Hi Tressa

According to your statement this does not should ethical - your Agent should be working for your best interest,

If you are buying then your Realtor should not be discussing your financial situation, you have cause for concern.

Since working with Short sales for over a year I’ve notice that short sales are different transactions on the sellers end, however, ethics are ethics, and your negotiating power was compromise by that disclosure.

Mike Allen
Keller Williams realty
1061 Technology park dr.
Glen Allen, VA 23059
804-591-3893
804-262-2611
miketa@kw.com

Hello Tressa101,

If you have the proof as you indicated then it is obvious that this RE Agent is NOT representing your best interests. It is obvious then that the Agent has well overstepped the legal and ethical boundaries of their license. Yes you can take this to a lawyer. However, do you really want the aggravation, expense and delay of purchasing a home?

In my opinion I would not only drop the Agent like a hot potato but also file a complaint with the State licensing agency handling Realtors FIRST! You can also copy the local and state RE associations and his/her Broker. The State licensing agency will have the most long term effect on the Agent with the other two adding sanctions if they desire to. Associations are there to service the members first and the consumers next, They have no real legal powers over an Agent as far as license disciplinary actions whereas the state licensing agency does.

Good luck on the house hunting!

Emmanuel J. Scanlan
PS Inspection & Property Services LLC http://www.psinspection.com
214-418-4366 (cell)
TREC License # 7593
International Code Council, Residential Combination Inspector #5247015-R5 (Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing and Building)
Certified Infrared Thermographer (ASNT-TC1A Standards)
Texas Residential Construction Commission, Third Party Warranty Inspector #1593
Texas Residential Construction Commission, Inspector, County Inspection Program
Texas Department Of Insurance, VIP Inspector # 08507061016
Hayman Residential Engineering Services, Field Technician
CMC Energy - Certified Energy Auditor

Knowledge is power, but sharing knowledge brings peace!!

My agent forwarded the emails exchanged between them with the ratified contract to me. I could see where he had deleted other exchanges (his signature remained each time he'd sent something back to the other agent, so I could tell that something had been sent and he'd later taken it out). I'm guessing he accidentally left that portion in there about our budget, not realizing that we'd see that as well as the contract. Thank goodness he did, otherwise we wouldn't know what type of dishonest snake we'd been working with.

Thank you for the information - I will definitely be moving forward with this...and getting a new realtor!

How do you know that your agent did this? If your agent is a BUYERS AGENT, then she did violate the confidentiality regulations. Honestly, I think I'd consider talking to an attorney. You can make complaints through the broker and through the REALTOR association, but if you have monetary damages then you need to talk to an attorney.

Be careful, though and make sure you know that your agent is YOUR agent. If you don't have an agreement for her to represent you as a buyer agent, then by default, she represents the seller and was simply complying with her duties to represent the seller by sharing all information relevant to the transaction.

Ouch. This could be ugly.

Tressa - here are some of your options: talk to your agent's broker about the situation (perhaps the broker can assign you to another agent?); report the action to Richmond Association of REALTORS; you can also report it to Virginia's Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, the agency that manages our licenses.