Are you involved in a Short Sale SCAM?

If you know me, you know that I rarely get so passionate about something that I need to spread the news... however, THIS is an exception and needs to be understood so you don't get caught up in a Short Sale Scam! 

The opinion below is from the Washington Association of REALTORS® Legal Hotline.  This information is highly important and should be spread to everyone you know.  There are a million "guru's" out there who are trying to "help" people with their short sales, but the way they are going about it is illegal... not to mention unethical or immoral.  Please save your family and friends from these sharks, and have them talk to someone who knows what is going on today in our market. 

Below is today's opinion from Annie Fitzsimmons, the attorney who answers questions for the Washington Association of REALTORS® Legal Hotline.  This should be read and understood by all. 

Question:

Short sale negotiator, who is not licensed as a real estate agent, mortgage broker, credit counselor, appraiser or lawyer contacts lenders on behalf of sellers and negotiates the short sale purchase as low as possible.

If there is a big enough difference between her negotiated price and the market value of the property, she buys the property at the low price and immediately resells to a real buyer, pocketing all of the equity.

If she cannot get the price low enough to make that program work, then she takes whatever price she can get by representing the seller and, knowing that the lender will not pay her fee, waits until a buyer is interested in the property at the established price and then goes to the buyer and tries to convince the buyer to pay her fee by agreeing to try to get the price even lower.

Whether she can get the price any lower or not is irrelevant to her because by then she already has the buyer's signature on an agreement to pay her fee.

Is any or all of this illegal? If so, who should broker report to in an effort to stop her?...

... Hotline Attorney Annie Fitzsimmons writes the Legal Hotline Question and Answer of the Week. The Legal Hotline lawyer does not represent Washington Association of REALTORS® members or their clients and customers.

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Thought this was interesting & want to continue reading? The rest of this article can be found at http://jenhudsonhomes.com/blog/archives/808. If you would like to learn more about real estate in general, visit my website at www.jenhudsonhomes.com.

Jen Hudson, GRI

Office: (360) 652-1200

Cell: (206) 293-1005

jen@jenhudsonhomes.com

Realtor with RE/MAX Signature