A Short Sale is a transaction in which the Seller’s proceeds are less than the amount necessary to pay off liens secured by the property. Examples of such liens include, but are not limited to, mortgages, home equity lines of credit, tax claims, homeowners’ association or condominium fees and legal judgments.

PAR has created the following standard forms to use in a short sale transaction:

Short Sale Addendum to Agreement of Sale is designed to be used with the Agreement of Sale. The Buyer or Seller should submit the SHS with the Agreement of Sale to convey any changes in terms or conditions that will apply to the Agreement in light of the transaction being a Short Sale.

Short Sale Addendum to Listing Contract is designed to help the Listing Broker get more information about the Seller’s financial situation and to explain the Short Sale process to the Seller. It should be attached to the Listing Contract.

Notification to Buyer of a Potential Short Sale is designed to be used as notification to the Buyer that a particular transaction may result in a Short Sale. Included in this form are some of the aspects of a Short Sale about which a potential Buyer or Seller should be aware. The NSS can be provided to the Buyer by the Seller, Listing Broker, or even the Buyer’s Broker, when it is apparent that a transaction may be a potential Short Sale.

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Other Resources

Short Sales Podcast (mp3)
Duration: 4:47
Speaker: Mike Barth, Standard Forms Manager

NAR Field Guide to Short Sales
NAR Field Guides are a collection of relevant articles, videos and other relevant resources on various topics. This is a good place to get general background information on Short Sales and to see what is happening in other areas of the country.

NAR Short Sale Work Group
NAR put together a Work Group with members of several relevant committees to review short sale issues and how they related to various aspects of the practice. The Short Sale Work Group (headed by PAR member Bill Lublin), released a report in February 2008 which led to several NAR policy changes. View the report, policy recommendations and a "workflow" document that shows the various steps of a short sale transaction.