We successfully did a short sale on our primary home last fall after chapter 7 earlier in the year. The house sold about $13,000 less than the mortgage payoff so the bank made out ok as far as we are concerned (better than foreclosure). We did not reaffirm and stopped making payments last January, sold in September, closed end of October. The bank of course picked up all costs related to the sale (commissions, taxes, seller credit for fixes after inspection etc). We were not bringing anything to the table and made it clear to the bank and as our obligation had been discharged it was up to them to either take the offer and take care of all aspects of it or foreclose (we would of just stayed rent free saving money until we had to move if that were the case).
One thing the bank did try (and is still trying to do) is they wanted us to sign 2 documents for the closing that had to do with basically a gag order. Because we were the sellers we had signed the closing papers about 4 days ahead of closing as we were going to be out of town for closing day. The day after closing the bank called us to say they forgot to have us sign 2 other documents for closing. The emailed over to me at work and said to sign and have notarized then send back or drop off to them. The 2 documents they want us to sign were both gag orders stating that we would never talk about the details of the short sale to or with anyone, forever....not the appraisal (there may be an issue with the fact that the appraisal company appraised much higher 3 years ago when we built the house compared to the comps in the area and this was not brought to our attention until the short sale), not the price it sold for (although it is public record), not the banks contribution to the closing table (everything they paid for) or anything else that had to do with this sale. We have not signed those papers (had 2 attorneys look at them and both said they could not tell us to sign them, the bank is furious with us right now. As I was suspicious right from the start about these documents someone not so familar with real estate documents might just go ahead and sign whatever is put in front of them, so be cautious to say the least. We are hearing that the banks are starting to do things like this in case of law suits regarding appraisal issues or class action suits against banks. My husband laughed at the prospect of someone wanting me to sign a paper to keep me quiet on a subject for the rest of my life?????
One thing the bank did try (and is still trying to do) is they wanted us to sign 2 documents for the closing that had to do with basically a gag order. Because we were the sellers we had signed the closing papers about 4 days ahead of closing as we were going to be out of town for closing day. The day after closing the bank called us to say they forgot to have us sign 2 other documents for closing. The emailed over to me at work and said to sign and have notarized then send back or drop off to them. The 2 documents they want us to sign were both gag orders stating that we would never talk about the details of the short sale to or with anyone, forever....not the appraisal (there may be an issue with the fact that the appraisal company appraised much higher 3 years ago when we built the house compared to the comps in the area and this was not brought to our attention until the short sale), not the price it sold for (although it is public record), not the banks contribution to the closing table (everything they paid for) or anything else that had to do with this sale. We have not signed those papers (had 2 attorneys look at them and both said they could not tell us to sign them, the bank is furious with us right now. As I was suspicious right from the start about these documents someone not so familar with real estate documents might just go ahead and sign whatever is put in front of them, so be cautious to say the least. We are hearing that the banks are starting to do things like this in case of law suits regarding appraisal issues or class action suits against banks. My husband laughed at the prospect of someone wanting me to sign a paper to keep me quiet on a subject for the rest of my life?????
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