On July the 12th, I received this message from Bank of America:

"As an example of our commitment to improving the short sale process, Bank of America

now allows real estate agents to submit a backup offer on a transaction if the original buyer

has walked away from the sale. This means you will no longer have to initiate a new short

sale; instead, you can continue with the original transaction in Equator and still work with

your same short sale specialist. This change will save you time by not having to repeat a

number of process steps."

So, gullible me contacted the closing agent on a file where the prospective buyer was no longer able to close and asked for their instructions and assistance on how to submit the new offer as per their new policy.

He gladly informs me that this transaction would qualify and walks me through the process.

I asked just to make sure:

No new BPO right?  He answered: Nope

No re-starting the file right?  He answered: Nope.

How long would this take then?  He answered: About a week.

I follow the instructions to a tee and....

They close the file and tell me that their decision was "discretionary".

So, basically, they don't give a hoot what they communicated, they don't care that I followed all of their instructions and that they're actions are a clear and direct contradiction to their own written policy.

It is what it is.

You don;t like it?

Pound dirt!

That's the "real" Bank of America policy.

Yes, I can see it now, they really are committed to improving the short sale process!