The Short Sale Hardship Letter

Nothing summarizes your need to sell your Mesa home using a short sale more than the short sale hardship letter. A personal letter from you to your lender, the short sale hardship letter contains all the elements the lender needs to see; it describes your circumstances leading to your hardship, it defines your current financial status, and it expresses your remorse for being in the unfortunate position of having to request a short sale.

Let’s take a look at the individual elements of a successful short sale hardship letter, then I’ll provide a few example letters.

Begin at the beginning

Describe where you were in life when you purchased the home, including your income, your business status, your marital status, the number of children at the time of purchase, and the date of purchase for your new home.

I purchased the property at 1234 E Main St, Mesa, Arizona 852xx, in May 2006. My wife and I had just been married and were starting our new life together in our dream home. At the time, we were both fully employed with salaries more than sufficient to afford our mortgage.

Describe your hardship

This is your chance to tell your story. While being succinct, give details as to how you arrived in your current circumstances. What has changed since you got your loan that now makes it difficult or impossible for you to meet your obligations? There are a couple of general categories that work here:

• Permanent change of income (job loss, job change, reduction of wages, commissioned sales)
• Change in health status (increased medical bills, decrease or loss of ability to work)
• Change of marital status (divorce or separation), excessive debt, increased expenses (adjustable rate mortgage going up, uninsured losses, or health care expenses)
• Insufficient cash reserves (liquid assets are not sufficient to maintain your current mortgage and cover basic living expenses at the same time).

In November 2008 my wife was diagnosed with a disease that left her unable to work. As a result, we lost income from her employment in addition to the mounting medical bills. We hoped that our savings could carry us through this rough spot, but now our savings have been nearly depleted and we are unable to maintain our basic living expenses and our mortgage.

Ask forgiveness

You’ve done everything that can be expected of you to make your monthly mortgage payment and meet your commitments, but something has to give. You’re very sorry that you have to ask for the lender to forgive the debt but you have no other alternative short of foreclosure, which you want desperately to avoid. Let the lender know this.

We love our home, but can no longer afford it. In November 2010 we placed our home on the market with Casteel Real Estate Professionals and received a market-value offer in December 2010. I would like nothing more than to sell my home, avoid foreclosure and salvage my credit. I know that a foreclosure will affect my credit for years to come and I’m asking your assistance in avoiding foreclosure.

Please accept this offer as payment in full. After speaking with my attorney, he advised me that bankruptcy is an option, but I would prefer to avoid further damage to my credit. I appreciate your understanding in this matter. If you have any questions, or need anything from me, please contact me at (480) XXX-XXXX.

Respectfully yours,

Your name

Sample short sale hardship letters:

Short sale hardship letter sample 1

Short sale hardship letter sample 2

Short sale hardship letter sample 3

Casteel Real Estate Professionals | 1255 N Estrada Circle, Mesa, Arizona 85207 | 480-694-0662