Short Sale Attorneys — Long Island & New York City

The negotiation is the whole job

A short sale requires the bank's approval, and the bank approves based on what it believes the property is worth. That single assumption decides whether a sale closes and on what terms. Servicers routinely start from a valuation that is optimistic in their favor, because a higher assumed value justifies rejecting an offer.

This office negotiates the purchase price with the lender and keeps that market-value assumption honest — with comparable sales, condition, and the real cost the bank faces if it takes the property to auction instead. We also pursue written confirmation that the remaining balance is forgiven, so the debt does not follow you after the closing.

Where a short sale is not the right answer, a loan modification or a defended foreclosure case may keep the home instead. We review all of it in the first conversation.

Second liens: cents on the dollar

When a first and second lien together exceed what the property is worth, the second lienholder is in a weak position. In a foreclosure by the first lender, a fully underwater second recovers nothing.

That is why second liens — home equity loans and lines of credit in particular — will often settle for cents on the dollar. Negotiating that settlement can be the difference between a short sale that closes and one that collapses at the last minute.

Common questions