Somebody said that the worst customers to deal with are Real Estate agents and brokers. It is difficult to argue with it. Too many supporting examples…
It started, probably, 3 years ago. We watched what was happening in Marina Grande on the Halifax, these gorgeous two 25-story towers, which popped up on the Intracoastal at the peak of the market. And it nosedived…
Out of few units sold in South Tower belonged to a real estate broker, who was delinquent with her mortgage. We were doing several short sales in the building, and we knew the issues with selling there, and knew that we could handle it better than others, so we contacted the broker and suggested that we do a short sale.
She listened to me, and then said that her accountant told her that she did not need to do the short sale. She was not the only one who was coached by their tax people, and I knew that it was a lot of BS, so I asked her if it would be OK for our attorney to call her. I thought that knowledgeable attorney could explain it to her.
Sure. So the attorney called, and spoke to her at length. She said she would think, and did not call back. So the attorney at my request called again, and again went through the whole thing, and again she said she would think about it…
Last time I called her about 2 years ago. She was not [paying her mortgage, she was not paying her maintenance fee, and she still told me that she knows what she was doing, and that she did not need to do the short sale.
I got tired of trying to explain a broker what short sale means, so I told her that it is unfortunate, but one day she will have the foreclosure on her hands.
Today was that day. The Association foreclosed for non-payment of the association dues subject to first lien, which is another $375K. So, the broker does not have a unit any more, but the bank can still go after her, as she owes them money.
Can they collect? Maybe not. They might charge the debt off and sell the rights to collect it to the Collection agency, and they will be watching her for 4 years (Statute of limitations). Her credit is effectively shot…
This is by far not the only example of brokers and agents acting like they have no idea of Real Estate, he field they are licensed in.
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