Short sale advice

[Mary Ann Rocco]

Hello. I went into escrow last August on a house in Huntington Beach, CA. It's my dream house and the house I want to live in. I'm a first time buyer. I do have an agent.

There are 2 loans, the 1st with GMAC and the 2nd with Chase. There have been nothing but delays and it's all due to Chase dragging their feet. GMAC is not really short selling by more than 10-15K. The Chase loan is 175K and 44K is what is being negotiated. No notice of defualt has been filed by the 1st even though the owners moved out last July and I assume stopped making payments. The seller's agent had a short sale negotiator out of his office. In October the seller received an approval letter from Chase that basically said you can sell short but you still owe us the rest of the money. The seller hired an attorney after that. I've been told numerous times it was a done deal just waiting for issuance of letter...but it was all smoke and mirrors. No letter yet.

So here I am in April. Is it reasonable to assume that Chase is not moving forward either because they have no motivation since no threat of forclosure, or maybe because the seller's are not at rock bottom financially? My agent gets little information out of the attorney except to say it will happen soon. When asked why she thought no notice of default had been filed by GMAC she said they were being really understanding...WHAT? Ridiculous, but I can't figure out why no notice of default.

I'm considering closing the escrow account, i.e. backing out of the deal, to see if that makes something HAPPEN. I would be thrilled if it foreclosed and I could buy it as an REO. My fear is that by backing out now they will just repalce me with another buyer, then I lose my dream home.

Does it make sense for me to hire an attorney for a consultation on what I should do? Any referrals to someone that might provide a consulation for an hourly fee rate in California?

Any referrals or insights would be appreciate.

Mary Ann