Homecomings - Better yet Homes Going, Going, Gone

Jolie & John Smith listed their property for sale over a year ago. They bought this little house as an investment when the real estate boom was hot. They took out a line of credit on their home to purchase this property, fixed it up and put it back on the market in the hopes of making a little money.
Then came the real estate crisis – nothing was selling, they tried to rent it out but the rent was not covering the mortgage and the tenants stopped paying the rent so they had to evict. Meanwhile they were coming out of pocket for over a year on this property causing their savings to run out. The Smiths then started to fall behind on the mortgages for both the investment property and their primary residence. To make matters worse, John lost his job causing them to barely cover their living expenses.
We listed their house as a short sale – their property was now “upside down”, they owed more than what the house was worth. The house appraised at $235,000 and they owed $342,000. On July 11, 2007 we received an offer for $185,000 CASH, we promptly submitted the offer to the bank, but unfortunately it was declined.
On September 18, 2007 we received a second offer at $165,000 CASH, and again, the bank declined the offer. We received another offer on September 21, 2007 for $180,000, which was once again declined by the bank.
Meanwhile the clock was ticking towards the foreclosure sale date which was scheduled for December 13, 2007. On October 10, 2007 we submitted an offer for $215,000, the buyers were renting but were getting married and wanted to move in by the end of December. We passed this information along to the bank’s negotiator. Between October 11- 19th we left four (4) voice mails requesting a return call from the negotiator with no immediate success. Finally on October 19th, we got through to one of the customer service representatives who sent an e-mail to the assigned negotiator while we were on hold. Thank God for e-mail because it was the only way to get him to respond to the urgency of this file and remind him that this home was going into foreclosure the following month. While speaking with the negotiator, we asked if the offer presented was a solid one. He assured us that this was a very good offer, and that he was just trying to get the second lien holder (who was also with Homecomings) to sign off on the deal.
On October 25, 2007 the negotiator advised us that he was really busy with October closings but this file was on his priority list for the upcoming month. Meanwhile the buyer’s were getting anxious and worried that they needed to find a place soon.
From November 1st – 28th we left a total of 17 messages for the negotiator asking for an update on the status of the file. Once again, there was no sense of urgency on this file and we never received a follow up phone call. Meanwhile we were explaining to the buyer’s agent that we needed approval from the second lien holder, and to please be patient. We were also sending out letters to the bank’s attorney to get a postponement on the sale date to buy time for the second lien holder to approve the offer.
On December 10, 2007 we still had not received any news from the negotiator. We were able to reach an operator for assistance only to find out that this negotiator was no longer employed by Homecomings. Needless to say we were shocked and concerned. At the same time we were able to contact the second lien holder directly and he told us that on November 29, 2007, he had received an e-mail from the terminated negotiator informing him that our deal was dead. He then went ahead and closed the file.
On December 12, 2007, a new negotiator called us ready to close on the deal. Unfortunately due to the terrible mismanagement of this file we lost a very qualified and patient buyer. Now, the seller is at a loss still facing foreclosure and the investor backing this loan will continue to hold a non performing asset losing the chance to recuperate some of their loses.
Shame on you HOMECOMINGS for allowing an incompetent negotiator over two months to review this file only to terminate this employee and then let this file sit on a desk unassigned! Why can't an assigned third party get a supervisor on the phone that can help expedite the process when this situation occurs?
Where is the customer service??? Who is reponsible for monitoring and managing the LOSS MITIGATION DEPARTMENT???