Tim Burrell

In an email dated Aug. 5, 2009, Jean Hobbs of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission states that the Realtor representing the Seller must disclose all offers to the lender who is considering the short payoff of the loan. She references the opinion of Mariam Baer, Assistant Deputy Legal Counsel and Tom Miller, Special Deputy Attorney General, so this is a well reviewed opinion. In short, your "back up" offer has to be disclosed to the lender who is considering taking a short payment. The email states that this requirement that the Realtor disclose the other offers is not excused if the Seller refuses to sign the other offer and it is also not excused even if the lender states that they only want to consider one offer. This is a disclosure requirement, not a requirement that depends on the consideration of any party to the contract or the lender.

The fact that your offer is a back up offer allows the first offer to amend or improve their offer. In other words, back up offers cannot object to the amendment of the original offer signed by the seller. So, the fact that you may be the best now does not guarantee that you will stay that way. The Realtor for the seller cannnot disclose the terms of your offer to any other bidder unless they have your written consent (something that I believe has never happened in the 30 years I have been practicing). But, the original offer can hear that other offers are being presented and improve the terms of their offer.

This question illustrates why it is so important that Realtors be fully trained in an area where they practice. If they are doing short sales, they must be fully educated in short sales. The requirement in this area is clear, and there is no debate about what the agent must do, so that an agent who is not aware of the requirement can be subject to discipline by the Commission. One way to get educated is to come to the class I teach, Comprehensive Short Sale Seminar, that is approved by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission for four hours of continuing education credit. The next class is Tuesday, October 27. Any Realtor can find out more about that class, or any subsequent class, by going to http://www.TakeShortSaleClass.com as I typically teach the class once a month. I believe I am the only agent who actually does short sales daily who teaches a class for Continuing Education Credit in North Carolina. So, if you know a Realtor who wants to stay out of trouble, go to http://www.CreateAShortSale.com for an encyclopedia of information on short sales or tell them to take the class at http://www.TakeShortSaleClass.com

Good luck.
http://www.TeamForYOUrDreams.com - Sun Oct 25 2009, 18:37