With short sales becoming so prevalent in today’s real estate market, criminals have found new ways to take advantage of the situation. It is the same scheme that took place during the housing boom when prices where rising rapidly, only now it is reversed and geared toward these changing real estate times. Unfortunately, these folks looking to commit fraud are preying on poor homeowners who have fallen upon hard times and who are looking for an honest expert to aid them in a time of need with an honest and legal solution.
As a Realtor/Agent and short sale specialist who represents many sellers who are facing financial hardship, my obligations are to represent my client and will always remain with my client throughout the process. My goal is to LEGALLY sell a home for as much as possible and often this means requesting that lenders/banks accept a lower payoff on a mortgage balance in addition to relieving that seller of any additional liability if the market value falls short of what is outstanding on the home. This legitimate practice is called a “Short Sale”.
The fraudster often enters the picture as an “investor” who is looking to flip the short sale and profit on the “spread”. This person is most interested in making a large profit and will gladly commit fraud in order to do so. Often these investors are in the form of other agents or have partnered with ignorant agents as a “team”. What they do is approach the listing agent with the opportunity to double profit by selling the already listed home twice. I guess they feel this offer of a double commission will seduce a listing agent into forgetting his/her obligation to the seller and forget right from wrong.
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