Foreclosures and Short Sales

I'm rather frustrated with the real estate industry lately. My neighbor, a very nice lady whom I'll call Maria, and i think a first generation home owner, recently had to move in with a friend because she needed to someone to take care of her mother. I'm guessing something happened where Maria's mother all of a sudden needed continual care, because Maria has lived next door to me for the past 2 years with her mother as well as her young daughter without anyone taking care of her mother during the day.

When I spoke to her about 4-6 months ago when she said she had to move out, she was planning on either renting the place out or selling when the market got better. Then lo and behold, the house was listed about 2-3 months ago.

Now, first, the for sale sign listed no contact information for a realtor, no phone number to get more information, and no MLS number. Odd, I thought. As our terrible winter progressed into spring, it became apparant that the realtor was also not taking care of the property....grass grows quickly with that much rain.

So, I decided to look into the situation. First, I could find hide nor hair of the home on themlsonline.com. Odd. Then, I googled the realty company (Southwest Realty). I consider myself somewhat web-savvy...and yet, it took me over 3 hours of online research on google, dexonline, white pages, and calling people's personal residences to track down the realtor. Hmmm. This isn't looking good, I think. I'm pretty sure, at this point, that Maria is getting taken by some unsavory character posing as a realtor. So, while I'm waiting for the realtor to return my call, I start searching for realty license - and although there's a somewhat spotty history of licensed and then not licensed - the realtor appears to be legit.

Finally I get a call back from the gentlemen listing the home, and I tell him my concerns:
1. the home does not appear to be on MLS
2. there isn't ANY contact information on the for sale sign
3. no one is maintaining the property

Turns out:
1. This firm doesn't always list homes on MLS. I find this weird and wrong. However, he claims the home is listed and later that day sends me the listing.
2. He claims the realty company was supposed to put his contact information on the sign, and he says he is suprised it's not there. I find it odd he hasn't been out to the property. Today (2 weeks after the initial call), contact information and a information sheet are now next to the sign.
3. Realtor claims Wells Fargo is supposed to hire someone to take care of the property. I ask if I can call Wells Fargo - he says that he can't give me any contact information without written consent from Maria. I don't have that, but I have other connections, so I start calling around and finally get connected with someone who can at least give me information on how this whole process works.
4. listed price is $50,000 under the Hennepin County taxable value of the property

So, apparantly, Maria finds a realtor and he is supposed to list her home. Then, if offers come in that will cover the amount she still owes on the house, and Wells Fargo decides to accept the offer, Maria is off the hook. She makes no money on the property (i'm sure the realtor does - that's going to be my next email to him), and Wells Fargo considers the loan paid. This is considered a short sale.

I asked about the property management, and the guy at Wells Fargo tells me that they only take care of the property when they own the property - which they currently don't because it's a short sale and not a foreclosure. (this is different from what the realtor told me would happen). So I emailed the realtor and he said Maria is supposed to be taking care of the property - ignoring my comment about my Iowa realtor who took care of my property when I was relocated and my question about if he would do the same for Maria.

Additionally, Maria's realtor claims that Wells Fargo is the slowest bank in the industry to respond to short sales offers, and that currently response time is somewhere between 60-90 days. I asked the Wells Fargo guy who is supposed to be on Maria's side...and making sure that she's getting a fair deal out of this? Who's supposed to be making sure that she gets her home listed properly so people actually know it's for sale? (Zillow.com does not show it's for sale....and i couldn't find it on MLS...and I used to LIVE on that site!) Who's supposed to be arguing with Wells Fargo that they need to hurry up and take the offers on the table so her credit ceases to be affected? WHO IS SUPPOSED TO BE MARIA'S ADVOCATE?!?! He said that in a short sale, everyone wins. But I don't see that happening!

Shouldn't someone be taking care of her property since she's unable to, or at least telling her that the bank isn't (like they told her was happening)?? Shouldn't someone be walking her through this process to make sure she's using the most reputable realty company?? And how do you repair credit that's been harmed by something like this?? Shouldn't there be a required session by Wells Fargo on how to recover from this and prevent it in the future??

I'm frustrated that no one is watching out for her! How awesome is it that a single mom was able to buy a house? And then this is what she gets for it when a health issue happens!

And then, let's just get angy for one more bit about the attitude of her other neighbor! I think the neighborly thing to do when you know someone is unable or not present to take care of their property is to help them out. Now, I have THE most difficult time starting my lawn mower...it usually takes me at least 20 minutes and one blister to get the thing going....and then if I have to stop because i'm bagging, we typically start the whole process over again. I'm not the strongest of women, so turning the machine is typically not the most fun....basically, it's a huge workout for me to mow the lawn. That's great. So, I decide that I'm going to at least take care of Maria's front yard until I figure out what's going on. Well, her other neighbor tries to, first, talk to me while I'm mowing...dumbhead. And then asks if I finally got sick of the tall grass!! Well NO! I just think SOMEONE should be looking out for this woman!!!! It would make more sense if the guy who's at least mid-thirties and much stronger than me would take care of her yard, but no! He's just annoyed that someone else isn't!!

So anyway. If anyone has any suggestions on how to better advocate for Maria (really not her real name), please send them my way. I've called her house, but i'm guessing her calls aren't forwarded, so I'm not sure how to get a hold of her anymore to ask how else I can help. Or, if you know how to help expedite short sales, that would be great too. Additionally, any information regarding how realtors are paid on short sales would be appreciated. And lastly, if you know of any advocacy places for foreclosures, short sales, morgages - can you let me know? Something must be done.

Thanks all. Send your prayers out for Maria.
-R