Short sales are a part of today’s real estate market. There are millions of families across
the country that have to decide between putting food on the table or paying their mortgage? It can be a difficult choice, and we would never suggest not making your mortgage payment. But on the other hand, if you are in a bind and need to consider a short sale you are going to have to make some difficult decisions that might affect your credit for some years to come. One of those decisions is to stop paying your mortgage.
Once you stop paying, the letters start to come. You’ll probably be inundated with letters from the mortgage companies. The one company neglected by most, but with more power than expected is the Homeowners Association (HOA). These companies take an approach of pay or we’ll make sure your house goes to foreclosure. We have seen it all too many times, where the mortgage companies are in agreement about who gets what and the HOA isn’t getting what it’s owed, but a fraction of that, and the HOA will not release the lien on the property and the house goes to foreclosure. They are tough.
HOAs don’t wait long either. You miss a couple of payments to them and you will be reminded very quickly that they want their money. They normally take action with an attorney right away, and once it’s in the hands of an attorney, the two months you were behind might as well be a year. You will be responsible for all of the fees associated with the missed payments, to include late fees and those dreaded attorney’s fees.
Now I promise to never tell you to stop making your mortgage payments, but I understand if you have to. However, if there is one piece of advice I can share, that is to never miss your HOA payment. If you want to stand any chance whatsoever of being able to short sale your house, be current on your HOA.
