Bank of America Steps Up the Short Sale Negotiation Process
About a week ago, Bank of America sent out a new third party authorization form to Short Sale Agents. They will no longer accept any other third party authorization form. So what's so special about Bank of America's new third party authorization form? Well for starters, you have to be a licensed real estate agent or attorney in good standing with your licensing board to be authorized to speak with Bank of America regarding Short Sales.
It's about time! 
I've been preaching this one since 2007. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, you have to be a licensed real estate agent or attorney to negotiate real estate contract terms. I've been wondering how unlicensed negotiators are skating on that one.
Secondly, as the authorized third party, you are stating you will not knowingly misrepresent the facts of the Short Sale to the bank. For instance, if you knew that the Sellers were attempting to sell to an investment group with the plan to buy the home back right away, you would need to disclose that. It's an attempt to put an end to fraud and I applaud that.
Thirdly, you state you'll be in compliance with local and federal laws and any other rules and regulations that govern what services you are providing. That includes the REALTOR® Code of Ethics. So what you can't do as a licensed real estate agent, is to put your name on there and have an unlicensed negotiator, call and pretend to be you. Completely unethical..
Bank of America has taken a lot of steps to make their Short Sale process faster and in this case, make sure their clients are not working with unlicensed entities that fly by the seat of their pants and have no professional accountability. They are really stepping up their game and as a licensed real estate agent who specializes in helping sellers through Short Sales, I appreciate their efforts to protect the process and the clients.
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