Bank Rejects Full Price Short Sale Offer, Prefers To F'close Instead; Fannie, Loan Servicer Mum, Despite Homeowner-Signed Waiver Allowing Comment

In Vancouver, Washington, KATU-TV Channel 2 reports:

• Stacy Baker fought for two years to sell her father’s house and to keep it from being auctioned off, but lost the fight even after her real estate agent said an offer was made to the bank that met its own conditions.

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• Baker’s real estate agent, Aaron Signor, first tried to sell the house for about what was owed, but at $179,000 it didn’t sell. Over the following months, they lowered the price and got an offer at $134,000. But Flagstar Bank, which services the mortgage on the house, rejected the offer, saying the house was worth $150,000.

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• But then just days before the Baker house was set to be auctioned off, Signore said he brought Flagstar a viable $150,000 non-FHA offer, which is just what Flagstar asked for. “Even the processor at the lender – Flagstar Bank – she thought, ‘Hey, you got an offer full price, we’ll get the foreclosure stopped; we’ll make it go away; we’ll have a sale.’ She calls me back and says, ‘sorry.’”

• Signor was so confused, he began digging deeper and found the loan on the Baker house was held not by Flagstar but by Fannie Mae, which is another government-sponsored organization. It buys loans from banks with the goal of adding “stability to the housing and mortgage markets.” It’s that quasi-governmental enterprise that, along with Flagstar Bank, said, “No,” to allowing Stacy Baker to sell her father’s house. “Why would they foreclose on a home when they have exactly what they just said, “Yes,” to in their hand and opt to foreclose instead?” Signor asked.

• Baker signed a waiver so Fannie Mae could speak to a reporter, but the organization still declined to do so, leaving the taxpayer wondering what is going on; instead, Amy Bonitatibus, spokeswoman for Fannie Mae, said in a statement: “Fannie Mae’s top priority is to keep borrowers in their homes. … Unfortunately, foreclosure is the only option when all other foreclosure alternatives have been considered and exhausted.”

• Fannie Mae told a reporter to speak to Flagstar. The bank’s senior manager, John Matthews, said, “We as a bank would have no comment on a specific file with you. I appreciate your investigative efforts, but this matter would not be for public discussion.”

For the story, see Realtor, home seller baffled when bank rejects its own offer.