I'm sorry your honor!

Hi Folks. Have you ever been sued by a Seller or Buyer?? I haven't. But if I were I'd be ready to stand in front of any judge and defend myself.

It's my opinion that over the next few years there is going to be a huge increase in lawsuits against agents and brokers. Mostly related to Short Sales. That Seller you helped is going to be real pissed off, 5 years from now, when he is slapped with a deficiency judgment and his wages and assets are garnished.

Will you be prepared to defend yourself? Do you have a written record of what when down during the Short Sale process? Or did you just wing it?

Here are some things I do now to protect myself in the future. Hopefully there are a few you can implement into your business. Even better, maybe you have some ideas that I can use.

  • Make sure you are covered with your E &O insurance.

  • Use email as often as possible for communications so you have a written record of the conversations. If you do have a phone conversation with a customer/client follow up with an email and outline the points that were discussed. This also helps to eliminate confusion. "Your Honor he never told us that" Yes I did. Look here.

  • Have a disclosure package at time of contract (listing or BBA) that outlines the short sale process in detail and what can be expected. Have this all signed and dated. "We thought he was giving us legal advice so we didn't hire an Attorney". Sorry, but you signed 3 different times that I was NOT an Attorney and that I was NOT giving legal advice.

  • Have a log of every action you take related to the short sale. You can use Short Sale Commander for this. My Sellers share in this so that every time I make a notation they receive an update. A recent transaction had over 300 notations. That equates to 300 updates to my Seller. It would be very difficult for them to tell a Judge I didn't do my job properly. "Your Honor he didn't do anything and we were foreclosed on because of it". I don't think so.

  • After each closing*** ask your customer/client to write you a testimonial. Place this in the file. "But your Honor read this. They said I was awesome!!"

*** Yes you MUST close on your short sales. You may lose some but you need to be hitting 90%+. Much easier to defend your position if you can prove your successes.

I believe if you do these few things you will be good to go if a lawsuit comes your way. Plus the added benefit is that you will be better at what you do if you remember that everything you do needs to be defensible in a Court of Law. What say you?

 

Join Our Facebook Fan Page Check Us Out On Google+ Follow Us On Twitter

short or stay

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.

The BIO for Bryant Tutas

 

Customer Testimonials

 Tutas Towne Realty, Inc handles Florida real estate sales, Florida short sales, Florida strategic short sales, Florida pre-foreclosure sales, Florida foreclosures in Kissimmee Florida Short Sales, Davenport Florida Short Sales, Haines City Florida Short Sales, Poinciana Florida Short Sales, Solivita Florida Short Sales,  Orlando Florida Short Sales, Celebration Florida Short Sales, Winderemere Florida Short Sales. Serving all of Polk, Osceola and Orange Counties Florida. Florida Short Sale Broker. Short Sale Florida.

 Copyright © 2011 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

 

53 Comments on 5 Things A Short Sale Agent Can Do To Protect Against Future Liability

20 Most Recent Comments Displayed Show All

OCT
09
226,480 Points 4 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Bryant - great post and thanks for sharing. Always best to dot the i's and cross the t's when it comes to short sales. Regards Dave
7:20am • #34
985,148 Points 106 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog

Margaret is right you know, BB, you are sooooo good looking I can't help but stare at that gorgeous head of hair. Oh, wait, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, you and TLW staying outta the slammer. I copy all of my emails at closing and put them into my property folder. I also tranfer all of my notes for the short sale negotiation and put them into a folder as well. Although, I've got to say the likelihood of a lawsuit in California, knock on wood, is pretty rare because we don't deal with deficiencies anymore. Still, it's wise to document, document, regardless of the type of transaction.
7:38am • #35

That's a great take on what is happening with short sales. I have a short sale transaction in process now (waiting to close) and I made sure to disclose to my buyers what to expect and have them sign multiple disclosures to protect myself. My current short sale deal HAD an approval from the bank for the previous contract (fell through) and my buyers offered same amount yet the bank BB&T is dragging their feet with providing a new approval for our offer. The good news is as long as you constantly keep your clients informed of what can happen and what to expect you will probably be okay. 

Fingers crossed BB&T gets off their butts soon so my buyers can get in, in time for Thanksgiving. 

James Schiller - Charleston SC Real Estate Agent
8:07am • #37
1,117,574 Points 101 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Yes, I have been.  No they didn't win.  Why?  well for many of the reasons you laid out here.  Good E & O.  Document, document and document.  Yup, I had that email that said "I don't know where the property lines are, if you are not satisfied with sellers assertion of where he "thinks" they are then I recommend a professional, state licensed surveyor".  The judge took one look at my documentation and dismissed the case.
8:09am • #38
251,092 Points 3 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Thanks.  Very timely for me, I just got hit with a potential short sale and I am in the process of terminating.  I found out from court records; my seller told me nothing.
8:33am • #39
2 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Good informaton and advice....I'm in hopes that E & O is a given for everyone...my business partner and I do lots of short sales, document, document, document all communcation with everyone during the process.
8:39am • #40
650,291 Points Localism Sponsor Outside Blog

All good points -- people lash out and sue , often for no real reason and the agent is just somewhere down the line of people they dealt with ---- do everything possible to document and be prepared ----- and if the deal is questionable at all -- consider not even taking it on.
8:52am • #41
280,727 Points 14 Featured Posts Called Shot Master

Bryant, very good information, I have seen too many E&O claims where the agent didn't have the emails or any Documentation to defend themselves.

Having a testimonial in the file is priceless!
10:11am • #42
1,346,137 Points 71 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

BB, great post but beyond that, I had to comment on that awesome new profile photo!!!!!
10:42am • #43
277,552 Points 11 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp

Do you have "5 Things a Homeowner Needs to do to Protect Themselves During a Short Sale"?!?!?!

I would re-blog THAT

 
11:27am • #44
569,544 Points 1 Featured Post Localism Sponsor Outside Blog

Hi BB,  Excellent review on protecting yourself-  loved the comments and the request for a testimonial letter !
1:55pm • #45

Never thought about all that, excellent info to help keep us all out of trouble!
3:24pm • #46
408,602 Points 19 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

This is great advice, not only for short sales, but all transactions. You just never know when something will go wrong. 
4:23pm • #47
Localism Sponsor Outside Blog

Excellent post Bryant and love the pic!
5:10pm • #48
OCT
11
1,392,388 Points 28 Featured Posts Hit Router Called Shot Master

Great info from the rock star of short sales.  That's why the new picture, I'm sure.
5:32am • #49
OCT
12
165,430 Points 1 Featured Post

Excellent advice. Love the hair... wish I still had some. We definitely need tort reform in our country. My wife always said that Realtors will never be replaced by technology because people still want someone to blame and sue! I think she's right.
12:35pm • #50

i always add condition on lawyers approval while representing buyers but it is always easy when you represent seller because the bank will assign you and you are selling AS IS..
8:58pm • #51
568,550 Points 26 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Thanks for the low down on the Commander program, it looks very cool and like an answer to my prayers!
9:26pm • #52
OCT
13
1,048,751 Points 397 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Your welcome Jana. By the way, if you decide to use it use the link in this article. It's an affilaite link and helps pay for http://shortsalesuperstars.com so we can keep the site free to our members. 

 

Thanks guys for stopping by.

6:06am • #53
OCT
14
803,039 Points 20 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Solid advice.  I have experienced one complaint involving short sales about five or six years ago. I was cleared but the experience was one heck of a teacher!
6:01am • #54

20 Most Recent Comments Displayed Show All

Login or register to leave a comment
 
577489_304231736374017_1210724248_n Rainmaker_large

Bryant Tutas Broker/REALTOR(R) Tutas Towne Realty, Inc

Poinciana, FL

More about me…

Bryant Tutas-Tutas Towne Realty, Inc

Address: 628 Grand Canal Dr, Poinciana, Fl, 34759

Office Phone: (407) 870-9003

Cell Phone: (407) 873-2747

Email Me



Listings

Links

Archives

RSS 2.0 Feed for this blog