Renaissance Realty Group’s Blog: Short Sales For Homes with VA Loans

If the borrower is unable to sell the property for an amount that is greater than or equal to what
he/she owes on the loan, including closing costs, VA may pay a "compromise claim" for the
difference in order to allow the private sale to go through. The borrower can sell the property to a
buyer who gets his/her own financing or to a buyer who wants to assume the loan. However,
with a compromise assumption, the lender does have to agree to have the amount of its guaranty
reduced by the amount of the claim payment.
In order to be considered for a compromise sale, several factors must be considered:

• The property must be sold for fair market value.
• The closing costs must be reasonable and customary.
• The compromise sale must be less costly for the Government than foreclosure.
• There must be a financial hardship on the part of the seller.
• On loans that originated on or before December 31, 1989, the seller must be willing to sign a promissory note.
• There must be no second liens or other liens (unless the amount is insignificant). In situations whereby there are second liens or other liens, the seller can request that the lien holder consider releasing the lien and converting the loan to a personal loan.
• The seller must first obtain a sales contract in order to be considered for the program.
• To protect the seller's interest, the seller should make the sales contract contingent and/or subject to the approval of a VA compromise sale