Pete,

In a short sale the bank does not have to accept the price. Remember they are losing money...and they can take up to several months to answer. The reason can be varied...how many loans on the property? If there is more than one it takes awhile and usually they won't all agree. If there is only one bank...depends on if it is a group of investors that owns that loan. Short sales require patience for all involved. Here in California it usually says in the MLS listing "short sale subject to lender approval".

There are no guidelines or deadlines. The average is about 2 to 3 months in my market area, but I have heard that there are now homeowners who have not been able to make their mortgage payment for over 9 months and have yet to receive their foreclosure notification. They are still living in the property waiting for the bank to start foreclosure proceedings. Their systems are not designed for the current market situation. We have lenders working 10 hours/day, 7/days week in our regional area and they can't keep up with the offers. So the offers sit and sit in the growing piles of papers waiting for an answer.

Banks have all the time in the world. I am a real estate agent in st. augustine, fl. I deal with short sales all the time. The banks will take anywhere from 30 days to the longest I've had is 9 months. There is no law that says they have answer you at all. Sorry. Tha average time on a short sale is about 3 months.