I wanted to let both homeowners and agents know that a new law went into effect on Oct. 1 in the State of Florida that governs disclosures and procedures for anyone providing foreclosure rescue services for a fee.
The state was getting sick of companies collecting a big fee and then doing little to nothing in return, and passed this legislation to protect homeowners.
In a nutshell, the state legislation is requiring that disclosures containing certain wording are to be given to homeowners prior to contracting for fee-based foreclosure rescue services, that the services provided must be clearly spelled out, and that no payment can be collected until after the services are performed. The disclosures give the customer a right to cancel, and tells them that they may be able to perform these services for free themselves. There's much more, down to the font size that needs to be used.
Anyone who collects a fee for services, or anyone who purchases homes directly from the public in the name of foreclosure rescue, needs to read this legislation carefully.
I believe it's reasonable for those providing these services to charge a reasonable fee. I've found that putting together a quality short sale package, and follow-up calls and communications with lenders, can eat up 20 hours or more. And, although real-estate agents often handle these duties, that's not really a real-estate service, is it?
It takes a lot of time to do this the right way. (And it hurts when that time is invested and a seller takes off in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again.) Many homeowners don't want to deal with the lenders and don't understand the process. On the flip side, homeowners need to make sure they are getting the service they pay for. It's a little overbearing on those who are working hard on behalf of the public to get these short sales done, but it's good that added protections were put in place for the public.
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