Citimortgage
Short Sale Expert Rule Cost Us a Firm Sale Contract

There are two of us. One lost a job in the weak economy and is unemployed, and the other lives on Social Security disability. Every house payment we made was complete and punctual. After almost a year, CitiMortgage finally had someone phone us about our case and tell us the next steps.

One agent there said that to be considered for any modification, we needed to MISS A PAYMENT. This went against everything we valued, including a credit score above 820, but we skipped a payment. Right away the calls began.

We applied for a modification but it was not approved, since our income was too low to support it, and we could not obtain that answer in writing. Next we were granted a partial forbearance of 3 months and later one of 6 months. All the while we kept the house listed, but no buyer made an offer. Finally we pulled the listing, our extended unemployment benefits ended, and we asked CitiMortgage if it would look at a buyer offering roughly $15,000 less, supposing we found someone willing to sign a contract. The reply was no; any contract had to be handled by a short sale expert, and we objected that once that expert's commission and other costs were deducted, CitiMortgage would lose several hundred thousand dollars on a house worth a million. Still, they insisted that only a short sale expert was acceptable.

Only 3 days after the listing came down, a buyer gave us a firm contract for $20,000 under what we owed on the first and second mortgages. We called CitiMortgage to say we held a signed contract, closing in 6 weeks, and asked if a deal was possible. I was passed to the short sale department, where an agent said it was out of the question and that we must hire a short sale expert and go that route. The contract was lost, though we had countered their offer with $39,000, more to cover the realtors' commission.

We lack the money for another partial forbearance payment. The house could have been sold. Instead we face either a short sale or foreclosure, and we are in serious trouble.

Company: Citimortgage
Country: USA
State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
ZIP: 89117
Address: 8725 West Sahara Ave
Site: citimortgage.com

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