NEW BOFA Letter of Authorization... only licensed agents or attorneys can be authorized on accounts now? That rules out an assistant being authorized to follow up on even mundane "Did you get the fax?" calls... escalating with BOFA

See link: http://realestateagent.bankofamerica.com/content/documents/tpa.pdf

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Joseph what part of the new LOA are you referencing.  I remember Wells trying to do that, but I don't see it on this as the Wells one was soooo blantantly obvious. 

What part are you seeing that I'm not?

 "shall not knowingly misrepresent or omit to state, any material fact in order to induce the

Borrower(s), BANA, the lender, the investor or the insurer to agree to the terms of a Short Sale that the Borrower(s),

BANA, the lender the investor or the insurer would not have agreed to had all material facts been known"

In other words, you would be bound to disclose any an all offers or prices on the table, regardless of the benefit to the seller, which is a violation of Fiduciary duty.  So, If I have an unqualified FHA buyer with an offer of $200,000, and a cash buyer with an offer of $190,000 that was willing to settle deficiency with a contribution, I would be bound to disclose the higher offer in violation of Fiduciary duty to seller.

Joseph, You should express directly to Bank of America, as well.  It also is a pretty "open" statement, how would you KNOW what they would or wouldn't agree to if X was known.... (outside of fiduciary).

God.  You are sooo right.  What is funny though is you and I being 3rd party negotiators, there are times I have NO IDEA if there is another offer on the property.  That statement is written sooo  wrong.  This LOA is written just as bad as their short sale purchase contract addendum.  Who writes this stuff up for them??

BANA is requiring licensed individuals because of the fiduciary responsibilty created through agency for both Buyer an Seller in a real estate transaction.  In most short sale agreements/advisories a Seller "may" consider additional offers. Unless a Seller accepts an offer though a purchase agreement I don't see how it becomes a material fact. If a Seller accepts a back offer which is better (higher price) and the Bank is unaware of it, don't you think that might be an issue? 

The material facts are no different than accepted practices extended to Banks when the Buyer is obtaining a loan to purchase. 

Short Sales are complex and IMO the reasonable care and diligence needs to be held to a much higher standard that licensed RE agents understand and third parties do not. This is not a bad idea IMO.

 

Cliff, and what makes you think RE agents are qualified to do short sales?  I know this issue is a hot button, but really, what specific skills does being a real estate agent make for a better negotiator.  Why not loan officers or debt adjustors, which some states have done? Short sales ARE NOT a part of normal agent duties, and if you don't believe me, ask your E&O provider. Agents have fallen into the role of short sale negotiators because they are a part of the process, but that does not mean that they are qualified, nor best at it, nor the only game in town. The simple fact of the matter is that nationwide, only 23% of agent led short sales are successful (Campbell Surveys). This is a pretty dismal outcome. Now, I truly believe that many, if not most of the agents here are the 1%, and very qualified, but you have to be a complete fool to suggest that the average agent has any business whatsoever in touching a short sale.  Reading a book or taking a few hours of CE credit does not give you the skills necessary.

The point is negotiators or third parties have no responsibility to any Party because they have no agency with a respective Party. Negotiators and unlicensed assistants for ex, therefore can say and do anything without the responsibility of fiduciary duty that a licensed individual alledegely understands and has agreed to with a Buyer, Seller, or both.

Whether any RE agent is qualified is a business decision. To me short sales are bad business.

Here is a link on back up offers (applies to North Carolina)

http://www.obxbeachliving.com/short-sale-homes-information/short-sa...

FWIW I think the Real Estate industry has been nothing more than a pawn for all the future liability these Short Sale Transactions present. You have issues of agency and subagency, tax and legal challenges to Sellers, etc

BTW I've had my share of nightmarish fun with "qualified" negotiators. This process is a mess. It all started with MSA (Mortgage Service Agreements and Trustee deeds but thats another discussion or ten.

What makes you assume that third parties do not have any Fiduciary duty?  I most certainly do, because I have a written contract with the seller that specifies it. I know that most good third parties do the same.

Twitter Team has just informed me that ONLY licensed real estate agents will be able to speak with any BOFA Rep.starting April 14.  Twitter Team understands the concerns of the agents and is communicating this to the "appropriate" channels. I expressed that it is not practical. It means, an agent can NEVER EVER be sick, NEVER go on vacation, etc, because their assistant could not "speak" with BOFA. An agent MUST act as a secretary, a faxer, a typist, and cannot even delegate routine calls to BOFA, such as "Equator rejected: other", why" OR "Did you get our fax? OR "The appraiser has not called", etc. etc. The Twitter Team understands and is trying to get our concerns addressed. I expect another call back by tomorrow with a party to address my letter of concern. I further stated I am on a national forum, and the members on our site are alarmed by this new procedure.

Will be very interesting if this does actually go into effect on the 14th.

Not going to happen.  No boutique law firm is going to have a lawyer personally manage all these files. They delegate to staff, just like the rest of us.

 

I'm still business as usual. 

Agree. It's ridiculous.

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