Bank of America and Equator: Hints for Short Sale Success

Wendy Rulnick — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:41:58 +0000

If you and your short sale sellers are having problems with Bank of America and Equator (formerly Reotrans), you are not alone. My team and I have been “experimenting” with the new short sale upload system since we’ve been forced to start using it two weeks ago. Not only does the short sale agent have to use Equator, so does the short sale seller. The idiosyncrasies of the software can be intimidating– even to a savvy internet user.

Passwords don’t work, information is wiped out, and files are rejected for reason code: OTHER.

Today a Destin short sale seller came into my office for help entering his financial information. We had already uploaded his last two years tax returns, last two months bank statements and last two paystubs by separate pdf. After entering his information and filling out thirty plus data fields, his information was WIPED out three times by Equator. WHY? He hit the back-button! But did we give up? No way! After a while, through trial and error, we found some tips to help you along your Bank of America-Equator journey.

Remember to have your seller log onto bankofamerica.com/shortsale (no www). He should already have his password, after registering at 1-866-677-2516 and having one emailed to him.

There are NO DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS, but these hints will help you to success:

The system does not accept commas in all numeric fields. It will kick out entries with commas in the lower section of the seller financial fields, those underneath the income section. (Some may find it difficult, for example, typing 100000.00 and keeping track of the correct number, but that is what it wants.)
The seller can only “Save for Later” if they fill out a complete section on the screen, from the BLUE to BLUE (HELP to HELP) area of the form. Otherwise, the info will be WIPED OUT!
When totalling numeric fields (like expenses, for example), click OUTSIDE the data entry field to the right of the “total” at the bottom of the column. Don’t try to add up the fields. This will add them up for you. ( I know it makes no sense).

Finally, if you want CHAT HELP, there is no button. or link on the screen.. I knew there was a CHAT, so I called the Equator Tech Line 310-469-9167. (Expect to be on hold for thirty minutes to three hours). After finally getting through, and being put on hold for twenty minutes, they came up with this to find CHAT:

Click on the HELP button at the top of the screen. In the “Search” field, type in the word “CHAT”, then an icon will appear. I am sure you would have figured that out on your own, right?

That’s all for today. For more Equator hints, check back here and on the Short Sale Superstars Equator group. Until then, happy typing!

It’s Wendy!

Wendy Rulnick, Broker, CRP, CRS, GRI, ABR Rulnick Realty, Inc.

Destin FL Real Estate

Destin Short Sales & Pre Foreclosure Help.

Read Wendy’s Destin Real Estate Blog

For Agents: www.ShortSaleSuperstars.com

Call toll-free 1-877-ITS-WNDY (1-877-487-9639) or local 850-650-7883 ext 204

Email Wendy: itswendy@rulnickrealty.com

Wendy is a short sale and pre-foreclosure specialist and has been featured in “Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine” and “Florida Realtor Magazine”. Call Wendy Rulnick, Broker/Owner,to list and sell your home or condo on the Emerald Coast of Florida in Walton, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa County- Destin, Santa Rosa Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Bluewater Bay, Navarre, Seagrove Beach, Watercolor, Sandestin, Seaside, Crestview, Rosemary Beach, Mary Esther, Shalimar, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field.

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The post Bank of America and Equator: Hints for Short Sale Success first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

Bank of America & Equator: Are We Guinea Pigs on a Treadmill?

Wendy Rulnick — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:57:42 +0000

If you haven’t heard recently, Bank of America short sales are getting even… well, weirder. Their new plan is to implement an online system where real estate agents and borrowers can upload their own short sale information. It sounds great– and it would be–if it worked. OK, you might have heard one or two success stories, but I can tell you from practical experience, until this system is refined your Bank of America short sales might take… longer!

The new system is called Equator, formally REOTrans. It is really a jerry-rigged uploading site that is also used for foreclosure (REO) offers to Bank of America. Here is my experience with it so far.

Day 1: I fax in my package to Bank of America for a new Destin short sale

Day 7: I call in to confirm the fax was received, as it takes Bank of America several days to recognize new faxes. No, and they cannot find my loan number. There is no such loan number! Huh? I call my seller. She says the loan number was changed in the past week.

Day 10: After faxing in a new authorization, I call Bank of America (BOFA) back with the new loan number. They said they changed the loan number because this file is going to their new online system, Equator. They instruct me to upload my short sale package online. My seller must also call in to get her own special password to use the system and upload her own financial documents.

Day 11: My seller calls BOFA during the day from work. She is on hold over one hour and transferred twice. During her hold time, she emails me “Still on hold, but they ‘look forward to talking’ with me soon’”. After she completes her call she tells me “I cannot believe this is what you deal with all day”. She forwards me her password so I may upload all her documents for her. This means, all the tax returns, bank statements, financial worksheet, paystubs, etc. Each document must be scanned into our computer system as a separate file so we can upload them when asked.

Day 12: We try to access Equator with my seller’s password. Login fails. No luck.

Day 13: We log in under my agent id. Here we upload our authorization and answer questions about the offer. Non-invasive questions like, “What is the buyer’s birth date? What are the first five digits of the buyer’s social security?”

FINALLY, we get to the offer amount. Let’s use $160,000 as an example. OFFER REJECTED – insufficient. HUH? The last sale in this Destin condo complex was $150,000. So, why is our $160,000 offer insufficient? Who can I talk to? The machine? I call Bank of America and they repeat, the system says “insufficient”, didn’t I get a rejection email? “From generic.negotiator@bankofamerica.com”, I told them. Well, that is who you should email, I am told by the BOFA rep. “You are kidding, I am to email the “generic” negotiator?” The rep says, “Yes, that email is checked by different negotiators all day”. OK, who am I to question the authority of Bank of America? I email generic.negotiator@bankofamerica.com (like an idiot) and of course the email address is invalid.

Day 14: Today. Plan B. I’ll let you know how it goes. And I wish you better luck with Equator.