San Diego homeowners who are considering a short sale of their troubled properties can rest easier today after Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 458. The new law broadens previous short sales laws. The previous law allowed homeowners to sell their homes at a value less than their existing mortgage value and the mortgage holder had to agree that the sale was accepted as full payment of the obligation, with no recourse. Approximately 18% of all home sales in June, in San Diego, were short sales.
The new law, Senate Bill 458 requires the same "no recourse" treatment for any secondary, or other junior loans involved in the transaction. Up until now, it was possible for a homeowner to successfully complete a short sale, only to have the lender come back at a later date and require full payment for any short-falls.
Local real estate agents are applauding the new law. Short sales are extremely difficult under any conditions. Because of the time-consuming complexities, many real estate agents employ other agents, who specialize in short sale processing, to work with the lenders.
A short sale transaction may take several months to complete because of the inability of lenders to make timely decisions. These same local real estate agents are now concerned that the lenders may take even longer deciding the merits of a short sale.
Your comments are always welcome.
Comments