Short Sale Fraud – Freddie Mac Drops A Huge Bomb On Real Estate Investors
Short Sale Fraud – It’s not a law; nor is it an official policy, but it’s definitely going to be a problem regardless. Freddie Mac’s new short sale opinion – for lack of a better word – could create serious legal and practical issues for real estate investors.
The organization posted a new educational article on April 16, 2010 titled “Emerging Fraud Trends: Short Payoff Fraud.” Essentially, the article stated that a short payoff or a short sale can be considered fraudulent if the lender agrees to a short sale that already has a third-party buyer in place that is paying a higher amount than the agreed-upon loan payoff amount. This could mean problems for investors who have been short sale flipping, or negotiating short sales with banks and then selling the properties at a profit.
The article described scenarios and red flags for short sale payoff fraud. The scenario involved a facilitator, whose description matched that of a real estate short sale investor, who negotiated a deal with a lender to short sale a home worth $80,000 with a debt of $100,000 for $70,000. The facilitator does not disclose that he already has an outstanding offer for $95,000 from a second end-buyer. The second the facilitator puts his profits in his pocket, Freddie Mac considers him guilty of fraud because his negotiations caused Freddie Mac to ultimately take a “larger than necessary” loss on the sale of the property.
The posting encourages buyers, sellers and lenders to look out for short sale fraud red flags. These flags include sudden borrower default, a borrower who is current on other obligations and the buyer of the property being an entity rather than a person. The article also tells readers to keep an eye out for resale options in their purchase agreement.
Finally, sellers, buyers and lenders are all encouraged to report this short payoff fraud if they are aware of a second purchase contract for a higher price. This may not yet be a law, but the signs are not good when Freddie Mac has posted such a direct attack on short sale investors.
