Hello 1st and thanks for your post.

One of the reasons, we (as real estate professionals) often advise homeowners to engage a Realtor is so that you might have some protection against situations such as this. Your agent would have found this type of request--at the very least--bold and--at worst--contractually challenging. Also, I think an agent representing your interests would certainly have checked on title issues with the listing agent prior to getting to sign-off, only to learn that the information was incorrect. A preliminary title report would have quickly resolved who owned or is on title for the home.

At this time, if you are not currently represented by an agent, you may need to bring an attorney into this discussion especially before you waive any remaining rights you as a buyer in the contract. Not being able to find an owner in a short sale is pretty common, so the listing agent should certainly have resolved this problem back in June 09.

I'm a little confused about the "contingencies" that the listing agent spoke of, since, if you are just about to sign off, most, if not all, of the buyer's contingencies should have been removed. The only one remaining would be, of course, the loan contingency. I think, instead, that the listing agent was probably asking you to "waive" your rights to the deposit--something, of course, you should not do without legal counsel.

Talk to an attorney quickly to try to resolve this matter. I am afraid, as are you, that getting the signature of a missing owner or resolving the problem in court will probably take more time than the 7 days allowed by the lender. Having an attorney on your side will help you exert some legal "muscle" as necessary to obtain the cooperation of the seller and listing agent.

Good luck!!

Sincerely,
Grace Morioka, SRES, e-Pro
Area Pro Realty
San Jose, CA

At this stage, I only have 1 suggestion...whether you have a buyer's agent representing you or not:

Do NOT agree to waive any or all Buyer's contingencies.

...even to entice the listing agent to go get the sellers' signature...please do NOT waive any of your buyer's rights. The contract is written the way it is for a reason...to protect the buyer and the seller so I don't get it when either party would consider to waive certain or all contingencies. Why? Waiving contingencies tends to follow with the transaction falling apart or eventually one party sue the other due to unsatisfactory.

Where is your agent? He/She needs to address this aggressively. His/Her broker should contact the other agent's broker immediately. It can go to arbitration and you can file a grievance. Your agent should be presenting all requests to you, and the other agent should not be contacting you to "ask to waive" all contingencies directly. That's why you have an agent to represent YOU! This type of service just drives me NUTS! I go to bat for all my clients and yours should also.

1st Timer
Have your agent talk to his broker.
The selling agent might not be a seasoned agent.

Hope this helps,

Jes Sierra, B.Sc.