Bipartisan Prompt Notification of Short Sale Act Introduced

Statement

Last week, Congressman Tom Rooney (R-FL) and Congresswoman Lois Frankel (D-FL) introduced the Prompt Notification of Short Sale Act, bipartisan legislation which will streamline the short sale process, helping families avoid foreclosure while protecting the housing market.

"A robust housing market is critical to growing our economy and creating jobs in Florida," Rep. Rooney said. "Although we've progressed since the trying times of the 2008 housing collapse, we are far from clearing out our nation's backlog of short-sale homes. By streamlining short sales, we can help keep homes out of foreclosure, fuel growth in the housing market, and deliver a needed boost to Florida's economy."

"As a former mayor, I know the importance of homeownership to keep neighborhoods safe clean and stable," Rep. Frankel said. "This legislation will help prevent properties from deteriorating and put them in the hands of caring families."

The current short sale process can be time consuming and inefficient for both buyers and sellers. The Prompt Notification of Short Sale Act addresses the inefficiencies of the current short sale process by requiring the lender to acknowledge the request for a short sale within three-days of receipt from the borrower. The mortgage servicer is then required to provide notice of any missing or incomplete information within five-days of receipt of a short sale request, and must decide whether to accept an offer of a short sale within 30-days of the request.

The bill allows for the 30 day response time to be extended to 60 days in exceptional situations, but the lender must notify the borrower that the application is still under review and provide the borrower weekly updates on the reasons for the delay. Violators of the imposed timeline will be faced with a fine of $1,000 plus attorneys' fees per violation.

This legislation is supported by the National Association of Realtors.

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