Know whose rules you are playing by.
Every short sale runs on the investor's guidelines and the servicer's process. This hub explains how the major loan types approach short sales, so homeowners, agents, and buyer agents start every file with the right playbook instead of a generic one.
The first question on any short-sale file is almost always the same: what kind of loan is it? FHA, VA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, a conventional mortgage, or a portfolio loan kept on a bank's own books each brings different rules and different approval paths, and each investor and program has its own short-sale guidelines, documentation, approval process, and timeline. The pages below are overviews built for orientation, not a substitute for the investor's current guidelines or your servicer's exact process.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Government-sponsored enterprise loans and their short-sale and alternative-to-foreclosure framework.
Read the framework 02FHA loans
The FHA pre-foreclosure sale framework and what the servicer must approve.
Read the framework 03VA loans
The VA compromise sale, entitlement, and the VA-specific requirements that shape the file.
Read the framework 04Conventional loans
Private mortgage loans, investor and owner guidelines, and what shapes approval.
Read the framework 05Portfolio loans and credit unions
Loans kept on a bank's or credit union's own books, where the institution's own servicing and loss-mitigation policies can play a larger role.
Read the framework 06Short sale servicer guides
The servicer runs the day-to-day review. A hub on servicers versus investors, and what to expect in servicer review.
Read the frameworkMore loans, more rules
USDA, jumbo, reverse, and other niche products follow. New pages publish only after review by the team.
Read this before you rely on a framework page
Guidelines change
Loan-program and servicing requirements change. This page is an overview. Always verify the current rules with the applicable investor, insurer, guarantor, and servicer before acting on a specific file.
The servicer administers the file
The servicer administers the short-sale process under the applicable investor, insurer, guarantor, and servicing requirements, with its own procedures layered on top. Your file lives in that overlap.
A note on state law and licensing. Foreclosure timelines, deficiency rules, and short-sale procedures are also governed by state law, and states differ widely. This hub explains investor frameworks, not the legal rules of any particular state. A licensed professional in your state should confirm what applies to your file.
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