Uncooperative residents are usually that way because they perceive that being a hinderance to allowing showings will make a sale less likely and their own continued occupation of the premises more likely.
Rude, yes. ---but effective. Uncooperative occupants often do not have a positive stake in a succesful sale.

Sounds more like you've being shown homes that are short sales, and the seller is not happy to be surrendering their home. Bank owned homes are not normally listed until they are vacant and 'secured' by the listing agent on behalf of the bank that has just taken possession.

You might want to stick with homes that are not short sales. Once you get more specific on your needs; neighborhood, amenities, etc., and have not found it in the other inventory, you could reconsider short sales. But short sale listings need more scrutiny by your buyer's agent to speak to the listing agent and qualify it before wasting your time trying to see it.

It's a different market out there these days! Good luck!

That it certainly a challenging situation isn't it? If you are "targeting" foreclosed homes, there shouldn't be anyone living in the home. Have your agent research these situations more thoroughly maybe and make sure there are no tenants in the home.

A couple of other things to watch out for is if there are tenants living in the home, either renters or homeowners, their final exit may provide a stage for their last act of defiance leaving a trail of destruction.

Perhaps steer clear of "occupied" distressed properties as there is simply too much potential for problems - look for vacant properties and eliminate that risk.

Good luck and carry dog biscuits with you to keep the doggy happy :)

Mc,
I don't know about inventory in your area but if I was having that kind of trouble just showing the homes I would advise my client to continue looking. If they're that much trouble to show, how will the buying process go? With all the homes for sale it shouldn't be that difficult to find someone who is serious about selling.