by Bob Hunt
 
Concern, frustration, and a fair bit of anger were all sentiments that emerged during discussions of short sales that took place during the recent meetings of the California Association of Realtors® (CAR) in San Diego, Calif. These were not just hallway discussions or after-hours conversations. Short sales were the topic of a variety of different committee meetings and were the subject of action items at the business meeting of the full Board of Directors.

 The subject, of course, is not new. CAR has been actively involved in support of various legislative measures related to short sales. Members and task forces have met with both state and federal legislators and regulators, as well as with representatives from major lending institutions.

In December, CAR president Beth Peerce wrote on behalf of the 170,000 member organization to the Treasury Secretary, Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the CEOs of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In addition to making recommendations about specific aspects of the so-far unsuccessful HAFA program, she also urged that “…Treasury should set forth the underwriting guidelines to which servicers and lenders must adhere. The government’s unwillingness to mandate action by lenders to stem the current housing crisis relegates HAFA to yet another well-intentioned voluntary program, which servicers, lenders, and investors are all too happy to ignore, and which C.A.R. fears will fail.”

While meetings between CAR officers and representatives from major lenders have been, as they say, both frank and cordial, they have yet to result in significant, discernible improvements to short sale processes. At the San Diego meetings CAR Directors authorized funds for an “open letter” campaign in major news outlets. Additionally, CAR will be working with NAR to seek federal legislation addressing a variety of short sale issues.

Lending institutions were not the only target of frustration and occasional anger. Many of the Realtors® in attendance also had some venting to do in the direction of certain of their colleagues. The issue du jour was short sale negotiators (SSNs).