Page 4 May 19, 2010
The Newscaster/Nature Coast News
Real Estate Today
FTO Program Unplugged
By Gail A. Tierney, Citrus Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer
Basic Short Sale Information
The Citrus County Sheriff s Office recently revamped its field training officer (FTO)
A Guest Commentary by Darryl Diamond
program with an eye towards better preparing its new hires – particularly those with no prior
law enforcement experience – for solo patrol duty on the road.
Many short sales start with a seller
tiator, and knowing what
For starters, the agency restructured its FTO program by singling out highly motivated,
listing the property knowing that the sales
guidelines the bank uses
physically fit veteran deputies as its field training officers and assigning them all to the same
price will not cover the mortgage amount.
in figuring how much of a
squad under the direction of one FTO sergeant. This new organizational setup allows for
When an offer comes in, it could take
reduction they will take.
more consistency, mentorship opportunities and information-sharing among FTOs, plus a
months for the lender to give an answer on
The next big
better way of monitoring, evaluating and testing each recruit s progress.
that offer.
question is “Will I be li-
Field training has a significant impact on the individual recruit in terms of imprinting
In that time period the buyer may
bel for the shortfall”? In
attitudes, styles, values and ethics in carrying out the duties of law enforcement that will
get tired of waiting, and many times that
many cases you will be
last throughout a career. Accordingly, it s probably the most effective influence on the fu-
buyer will purchase another property. In
completely relieved of the shortfall debt,
ture direction of any agency. Sheriff Jeff Dawsy and his field training management team
many cases your real estate agent can short-
however many banks are now checking the
must, therefore, completely support the field training program that introduces deputies to
en the short sale approval process. The first
homeowners credit. If the homeowner is
the agency and not only develops the necessary technical skills, but also brands the com-
step is for the seller to give their agent per-
keeping up other payments, and applying
munity policing philosophy of the agency and the community it serves.
mission to speak to their banker directly.
for a short sale the bank may not agree to the
Whether sworn officers or civilians, all new hires spend three weeks attending the
This permission letter must con-
short sale unless the homeowner is willing
Sheriff s Employee Institute where they learn about the responsibilities and value of each
tain the lenders name, and the loan account
to sign a promissory note for the shortfall.
Sheriff s Office employee. In this totally hands-on, interactive venue, new employees get
number. Your agent can then track down the
Next we have a “PMI Problem”. If
to experience what detectives, crime scene technicians, child protective investigators, crime
Real Estate Owned (REO) manager from
the borrower puts less than 20% down and
analysts and others do and see on a daily basis.
that lender to start the short sale process.
had to purchase private mortgage insurance,
From there, newly-hired sworn officers move on to a highly structured FTO pro-
This REO manager could be in
the situation gets more complicated. Let’s
gram akin to basic military training. Working closely with the agency s training unit at the
California so many times they will allow the
say you put 5 % down on a mortgage, and
Withlacoochee Technical Institute, new recruits enter a 6-week-long classroom environ-
agent to help price the property at today’s
the lender insisted on you purchasing PMI.
ment where experts from within the agency instruct them on such topics as report writing,
market. If the agent gets an agreed amount
This PMI essentially insures the 15% differ-
pursuit driving, plus how to write a traffic citation and package evidence. Besides paramili-
in writing, the property can be advertised
ence in the 20% down payment. Many of the
tary uniform inspections and daily physical training, recruits also experience the ins and
and sold knowing the bank will accept the
PMI companies are asking their borrowers
outs of basic administrative responsibilities borne by working deputies.
offer right away.
utilizing a short sale to sign a promissory
Next is a 40-hour week of crisis intervention training where new recruits learn how to
So far so good, but now the plot
note for the PMI part of the short fall. If the
recognize and deal effectively with subjects who exhibit varying degrees of mental illness.
thickens as many borrowers have secondary
borrower has no way to repay another note
And finally, bridging the gap between classroom theory and street application, recruits
financing. Many of these secondary lend-
the PMI company has two ways to go. First
come under the watch of several different FTOs who ride with them in patrol cars and over-
ers are settling on 10% of the balance due
they can agree to the short sale and have to
see their real-life interaction with complainants, victims and suspects. For 11 weeks, they
and some are asking for $5,000. plus 10 %.
immediately pay the 15% they insured, or
learn to build and develop their skills in the field so when the time comes for them to ride
What can hold up a sale is that the holder of
they can not agree to the short sale which
solo as rookie deputies, they are more knowledgeable, better prepared and entirely capable
a first mortgage may have a cap on what that
usually forces the foreclosure of the prop-
of making more informed decisions.
they will allow to be paid to any secondary
erty. The best advise if you do a short sale,
New deputies must learn quickly and be able to relate their intelligence to routine or cri-
mortgage holders. This all leads to your pro-
is to get the most experienced agent you
sis situations. Sheriff Dawsy s revitalized FTO program satisfies these demands by integrat-
fessional agent needing to be a savvy nego-
can. I’ll see you around “The Campus”
ing the learning process with the practical application of field instruction. It s an approach
email news to: news@thenewscaster.com
to training that’s based on a system of formal, standardized and structured teaching as well
as evaluation. The result will be a new deputy who s not only confident and efficient, but
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Hair Port
thoroughly trained.
Gail Tierney is public information officer for the Citrus County Sheriff s Office. She
at Plaza 40
has been with the agency for 20 years. Comments or suggestions may be directed to Gail at
Carting
Shopping Center
(352) 341-7460, or gtierney@sheriffcitrus.org.
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