You want me to WHAT? You Little "Fockers"
I am the listing agent for a San Jose Short Sale that is due to close escrow on 4/13/2011.
Contingencies are due to be removed on 4/4/2011. This is the day I received a call from the buyers' lender.
Purchase is "as is" and the short sale lender approved the price based upon a full appraisal - not a Broker Price Opinion.
Buyers signed the entire disclosure package which included all permits on file. Sellers fully disclosed what work needed to be done before the City would issue a final permit on the entire addition. I disclosed this in my Agent Visual Inspection Disclosure (AVID).
Buyers and Buyers' agent now claim they did not know there was not a final permit saying "We don't know how to read them."
Buyers' lender calls me the day the contingencies are due to be removed and asks me if I am willing to give the buyers $2,500 from my commission so that we can close. She went on to say that she and the buyers' agent have worked really hard for 5 months and want to get paid. The conversation continued as follows:
Me: Sure - I'll pay $2,500 if it means a successful short sale and my clients avoid foreclosure. I'm not happy about this because sellers and I have fully disclosed and the buyers signed all the disclosures 5 months ago. We have been operating off the belief that the buyers fully understood what needs to be done to get the final permit from the city. Whose job is it to ensure the buyers understand what they sign BEFORE they sign it?
Lender: The loan docs are already drawn. Would you be willing to pay the buyers $2,500 out of escrow?
Me: Absolutely not. That is an illegal kickback.
Lender: I know. [giggle]
Me: Then why did you just ask me to participate in an illegal activity and risk my license and professional integrity?
Lender: We have been working hard on this for five months and we want to get paid. [Now I am using everything I have within me to contain myself.]
Me: Let's be clear about one thing: I have been working this file for over a year now. I want to be paid too. Not only has the lender cut my commission - now you are asking me to contribute $2,500 to the buyers under the table. You know as well as I do that the buyers have known about the permit status before they wrote the offer; that what you are asking me to do is illegal; and the sellers home will most likely foreclose if we do not complete this short sale.
My clients hired me to help them avoid foreclosure. My clients have moved out of the property long before they are required to because the buyers were afraid they would not move out. We have complied with all disclosure laws and with every request the buyers have made. The buyers have contacted me directly numerous times throughout this process. Where is the buyers' agent? What is the buyers' agent doing to help satisfy his clients?
Lender: You need to call Mr. Thomas [name has been changed to protect the little "Focker."
Me: Indeed I will. I will call him right now.
You may search San Jose homes for sale on my Exclusive San Jose Homes website. I stongly recommend that you hire an agent to represent you. Working with the listing agent does not mean you get the representation you deserve. The listing agent works for the seller.
If you need to list your San Jose home for sale, let's discuss my documented approach to listing homes and how my strategy brings top dollar for your home. I may be reached at my office 408.972.1822.
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