Expert: Jay Denit - 11/13/2008

Question
I recently put in an offer on a short sale home in Las Vegas.  I agreed to purchase per the sellers terms at the listed selling price since it was such a great deal.

At the time of the sales contract we found out the seller recieved a notice of default on 9/19/2008.  Our offer was put into place on 10/16.

2 weeks after the offer was accepted we got an email from the seller saying the mortgage company (american home mortgage) and the investor rejected our offer and would proceed with forclosure.

I spoke to the seller and they still want to do the deal but the "investor" rejected the offer.

Why would the investor want to proceed with forclosure if a solid offer to buy was out there?  I would think the investor would want or need to get this home off the books given the situation with the industry.

Do I have any recourse here?  The whole thing seems a bit fishy to me.

Do you have any ideas?

Thanks,
Chris


Answer
Hi Chris,

As hokey as it sounds, you don't have any recourse and lenders are doing the exact same thing as your situation all over the country.

Some of it has to do with the lenders loans being insured and some of it has to do with lender stupidity.  Unfortunately, right now the lenders aren't helping themselves liquidate properties.

I wish I had a better answer for you, but there really isn't anything you can do to change the lenders mind.

Best of Luck!