With many homes in the foreclosure process and short sales in abundance, wouldn’t you think banks would be eager to assist home sellers these days? Congress has even tried their hand at legislating cooperation, attempting to help home sellers in distress. Only this time there is no hardship. A lender should be a partner in selling a home, not an obstacle, especially and let me repeat again, especially if the homeowner has enough equity in the transaction to fully payoff the loan when the house is sold.

Maybe the real estate industry is the problem with the real estate industry.

In the course of selling Pasadena homes many issues can arise throughout an escrow that have the potential to delay or prolong a closing date. If only it were as simple as an agreement between the buyer and seller.

Time tested litigation now provides for hazard disclosures, title insurance, property tax proration’s, mortgage insurance, and a litany of other reports and documents any time real property is transferred. That’s why selling a home is so expensive and you now have a ream of paper to prove it.

Imagine if you could simplify your agreement and write it on a cocktail napkin. Do you realize how many people it would put out of work? There you go.

Anyway, back to the basis for this article and the resistance that was received as a transaction attempted to close. Before escrow can close a demand payoff is ordered. The bank, the lender, Joe’s pawn shop or whomever holds the lien on the house will provide an amount which will pay the loans upon escrow closing. Or at least they are supposed to.

Trouble arose when the uncooperative lender informed escrow that a payoff demand had to be ordered with a seven day lead time. A previous demand was given but had expired, so another one was ordered and thus the holdup. I had a hard time believing a bank that is going to be paid the full amount due has such a ridiculous policy. Here they are attempting to hold up the transaction forcing the seller to continue paying interest because of their bureaucratic policy. That’s servicing the customer all right.

You may know this bank; they provide pictures of their stagecoaches traversing the rugged plains. Chances are the payoff demand is on that stage! I did not realize that is the actual way their business is conducted.

Instead of $700 billion bailout packages, how about just issuing a congressional directive on common sense and doing what’s right.