Bank of America's policy on allowing third-party negotiators to work short sales
I am a third party negotiator that the agents and homeowners select to assist with the short sale process. For a year I have been negotiating with lenders through the Equator system, this past week I was told that I was not an agent or attorney and that I was not allowed to be working on the short sales. Has anyone else encountered this? Also how is Bank of America able to tell the homeowner whom they can have negotiate the short sale for them as long as I abide my our state laws (which I am). Most agents don't want to spend the extra time it takes to get a short sale approved and closed and that is why they come to me. I had 4 BofA short sales that have been being worked on for 3 months get denied and closed due to me not being an agent. I think that if the government investors were aware of this issue they would not be ok with it.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Payne on
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It costs you 10,000 a year to have a real estate license? Our licensing is around $1000 per year and that includes membership to our local board and MLS.
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Permalink Reply by Tara Nagelhout on
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Res.net, Equator, invoice whatever it is called, certifications.....etc.
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I see, I don't pay for any of those. I was simply talking about licensing fees for agents. I actually would love to see more education for agents, real classes, not a webinar or a 2 hour CE course. Tighten up the educational requirements, maybe work toward an associates degree and charge more money to rid the industry of part timers. I know that will never happen because NAR and the state and local associations rely on numbers and nothing more to get more dues money.
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Permalink Reply by Kristin Johnsen on
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If my state offered or required it, I would be the first in line to get properly licensed. That is not the case here. Being a licensed real estate agent in this state does not allow you to negotiate debt on behalf of a homeowner. Me having my real estate license would only further be by Bank of America policies not state law.
I really appreciate everyone giving me feedback, it is nice to hear how other states work.
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Are you saying that an agent can not work a short sale in Indiana?
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Not enough licensing is needed and not enough education is taken, at least in Florida
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Permalink Reply by Richard on
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Smitty,
I agree there good professionals who has obtained the knowledge and experience through hands on work out there and whove never received their recognition due to varying circumstances. However, all to often politics and bad professionals tend to mess it up for those special few. Kristin may be able to grandfather her experience or just test through the system rather than starting at ground zero. I would encourage her to look into it.
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Probably no need to grandfather, it only takes a few weeks to get the license if she wanted to. Real Estate Sales in probably one of the few professions that takes very little to get a license and takes very little to keep a license. Most likely she could pass the test today if she could take it, without much studying. problem is that she will have to sit thru I believe a 56 hour course and then sit for the state test. I got my original license in Indiana back in 2003 and remember that it was quite easy.
I wish it were much harder to get a license and much more expensive, I also wish we had to have some sort of a license in order to work short sales or at least a required certification that costs alot of $$$$$$$ to thin the herd.
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Permalink Reply by brenda rogers on
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Smitty, How about a Realtor who has both a real estate license and experience? Wouldn't that be ideal? I've heard all of the arguments from 3rd party negotiators who are looking for a paycheck, too, against Realtors negotiating short sales but none of them hold any water with me. Why not? I have been a licensed Realtor for almost 6 years (not that long in the business); however, I've just closed my 100th short sale and I have a 100% success rate on approval. I was 50 years old when I obtained my re license and had worked for attorneys for about 30 years. My very first listing was a short sale in 2006 and so was my second listing, both taken at the same time and YES they were both approved and closed. I did not intentionally become a licensed Realtor in order to specialize in short sales. I want to be perfectly clear about this. Short sales happened to me. Fortunately, I have the skills, tenacious spirit, gifts and talents to learn and understand the process well enough to succeed. I made it my business to learn, research and become confident that I wasn't using anyone's financial future as my own personal guinea pig nor out of desperation to earn a commission check. It was a recipe for success, obviously. Rare? Absolutely. It is just like any other occupation, there are levels of expertise which become required as the job at hand becomes more complex. I often describe it as the difference between a General Practitioner and a Neurosurgeon. In this scenario, I am the Neurosurgeon.
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Permalink Reply by Smitty on
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Brenda, if you are licensed with experience, that's great. My point is EXPERIENCE is the key. Not a real estate license. I've met many many Realtors who couldn't maneuver their way around a short sale. I've had CDPE buyer agents say to me that they will submit their offer directly to the lender. My answer, "Go ahead", and I know no lender will listen to them without an authorization. My point is I don't feel a real estate license means anything when it comes to short sale negotiation. If you look at my posts on this thread, you'll see I think short sale negotiation requires far more hours of study and knowledge, than a mere real estate license. Short sale negotiators should have a completely separate licensing standard than Realtors do. Realtors had NO idea how to negotiate short sales 10 years ago. Only when the entire country started sinking underwater, did Realtors HAVE to learn what no one else wanted to do. If you poke around on NAR the number #1 challenge for Realtors dealing with short sales is INEXPERIENCE. Negotiations AREN'T a normal study for Realtors getting a license. You're LUCKY if you had in depth study of short sale negotiation while getting your real estate license. We need a far higher standard of licensure for short sale negotiations than a real estate license.
Kristin could have far more short sale approvals under her belt than her licensed counterpart. I don't know. I mean I don't know her personally, but I don't think because I have a license I'm better do do short sale negotiation than someone else. I know my EXPERIENCE speaks for itself and I'm assuming hers does too.
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Permalink Reply by Bill McKinley on
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Smitty, licensed = liability. B of A has a standard of practice they are supposedly held to. If they accept unlicensed negotiators they in essence have assumed liability because they are the professional. Without a license there is no professional liability or licensing agency to uphold any standard of practice. Experience means nothing in a lawsuit, only who is liable. A judge would most likely rule against B of A in a lawsuit if it was found they were using unlicensed (i.e. unsupervised in the eyes of the court) people to negotiate legal real estate agreements. IMO - Negotiating short sale terms is still part of the contract negotiation since it affects both buyer and seller.
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Bill, BOA doesn't hire the negotiator. The homeowner does and ANYONE in this country can be sued, either licensed or unlicensed and most E/O insurance does not cover short sale negotiation. We've already covered that.
Negotiating a price of a contract and terms from the mortgage lender are two very different things and I still maintain short sale negotiation should be a completely separate licensure WAY ABOVE real estate licensing.
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