Tom Rooney Joins Rob Andrews in Pushing Short Sale Reforms

Earlier this week, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney and New Jersey Democratic U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews reintroduced a measure that would give lenders up to 45 days to decide whether to accept offers. Rooney and Andrews, who introduced a similar bill in 2010, argued that the bill would help jump the real estate economy and lead to an increase of short sales.

In a short sale, the loan owed on the property is less than the proceeds garnered from the sale of the house. Short sales usually take place when the borrower is not able to pay the mortgage and the lender decides to cut their losses through the sale instead of going through the foreclosure process.

Due to the economic crisis, the number of short sales in Florida is rising, but lenders havent always been able to keep pace, said Rooney, who pointed to a study from the National Association of Realtors that found 27 percent of all home sales in the Sunshine State in the last quarter of 2010 were short sales.By requiring lenders to make decisions on short sales within 45 days, this legislation would speed transactions and help prevent homes from going into foreclosure.

Potential buyers can wait for months for a lender to make a decision on a short sale, and that wait often stops a sale from happening, added Andrews. Our bill would require that lenders respond when an offer is made, and will help make sure that these sales happen.Im proud to help Rep. Rooney on this bipartisan effort that will help our constituents who are facing foreclosure.