exwife to sign a Power of Attorney allowing the exhusband to sign for her on all documents requiring her signature or does that only work in times where the person is incapacitated for some reason? I asked the lienholder and they said to consult an attorney and then if they say its ok, fax it with the short sale package. I take it to mean that this person doesn't know the answer.

Hi Justin, give me just a moment and I will obtain the answer for your from our Ohio Division. I dont want to misquote due to the various laws that apply in various states.

That would be greatly appreciated! Also, do power of attorney forms require witnesses or can I leave that out and just have the exwife sign and the notary sign? Does the exhusband need to sign?

Ohio no longer requires witnesses. I would recommend having witnesses regardless, only because an attorney would see a divorce and then a spouse signing for another spouse. That raises red flags in regards to possible forgeries. I'm sure that isnt the case here, but you dont want those red flags on your transaction.

Only the person granting the POA is required to sign. So the exhusband would not need to sign.

Take a mental note that the POA would have to be prepared and provided to the lender for their approval as well.

Hey Justin! Good news!

If the lender allows for the use of a POA then the ex-wife can sign a POA over to her husband. What they noticed was that you said the wife is out of state. So if she signs a POA in a state where witnesses are required, then she must have the witnesses.

They also made mention of a second option that might appeal to you. You can have the documents sent to the wife for signing and then sent on to the Husband for signing. Then there would be no POA needed.

Thanks for the answer! We do plan on trying to send paperwork back and forth but because of some time restraints, it might be a wiser idea to obtain a power of attorney specifically for this transaction.