RE/MAX International of Denver, Colorado and HEART Financial Services of Northbrook, Illinois have agreed to work together to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

The real estate franchisor and loss mitigation negotiator have devised a pre-foreclosure short sale strategy that they say will make it easier for families to sell their homes and avoid the trauma of a foreclosure.

“It’s unfortunate that the short sale process has been so difficult to navigate in this marketplace,” said Dave Liniger, chairman and co-founder of RE/MAX International. “We’ve been working hard to promote streamlined short sales to provide both significant benefits to lenders, and a welcomed opportunity for homeowners to get a fresh start.”

Through the RE/MAX-HEART initiative, trained customer service representatives will provide short sale information to all homeowners who do not qualify for a loan modification or do not wish to retain their property. Homeowners that decide a short sale is appropriate can then select a real estate agent in their community who has received comprehensive training on the short sale process.

RE/MAX has designed a unique online database to provide homeowners with short sale information and easy agent referrals, and will use the closing management services of Integrated Asset Services (IAS) in Denver. Lenders that offer loan modifications to their at-risk borrowers will also be invited to participate in the new short sale program.

“It’s been our experience that many homeowners aren’t even aware that short sales are a reasonable alternative to foreclosure,” said Jerry Alt, president and CEO of HEART Financial Services. “Each month we speak with thousands of homeowners who can’t qualify for or don’t want a loan modification. For the most part, when we refer them back to the servicer for a potential short sale, we lose the opportunity to help the borrower while we have them on the phone. Now, we can offer these homeowners some hope and a more efficient process to list and sell their home.”

Liniger says he and his partner have been talking to numerous industry leaders, legislators, and administration officials to try and draw attention to the short sale possibilities. “It’s just not possible for the housing market to recover fully until the inventory of foreclosed properties is significantly reduced, and short sales offer one practical way to help do this,” Liniger said.

The administration has plans to make short sales a central component of the government’s mortgage relief efforts. The Treasury Department announced earlier this month that it is close to finalizing a streamlined short sales framework, which would include incentive payments of $1,500 to homeowners and $1,000 to both loan servicers and second-lien holders for going along with a short sale transaction.

HEART Financial Services plans to begin offering the new short sale process developed in conjunction with RE/MAX to loan modification applicants within the next few weeks.