I homeowner had tried without success to do the "For Sale By Owner" with limited results. In fact, they even had a buyer's agent call and ask if they would cooperate in allowing him to show their house to one of his clients. They agreed, and allowed him to make an appointment and show the house. Nothing came of it, no contracts were signed and they never heard or saw that broker again. After a few months with no activity, the homeowner took the sign in front of the house that said " For Sale By Owner" down.
After further consideration, they decided to stay in the home and refinance it to take advantage of a lower interest rate. Their credit was fine and the bank agreed to the lower rate, but as in most cases, it would depend on an appraisal. Another condition, the banks require today, when they are selling the loan to investors on the secondary market, is that the house cannot be on the market for the past 90 days. The home owners assured them they had not listed the house in the past 90 days and did the "For sale By Owner" 7 months ago with no success.
Now the appraiser decided to verify as part of his requirements that the house was not on the market. He checked the local MLS and it was confirmed that the house was not listed in MLS in the past 90 days. So now the appraiser decided to check other websites and found the house was indeed listed for sale on ZILLOW!! The house was for sale on Zillow and it was linked to the agent who showed the house to his client when the owners had allowed him in the house. Later, the appraiser found it to be advertised on the broker's website as well.
So when the homeowners contacted the agent and asked him what he was doing, he was extremely apologetic and told the homeowners that he intended no harm to come about from this. He had know idea how it ended up on Zillow.
The homeowners are victims in this situation. They are trying to work this out with the bank who requires that they would have to reapply for a new loan after it was removed from Zillow - a 90 day waiting period is normally required.
Do they have any recourse against this broker? No contracts were signed and now they may suffer damages because of his actions? Be aware of the fact, that when you post anything on the Internet it is free for the taking. Any real estate agent could have taken a picture of the house and posted it on the Internet and the homeowners would not have known it or have any control over the real estate agents actions.
What do you think of this one????
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