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Realtors Step Up HAFA Short Sale Efforts

The country's realtors will be striving harder to streamline the short sale process with the help of the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program, after obtaining information on current efforts at the 2010 Realtors Conference in New Orleans.

Vicki Cox Golder, president of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), said that real estate agents from all over the U.S. are complaining that the process remains lengthy and complicated, making short sales less attractive, despite the smoother processing expected from HAFA intervention.

HAFA was launched in April 2010 to encourage short sales by offering incentives to both lenders and borrowers, and setting uniform schedules, forms and procedures to shorten the process. However, servicer implementation and investor cooperation has slowed down its success in many areas.

Golder said that NAR continues to urge mortgage servicers to accept short sale offers that make financial sense to them and help homeowners avoid foreclosure, especially for those who have little or no other choice.

Short sales account for about 12% of recent home purchases, according to the NAR's latest Realtors Conference Index, a key measure of real estate market strength based on a monthly survey of some 50,000 real estate agents.

JK Huey, Wells Fargo's senior vice president for REOs and short sales, said that short sales are often delayed because several decision-makers are involved in the process, including secondary lien holders.

Wells Fargo, one of the leading mortgage lenders in the country, has recently boosted its short sale efforts by hiring more short sale staff and offering short sale education programs, as well as participating in government programs to help ease the process.

The NAR has also recently published a HAFA brochure explaining the program to potential sellers. They have also introduced the Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource Certification for realtors to help them become more efficient in handling distressed home sales.