Short sales program that everybody seems to abandon
November 29th, 2010 | 
Author: At least that what WJS blog suggests. According to their recent post, failures of HAMP are well documented, and it’s cousin HAFA seems to be following HAMP’s footsteps:
HAFA was designed as a cousin to the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program, HAMP, whose woes have been well documented. HAFA works like this: Servicers are supposed to consider short sales for borrowers who aren’t able to receive a HAMP modification. Because some 700,000 HAMP applicants have been ejected from that program, there’s a potentially large pool of borrowers who might be evaluated for HAFA.
Initially announced in May 2009, HAFA was also designed to help reduce wait times by streamlining the short sale process through standardized documents and approaches for short sales.
(…) “It looks good on paper, but you can’t make anyone participate,” says Kevin Kauffman, a Phoenix real-estate agent who says he’s closed 150 short sales but has yet to complete one through HAFA.
Once again, WJS is always quick to judge current administration’s actions. On the other hand, they are right that HAMP more or less is a failure. As for HAFA, it also depends a lot not only on lenders, but on processors. If whoever is trying to negotiated the short sale does not know what they are doing, no government program will be able to help them.
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It has almost always been my opinion that it was the lack of government over sight of the mortgage/banking industry that caused the problem. For those that are calling for the breakup of fanny/Freddy, I think you are miss guided. Both Wall Street and the GSI’s were greedy, nothing more. Wall st via fees and the GSI’s via yield. Both have strong lobbyist arms which have deep and troubling influence. The public was, at the highest levels of government and wall st miss lead. This is not giving the public a pass on being stupid, but the piper played and everyone went along. You will never have a strong consumer advocate government while you have over whelming corporate lobbyist influence over our elected officials. To those of you who still subscribe to laissez-faire capitalism, until you control greed and ignorance, you will continue to doom us to these cycles of boom and bust. Ayn Rands mind set will continue to fail.It is a mess no doubt and with any luck our current government will make good decisions to do the “right” thing and teach people how to fish again so we can get out of this mess!!! They no doubt will hold the largest influence in the solution as it continues to unfold. I know one thing is for certain and that is to get informed and VOTE!!