BOA Alleged Equator Fraud
I was recently advised that BOA recently restricted all agents of a large brokerage because one short sale file allegedly contained fraudulent document(s). Furthermore, when any of these agents jumped ship to another brokerage because of their inability to utilize Equator their accounts remained restricted based on their prior involvement with the original brokerage. If any document(s) were fraudulent they would have been provided by the Seller, not the listing agent. However, BOA appears to be holding the brokerage and all of their associates responsible. This has presented further problems in that this restriction applies to all other lenders utilizing Equator.
The question for this discussion is has this occurred to anyone that you have heard about? NAR is currently working to resolve this issue and we would like to know if this is wide spread or just an isolated situation.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Shelly Gorenstein on
-
I work with BoA every day and Equator and thank you for this article. This is news to me and bad news at that. The problem from all banks is that Agents are at the mercy and on the outside of changing inner bank guidelines, rules and regs. The banks have no alert, give no explanation, have no accountability and agents have no recourse. What may have been acceptable yesterday is not acceptable today. You don't find that out until yo are at the negotiations table.
-
Permalink Reply by Donald Johnson on
-
Boycott the large national banks ... end the fed ... go credit union ... if you can't or don't want to pay for your house ... don't ... save that money and go by a cheap foreclosed condo through a trust fund ... bankrupt fannie and freddie and force the federal government to sell all assets off at that point via another RTC ... sell off all unused federal, state and local lands to pay the debt ... tax the rich a minimum tax based on a gross income of 10% ... less than mine but fair enough to help offset ... throw politicians in jail for spending more money than is available ... begin immediate prosecution of every single bank officer across the world ... Bernie was a boy scout compared to these thieves ... prosecute the fed and hang all their chairmen for lying and duping the taxpayer out of hundreds of trillions over the last 80 years ... end the wars that are lining the pockets of corporations ... and then prosecute them for treason for starting them in the first place ... Too Much???? Oh wait this was about fraud ... lol ... yeah so was all that ... BoA has no authority, the broker should sue for defamation and so should the agent. Oh and if a lender called and asked me to take their number off my blog I'd reply change it then ... business people should be accessible and accountable ...
-
Permalink Reply by Jeff Payne on
-
Hi Donald, I know we are getting a bit off topic but it sounds like you have great passion and I like that! Just curious, have you boycotted the large banks? Do you work short sales with properties that have mortgages through the large banks?
-
-
Someone else mentioned we should do pre-emptive regulation, I thought we did that when we received our license? The state licensing commission has the authority to regulate this industry, not the bank, not you, not I, not the even the federal government (yes it's true check the constitution) ... in fact many federal laws are in direct violation of the US Constitution ... As far as a "Profession" ... if you have a real estate license you most certainly belong to the profession of real estate. It doesn't require a license in any field to be a professional. The definition of the word itself simply (in a nutshell) means that a person has undertaken the task of acquiring more knowledge than others in a chosen field. I could clean carpets and be a "Professional" carpet cleaner without ever getting a license just by applying myself fully into that field and becoming the very best in the eyes of the consumer. What about a "Professional" swimmer? Golfer? True, 90+% of all real estate licensees do not fall into the expert category of their "profession", but regardless they are held under the eyes of the law and consumer as a professional. So back to the first person now, does that mean we must force that 90+% to undergo those classes as well to maintain their professional status? No, it is as it is now, those that wish to excel will, those that wish to cut corners will, those that wish to steal will. No amount of legislation will ever change that, in fact in many cases it makes it worse. If all that legislation you spoke of worked how was it that Bernie made off with hundreds of millions? Or the banks and securities dealers made off with trillions? That money didn't simply vanish by the way, it's still around, in different places, pockets and bank accounts. Your money, mine ... and we get to ... through acts of legislation ... pay more through taxpayer recovery for corporate bailouts. Enough legislation and how about teaching integrity in classroom starting from day one.
-
Permalink Reply by Tni LeBlanc (805) 878-9879 on
-
Hi Donald,
If you allow that 90%+ of real estate agents are not experts in real estate, in what sense can you say that being a real estate licensee makes you a member of a “profession?” I think people want it to be a profession because “profession” confers a certain amount of respect. But why is that? That is because a profession requires specialized study, training and knowledge. However, just because you choose to call real estate a profession does not make it so. Now, I think we should all strive to be professional in what we do, and clearly there are plenty of professional real estate agents (very many involved with this site), but clearly real estate is not a profession. I attended 7 years of college and graduate level education to be an attorney and sat for a 3 hour bar exam which 30% of the other people taking the exam failed (even after a similar 7 year course of study).
In order to be a real estate broker in the state of California, I was required to photocopy my state bar card license and sit for a one day exam for which the only preparation I undertook was a six hour exam prep class. And, all I had to do was get 70% right. Last time I checked, that was a C-. Now many of the agents I deal with are impressed by my “professionalism” but I learned none of it from studying for or obtaining a real estate license. And when I attend educational classes, I am greeted with “Why are YOU here?” These folks don’t even have a clue. How can I continue to be an expert if I don’t continue to learn? The last agent I recruited completed her coursework for real estate in three days, but was prevented from sitting for the exam for approximately two months, I suppose to make it look like it takes two months to get a real estate license -- when we all know it can be done over a long weekend.
For those of us who paid dues to be a part of a “profession” it is somewhat insulting to imply that a weekend worth of knowledge makes you a member of a profession. In addition to advanced study and training, a profession requires specialized knowledge and currently there is no requirement that a real estate licensee have any at all. And what does it take to be a Realtor? A few more bucks. I know it, you know it. And guess what? The public knows it too.
Granted it’s a lot easier to just demand that people respect what you do as a “profession,” than to advocate for a higher educational and training requirement. And, there wouldn’t be as many no-nothings to employ at no cost because they are “independent contractors.” But, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t accept a reality where someone can take a couple classes to be a real estate agent and argue that they have specialized training and knowledge at the same time.Cheers,Tni
-
-
Tni, good point but I tend to disagree. Does one need a bachelors degree to be a professional? Masters degree? I do believe it is too easy to get a real estate license and way too easy to maintain one but that does not mean that being a realtor is not a profession. One definition of profession is "a principle calling, vocation or employment"
So if an lawyer was a C- student in college and barely got by and then was one of the 30% that failed the Bar and it took that lawyer 10 times to sit for the Bar exam, would they not be a professional?
I have a bachelors degree and have my real estate brokers license and I practice real estate full time, would I not be considered a professional?
Is Kobe Bryant not a professional basketball player since he did not go to college and went directly to the NBA .
Interesting topic at the very least, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
-
-
Hi Jeff,
The reason Realtors go out of their way to refer to real estate as a "profession" is to try to give it some respect. You may earn respect as an individual and be "professional," but real estate will not be regarded as a profession until everyone who gets a license is required to cross a few hurdles and get some specialized knowledge. The public is not fooled - they've met too many no-nothing Realtors and know how easy it is to get a license.I don't see your point about someone sitting for the bar 10 times, in fact I think it underscores mine. Thankfully I only sat for the bar once. I guess I must have blocked the experience saying above that it was 3 hours, it was a 3 day exam and it was hell. LOL. The point is the bar to entry in real estate is much too low. At one point it was reported that one in 52 adults in California had a real estate license. Did anyone fail the real estate exam? LOL. Do you think that one in 52 adults in California could pass the bar or medical boards (even after receiving the education)? No. No, it is understood that those professions require specialized skills that not everyone possesses and you have to master the knowledge and be able to apply it and that is difficult. I think real estate actually does require skills that not everyone has, but currently there is no barrier to entry, So, no it is not a profession.
When I was working exclusively as an attorney, I never once had to make a point to someone that an attorney was a professional. It was understood that you were. Yet, Realtors talk about it all the time and are still not regarded that way as a group. They are not regarded that way because it is too easy to get into real estate and there are too many real estate agents who know absolutely nothing.
Real estate could easily be a profession, it takes a tremendous amount of knowledge to do it well. But right now it isn't a profession, not with a weekend worth of education about the difference between a Cape Cod and a Ranch style home.
I'll leave Kobe out of it, he's having a tough time right now...he's in the care of many professionals. LOL.
Tni
-
-
I guess we can agree to disagree on the the definition of profession. Having a profession and being professional do not always go hand in hand.
I do agree that it is far too easy to get a real estate license and far to easy to keep one.
Just because you do not regard yourself as a professional does not mean that we are not professionals. It seems like an elitist opinion because you have a law degree and think for some reason that the public has more respect for an attorney. While realtors can be looked at like car salesmen, attorneys can also be looked at as ambulance chasers.
-
-
Hi Jeff,
See and that is part of my point as well. Saying it so does not make it so. Because I have gone through the experience of becoming a member of a profession, I know that real estate is not currently a profession. Within the boundaries of a profession, you can count on every person to know certain basics. In real estate, I can't count on another agent to know anything at all. So, even if that lawyer is out there chasing ambulances, chances are he or she will know what to do when they catch it. Not so for a Realtor.
I do regard myself as a professional no matter what I do. And because I happen to regard a 7 year course of study as more significant than the weekend I spent getting a real estate license, that does not make me an elitist, it makes me a realist.
Cheers,
Tni
-
-
Sorry, again I disagree. Do you advertise your self as a professional? Do you offer your real estate customers professional service?
You assume that you automatically know more than other realtors because you have a law degree?
What does your seven year course of study have to do with real estate? Just because you spent 7 years means that you are a professional and someone who chose to NOT spend 7 years and instead took a course to become licensed to sell real estate is not a professional?
You also assume that you can count on an attorney to know certain basics? Again, an assumption that an attorney is a professional because they have 7 years worth of schooling? If that were the case, we would never hear of BK attorneys telling their clients that BK can wipe out a foreclosure only to see the property later foreclosed.
Too many assumptions here. You call it realist, I call it you thinking you are superior because you have a law degree.
Saying it does not make it so, I agree. Go pick up your dictionary and look up definition of profession and professional and then call Websters and tell them that they are wrong because professionals MUST have years and years of education :)
-
-
Hi Jeff,
I think you are again missing my point. I don't think my 7 years of study should have automatically qualified me to be a real estate broker. But, the state of California thought it was enough. Why? Even with a background in contracts and real property (that is simply not required of real estate agents though needed), I still had a lot to learn. But, nothing additional was required.
They have a saying "go to a surgeon to find out you need surgery..." or something like that, and course I think the same can be said of BK attorneys, but that is more a question of ethics, rather than skill or knowledge. Let's not go down that road.
This has nothing to do with me personally. If you feel that I am saying I'm superior because I have a specialized education, so be it. I do have it and I'm not ashamed of it, I earned it and it was difficult. And as a result, I do know more about the law than the average Joe on the block. And that is the point, your average Realtor does not necessarily know more than the average Joe on the block about real estate.
Most of the real state agents I know spend half their listing appointments refuting a Zestimate because people will believe a computer algorithm before them. And, I think that is insulting to someone who really knows what they are talking about.
So, why not make sure ALL real estate agents know some basics? Then you don't have to go around insisting that real estate is a profession while each real estate agent has to fight it out to get a basic level of respect because the industry is filled with no-nothings. And yes, a profession requires academic training. Only right now (in CA) real estate curtsies at the door of academic training with a two or three course requirement full of irrelevancies. Ask a room full of Realtors the difference between a condo and a PUD and watch the room clear. The only ones remaining will be the ones who took it upon themselves to learn the basics. That is not a profession, that is anarchy.
Realtors want in to the ranks of a "profession" but they are not willing to require specialized knowledge of those who enter the field. There is too much free labor at stake, and right now the status quo benefits from having a large workforce that they don't have to pay. In order to maintain that, they have to keep the standard for entry low. But, until they change that, the respect factor will also be low.
It is one thing for people to regard a profession as unethical, and people do regard both Realtors and attorneys as unethical generally, I'll give you that. But, the public does not regard attorneys as unknowledgeable, and that is the main difference and one that real estate agents cannot over come simply by insisting that everyone call real estate a "profession."
Cheers,
Tni
-
-
Again, that is your slanted opinion. I rarely ever come across sellers who argue with me about a zillow zestimate. I could count on one hand how many of them actually know what the zestimate is. The sellers hire me because I do have more knowledge than the average joe on the street.
Again, you have a view of profession much differently because you spent 7 years in school?
It sounds to me like you have little respect for what you do and want to diminish what others do. Talk to the over 500 buyers and sellers that I have worked with in the last 5 years and I don't think you will find many who do not regard me as a professional. There are always a few who think they can do it on their own and a few are successful at it but the majority of the public does not know what we as realtors know which is why they hire us.
Again, it looks like you are trying to bring others down because they did not go to school for 7 years to be a realtor. You seem to think that you are better than the average realtor because you have a law degree. At least that is what it looks like from here.
BTW, you did not answer "Do you market your self as a professional or offer professional real estate services?" No need to answer that, I know the answer already :)
-
© 2024 Created by Short Sale Superstars LLC.
Powered by
**********************************
like buttons