You got the House!!! Oh Sorry You Didn't!!!

I'm not familiar with what "boxes" you are referencing in your promulgated form, but my question is this?  Was the counter-offer fully executed by the buyer and seller?  If so, it sounds to me like you have a contract (either bilateral, or unilateral if there was an option/feasibility period) and if they failed to sell to you/your client under the terms they agreed to, you can tie up the property if your contracts include a "specific performance" provision (and in most cases, even if it doesn't).   

Matthew,

I saw that you said you had made a counteroffer, but no mention that it was accepted.  If it is not in writing and signed off on by the bank, there is no contract.  I always worry on foreclosure deals because the bank takes so long to get ratified contracts back to me.  Short sales aren't much different as the bank still has final say to accept the offer.  I agree that if your forms require a box to be checked if there are multiple offers, you should have been notified.

Hey Matt, if the counter-offer was fully executed (Matthew said it was) and this was not a foreclosure (short-sale, not foreclosure) and there was no contingency in the counter-offer stating it had to be approved by the mortgagee, then you have a contract and the lender has nothing to do with it.  I realize this is a lot of "ifs", but it sounds like the other agent needs to be called on the carpet for his one.

My mistake...my last post was referencing Mike's response and I mistakenly addressed it to "Matt" instead of "Mike."  I'd reveiw the forms thoroughly to make sure all your facts are correct, then take to your broker for direction, but if all you say is absolutely correct, you have a serious issue here and the agent / seller have a serious problem on their hands too. 

Matthew,

I would certainly get your broker involved and see what options are open to you.  Could be a simple sorry, they made a mistake to something more serious.  I certainly could'nt even speculate without reading all the documents.  Hope you can get some kind of resolve in this.

I have been hearing about this with regard to Short Sales. Not REO.

But in Short Sales, I am hearing that the banks are just collecting the offers that come in and not returning signed docs until they get around to it. And if another offer comes along better than an earlier one, they are taking it. True, there is no contract, but that behavior is already having pretty strong consequences- Buyers have heard and won't deal with Short Sales.

REO on the other hand- No. Although it is pretty common for the banks to take FOREVER about getting the signed contract back to the Buyer. But REO has always been like that, and most banks don't want to deal with any other offers if they are already involved in accepting another, even without it being signed around.

Matthew,

Thank you for sharing the issue.  What a scary and painful experience--hope you get some positive outcome from all of this.