From reoi.com ^[1]:

^[2]Real estate brokers who have long complained about the time it takes to complete a short sale now have two U.S. congressmen in their corner who are sponsoring a bill that would require lenders to respond to consumer short sale requests within 45 days.

Lenders have been pushing more short sales as the industry recognizes them as a viable alternative to foreclosure. Short sales in the U.S. have tripled since 2008, according to data analyzer CoreLogic.

At the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), short sale volume in the second quarter was up more than 150% from volume in 2Q09, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s “Foreclosure Prevention & Refinance Report ^[3].”

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is supporting the bill, H.R. 6133, “Prompt Decision for Qualification of Short Sale Act of 2010.” It was filed Sept. 15 by U.S. Reps. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) and Tom Rooney (R-Fla.). The bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services on Wednesday.

REO Insider is currently running a survey asking readers about the longest time that it has taken to complete a short sale ^[4]. So far, 81% of respondents have said it takes more than 91 days, with 44% of those saying it takes 91-180 days.