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Ivan Choi is the Vice President of REO and Property Retention for Bank of America. On Thursday, October 8, 2009, he spoke to a packed house at the Orange County Association of Realtors auditorium in Laguna Niguel. Following are some of the important points he made:
- Banks are not holding foreclosure inventory;
- REO prices are determined by investors after careful consideration of comparitive market studies;
- He does not believe there is going to be a wave of new REOs coming onto the market;
- Short sales require approval from investor groups that purchased large bulks of mortgage backed securities ($1 billion or more). The investment groups often set up a trust to evaluate short sales. These groups take a lot of time to respond;

- BofA REO inventory went from a high of about 70,000 properties down to less than 40,000 today. He forecasts an increase back up to about 70,000 in Spring of 2010;
- Suggested a lot of fraud taking place on the short sale side of the business. It is difficult for the lenders to effectively analyze each situation accurately;
- Commented that loan modifications – specifically principle reductions – would punish those who continue to make payments. BofA feels there would be a class-action lawsuit if they approved these requests and does not see this type of program happening;
- Acknowledged the myriad difficulties with buying REO properties. Did not provide much in the way of pending changes;
- Finally, it is BoA’s assumption that the current environment will continue for five to seven more years.