When homeowners want to sell their house as a short sale, the bank will often request a document called a hardship letter. This is simply a letter detailing the nature of the hardship to determine if the sale will be allowed to go through or not. Here are some tips for writing a hardship letter to get approved for short sales.
Does your situation meet the requirements of a hardship?
Notice the letter isn’t referred to as a financial hardship letter, but simply
as a hardship letter. This is because a hardship isn’t solely based on your
financial status. It can be any situation that is making the ability to meet
your financial obligation for your mortgage payment difficult. Being
upside-down in your loan is one of the requirements of a hardship, but your
request won’t usually be granted solely because of that reason. Common reasons
homeowners write hardship letters include divorce or other difficulties in
their marriage, loss of employment, military deployment, death of a spouse, or
necessary home repairs that are out of the financial means of the homeowner.
3 key elements all hardship letters need
Before you begin writing, make sure your letter addresses your name, property
address, and account number. When you write your hardship letter, you need to
detail three very important points. The first topic you need to cover is the
circumstances at the time your loan closed on the house and how your hardship
situation occurred. Give every aspect you can–it’s important to show the full
scope of the event you’re dealing with. Then, cover the ways you have attempted
to remedy the situation to get back on track with your mortgage. The last point
you need to cover is about why you feel this situation will not change. Make it
clear the approval of your short sale request is the best, if not only,
solution.
Common mistakes in hardship letters
It’s hard to see your current situation laid out in black and white. When you
read it, you might be tempted to put in something that will show your plans for
your life to improve. This isn’t the place to do that. Make sure your letter is
coherent and easy to follow. It is important to convey your situation in detail
without it turning into a novel.
Stay away from online templates
A quick check on Google for “how to write a hardship letter”
will bring you a lot of templates. Most of them are filled with bad grammar,
bad format, and bad advice. Plus, it’s a good bet that your bank is familiar with
a number of the pre-written hardship letters out there. You get one chance to
make this request, so do it right. Talk one-on-one with whomever you’re doing
your short sale through to get the scoop for writing a properly written
hardship letter that applies to your individual situation.
Knowing how to properly craft a hardship letter is the first step to making the process of your short sale go as smoothly as possible. Use these tips to help draft a letter that will get your short sale request approved.
Need help making sense of your Jacksonville, NC real estate options? Contact Blue Hen Homebuyers at info@bluehenhomebuyers.com.