Short Sale on an RV

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khenson

Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2010
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7
Has anyone on here done a short sale on an RV before? Here is my scenario:

The seller has been given until the end of the month to sell before her lender repossesses her RV. She called me y'day and did a 3-way conference call to her lender. The lender said I would need to purchase it by the 30th if I want it. He agreed to take a short payoff of her existing loan. $73k on a $93k loan. Here is where it gets sticky. The lender said my transaction would be between myself and the seller. Title will be released to the seller upon my paying $73k to the lender and the seller will be responsible for sending title to me. However, the lender will not put anything in writing. He will not do a short sale written agreement. So, where is my protection? What is to prevent the lender from taking my $73k and then trying to repossess the RV anyway or refusing to release the title? I know whenever a short sale is done i real estate there is a written short sale agreement accompanied by a written purchase agreement. Why would this be any different?

Thanks for your feedback.
 
Is this a reliable lending institution?  Are you certain that you are communicating with the lending institution?
 
I would e a little suspicious.  Get a lawyer, contact the lending institution independantly.

Is the coach worth 73k?  What is it?
 
Citi Financial is the lender. The lender will not speak with me independently because I am not their client.
I suppose I get obtain a written authorization from the seller to do so. I know it can be done with real estate lenders.
The coach is worth $73k. It is a 2008 Holiday Rambler Admiral 34sbd with 7k miles.

 
Kinda sounds like the lender is aware of how much money they stand to lose.  A possible scenario would be that the owner can't pay the lender ANYTHING.  So the lender would take your money .. and possibly not release the title to the owner till they make up the difference.  If the owner never makes up the difference and YOU never get the title .. you might have to pay off the original loan to the lender who holds the title.  I guess you could get the title from the seller the day you give them the 73K ... BUT .. if you only get a promise that the title comes later .. it sounds risky.

If it all went downhill .. legally I guess you could sue the seller .. but I would bet they wouldn't have any money to make good the judgment since they don't seem to have the money to pay off the RV.

For this much cash .. makes sense to take legal advice.
 
Thanks for confirming my suspicions on this! I can not get the title from the seller at time of sale because lender will not release it until they are paid.
 
This is a typical problem involving the purchase of a vehicle from a private party where the title is held as security for a loan.  As someone above mentioned, the only safe way to go about it is to have an attorney act as an escrow.  The coach and the money are delivered to the attorney, the seller signs a bill of sale contingent on payment of the loan and the attorney then supervises the payment to the lender and secures the title, which is then delivered to you with the coach.  To do it any other way requires an dangerous and unnecessary element of trust between you and a stranger at best, or at worst, between you and a faceless money lender.

Be carelful!
 
If you go through with this deal, at the very least, write a note on the back of your PERSONAL check outlining the conditions of this payment. In the note section on the front write the acct# and the words "paid in full". This is to all be done before you mail the check. (also make a photo copy of the check before you mail it) Once the check clears the bank, get a photo copy of the check from your bank, front and back. That was the least, me, myself, I would demand to speak with someone higher up in the company. Get their name, rank, direct phone number, work hours, and their managers name and number. I would then call them to be sure the number is good. I would insist on a written document outlining the deal. If not, I would look for another MH. 73G's is a lot of money, plus what a lawyer would charge to rectify the problem.
J
 
If the lender will not do a short sale contract, then I would walk away. You have no protection f the lender is not a party to the agreement, for the reasons that pigman outlined.  The lender will insist on full repayment of the loan (lien) before releasing title, so your sale agreement with the buyer means nothing. No lien release means no title & no coach and your money is gone.
 
Walk away! I wouldn't touch that with someone elses money, let alone my own. Good deals - straight up and open - are everywhere.  if the lender is actually a bank, which I am not sure I believe, you could make them an offer after they have the vehicle in their possession.

Ray D  ;)
 
I like the way PPL does theirs and was another reason I went there.  I tried to get some things done on the one I bought and they said the seller couldn't do anything, so I figure they were upside down too or close to it Once you sign all the papers and agree to buy it.  They buy the coach from the seller and I assume pay everything off.  The title I have shows PPL as the seller of the motorhome.  All safe and they handle it all.  You are not at risk.
 
Thank you all for the great advice. I will try and get the seller to give me the lender's contact information. If I can deal directly with the lender and get everything in writing I will go forward. Otherwise, I will offer to purchase from lender after they repossess. If they can't do either one, I will walk away.

 
khenson said:
Thank you all for the great advice. I will try and get the seller to give me the lender's contact information.
Click to expand...

Good luck with this.  I believe Citifinancial is part of Citigroup, one of the largest lenders in the US, if not the world.  If this is not a smoking deal, I would walk away, rather than trying to line up a three-way deal myself.  I agree with you that it might be better to let it repo and then attempt to buy it from Citi.  They undoubtedly have specialists for selling repo'd property who will make the transaction easier , and you might be in a better position then to negotiate an even better deal.
 
PStabilist
PPL is essentially a consignment dealer on this one, a good go between, but was the unit involved in a repo?  From what little is written, it doesn't sound like it.  Sounds like any other dealer doing a consignment. 

I know everyone likes to think of buying from a dealer and a salesman is awful, ciz we all lie, and all that BS, but consider your deal, no warranty on a consignment, the short sale, no guarantee of a title, a private sale, no warranty, and you want to hear lies and half truths?!>  Try buying from someone that is upside down and HAS to sell it. 

Good luck with the short sale/repo/ whatever.  Once it gets to the bank there may be a brother in law of a lending officer that wants it.  I have friends that bought a nice Monaco Exec from a bank/repo, took them months to get it.  And no warranty.  Don't forget, people that can't make payments do not do maintenance either!
 
You've already gotten some great advice here; for me, if you can't deal with the lender directly, I wouldn't consider the deal. I easily could see the lender accepting your payment but not releasing title, as the conditions of the original contract have not been fulfilled.

One post here stated to write a check and note on the check 'paid in full'. In California, you can write anything you want on a check and it pretty much means nothing and is not legally enforceable. Most check processing is automated and a real-live person isn't even involved. For example, we could all write 'paid in full' on every check for every loan and once it goes through, we can claim 'hey, it's paid for!' Don't think so; the lender decides when the account has been paid in full.
 
If you are serious, go around the person on the other end of the line. CITI is big enough that you should be able to work the phone and get a hold of the repo dept in less than a day. Just did this with a friend when I found an RV on the brink of being repo'd and referred him to it. Basically his line was go through the expense of repo or work with me (he had pre approved money in hand). I believe he made the call and was called back the same day-they settled within $1000.00 of his offer. The bank took the loss (difference) and over nighted the title to him before he drove off. Perseverance my friend!
 
I know everyone likes to think of buying from a dealer and a salesman is  awful, ciz we all lie...
Click to expand...

Hate to disappoint you Bill, but you've been around here too long and made too many friends for anyone to believe that. Most folks won't know that you were a member of the forum staff for a number of years, and have made many great contributions to our message/knowledge base.
 
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