Upcoming Foreclosures

Bank of America Mortgage Apprasial and Underwriters?

I am in the process of getting a mortgage from BOA. This has been an absolute nightmare with incompetent people. My closing date has come and gone and I had to get a 10-day extension. I went through underwriting, got a comittment letter and was approved with conditions (paper work) which I have met. It took 3 weeks for the appraisal to be done. Inspections done. Now a different underwriter at BOA says that everything noted on the apprasial and inspections must be done before they will close. Everything? I can understand if it is major items, like a roof or foundation issue (which is not the case here), or safety items noted as "should be addressed immediately" What about "was not required at the time of construction, however it is recommended as a safety item"? This underwriter told me BOA does not finance AS IS properties and will only finance foreclosure properties if they are in "good" condition. Is this ture? I sent the contract in with my application which clearly states that this is a Fannie Mae Foreclosure AS IS property and also told people at BOA on the phone. The majority of the market today is Bank-Owned Foreclosure AS IS properties. I have completed all the conditions noted on BOA's approval / comittment letter. This new underwriter all of a sudden has added new ones without signing an addendum to the prior condition addendum to change the conditions. Such as, wants my 2008 tax returns completed and filed with the IRS now. Prior underwriter who reviewed everything said in an e-mail "We do not require your 2008 tax returns because the filing due date with the IRS has not passed." Monday I will call BOA and ask to speak to a supervisor. FYI The appraiser discounted a 20,000 in-ground pool because he said it wasn't working. It does if you turn the switch to on. Sorry this is long and Thank you for all answers

Public Comments

1. All of us have to face the facts; everyone is trying to cover their butt's. All I can speak to though is the appraiser issues you bring up. The appraisal is for the lender to make a good buying decision. If it is FHA the guidelines and inspection are a more in depth inspection and requirements. For example, if the power were off in the property when the appraiser was there, nothing would have passed the inspection, all the utilities have to be on and in working order. If there are missing switch plates, they have to be replaced. If light fixture are missing, a fixture must be put in place... As for the pool, it's only a safety concern if not properly fenced. If the property were in a cold climate like Minnesota, pool's generally do not add value and in some cases are a negative value. So don't blame the appraiser for doing their job according to the guidelines. You need to raise hell with that lenders bank manager.
2. Take your loan to another bank. Think about how idiotic that sounds...won't finance an AS IS property but WILL finance a foreclosure? All AS IS means is that the seller won't make any repairs...it doesn't have anything to do with current condition. I have tons of clients that finance through BOA and NONE of them ever were required to turn in an inspection. Seriously....go to another lender..what has happened is that they are probably training a brand new underwriter that doesn't know their arse from a hole in the ground. PS: The other poster claiming to be an "appraiser" is an impostor...b/c if they really were an appraiser, they would know that FHA DOES NOT require an inspection.