Lenders are foreclosing homes right and left, and the ownership of many of those pass to FHA or one of the other governmental secondary market lenders for them to dispose of. 

That's because the loans were sold to them by the originating lender or mortgage broker. 

As a result, an opportunist industry has developed.  You see, rather than dole out the listings of these properties to licensed real estate brokers and agents on a lottery system, through some magic, only certain agents have gotten the majority of the listings.

This is yet another case where the National Association of Realtors didn't bother to step in and assist the governmental lenders and underwriters in developing an honorable, fair system.

There are any numbers of those specially treated agents in Dallas; the ones whose primary business is listing foreclosed homes.

I am familiar with three companies that have "teams" (a euphemism for a business within a business) composed of about six people, each whose major part of the real estate business is listing and managing foreclosed properties for the government. 

One has so many of these listings that they don't bother to answer or return the phone calls of buyers.  The signs in the front yards with the agent's rider and number at the bottom are of no value to obtaining and handling buyer inquiries. 

The listing agent does not answer or return calls.

The agent expects the buyer to make inquiries and issue contracts on his listings through one of the other agents in the city.  The problem is that the client has no way to know that's the rules he's expected to play by.

Just think, when some 14,000 agents in the Dallas and Ft. Worth area and where many are scratching to make a living, our government is consciously making a select few rich. 

And there's no way to lose one of those listings because it will eventually sell at some price.

And if that isn't bad enough, it is obvious that the government has no audit procedure in place to see that these listings and sales are handled on the up and up.  Many aren't.   

I was involved as a co-op broker in one such listing.  My client's contract was not accepted even though my client offered full price and immediate closing.

Why?  It was obvious to me that before the listing hit the MLS, the listing agent had already cut a side deal as to whose contract would be accepted.

Real estate brokerage has had a propensity for dishonest dealings since the beginning of time.  It's most certainly been going on since I entered the business forty-three years ago.

(Remind me to tell you about the time, representing a buyer, as trustee I bought a $3 million building for $711,000. It was because of the total incompetence of the government's selection of a real estate broker to represernt them in that sale.)

And as it has so many times in the past, the government is once again fanning the flames of deceit.  

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS DALLAS

1 800 314-7110

www.billcherryrealtors.com