Elizabeth

If you were purchasing the property on a short sale, the bank has to make the final call and acceptance of price and terms. This deal sounded like a short sale. In this case, I don't think you can hold a listing agent liable if the banks or multiple lien holders wanted their piece of the sale which went beyond what was agreed upon between Buyer and Seller. Advance knowledge of total fees the bank will want to recover prior to listing usually isn't known. But in the case of a short sale, when more than 1 lien is in play to be paid off, it is a part of the negotiations between both buyer and seller to get to a price point that will appease the bank and or banks and lien holders in order to complete a sale.

Buying in this current market of short sales requires agents and their clients to be fully aware of the possible pitfalls when multiple lien holders are in place. Usually this requires the listing agent to SCREEN the Seller prior to listing a property on short sale to be aware of such issues that may or may not need additional negotiations on part of the lien holders and Buyer to complete a sale.

Sorry about your loss but you need to be armed with the right questions to ask listing agents in the event you are looking to purchase a short sale property. If you want more information on this topic I would be more than happy to discuss it with you.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Tintinalli
Real Estate One
Listing, Selling, Leasing, Consulting http://www.lizindetroit.com
lt@lizindetroit.com
W: 734-5919200 - Sun Nov 15 2009, 18:29