I hear you loud and clear on this one Kathleen. My husband is an attorney, keeps his license active in Oregon, but not Washington. He doesn't practice law - but, he does negotiate short sales for our firm. So, many of our clients want his "legal" opinion on matters - he has to explain, just like you, that he cannot give them "legal advice."

Kathleen, you do the right thing.  Regardless, of what we know from either experience or helping others in the past that have gone through such legal issues, we are NOT licensed to talk about them, unless we are licensed Attorneys or CPAs.  Let them discuss those things. 

We do know how certain legal issues will impact a short sale, so we just direct them to the right person to discuss them in detail.  WHEW, keep us out of that!!

Being a real estate agent means different things to different people.  While we may know "of" the process, we are not in the position to give the legal, tax, financial advice.  I hope your caller understood this.

Kathleen,

You handled the gentleman with true professionalism. He had specific questions that even if you know the answer, you can't give. I also graduated as a Paralegal; however, even if I was working for an attorney, I couldn't give out advice either. We are not Attorneys.

I hope the caller consults with the right people and comes back to you to list the house. $8K for the keys - sounds like this guy needs cash bad.

I'm an attorney, too, but I only do one job at a time.  When my clients need legal advice about real estate, this broker sends them to a real estate attorney!

Kathleen, excellent way to handle this - we do NOT have all the answers but we do know where to direct our clients.  Well done, as always.  

No matter how knowledgeable we are about short sales, the truth is 

San Jose Short Sale Agents Are Not Licensed Attorneys Or Accountants!

Funny how we can get asked for such things Kathleen. "What do you think?", "If you were me...?" and all the other questions - but if something were to go wrong, they are after you.  Crazy!

I once had an agent call me to check out a house for him.  I told him it would have to be a short sale if he took the listing.  He then proceeded to tell me that he would advise his client to probably file bankruptcy.  They guy was not a lawyer.  I just hung up and shook my head.

What I often see, many of the so called professionals in these other fields, don't do a good job with their advice. They sometimes put their income ahead of good advice.

Kathleen, you are an excellent Realtor and give the best advice to those Sellers looking to do a short sale!

Kathleen, You are very wise to stay within set boundaries! I always advise people to consult professionals in the appropriate area with those type of questions.

Interesting information that you posted.  Keep it up.  Good stuff to know.

Nice presentation of important stuff to know.  Keep it up!  Good job!