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I have a Realtor friend that works out of Pasadena California that recently was fired by her seller because of this letter. Chase told the seller that they would receive $30,000 at the close of escrow if they fired their current agent and picked an agent from the CDPE network.
Here's my take on it at at this point, the laws, the ethics, the rights of agents and homeowners, the rules, etc...does not matter anymore! The laws are being shifted, once again, to protect the financial sector. My belief is that it will tremendously hurt Real Estate.
We are seeing a shift in our duties as Agents...we now have a fiducuary duty towards the seller, the buyer and the banks/investors/servicers! How can an agent who's been provided a lead/referral/listing from a Bank be a neutral, ethical advocate and conduct his/her duties as the homeowner's agent and the homeowner's best interest at heart?
Click on this link to see the letter that was sent out from Chase to this particular client:
Thanks for reading this, Jennifer Escobar.
Jennifer is a Real Estate Agent at Qwest Real Estate.
My BLOG: www.Glendale-ShortSales.com
Comments
Chase is doing the Outreach Program to short sellers for the reasons Jeff stated, in Florida and New York it can take years to foreclose, no payments, declining market, HOA fees, vandalism. They can actually add to the bottom line by just offering the seller money. But from my understanding it is on MORTGAGES OWED BY CHASE not just serviced by Chase. They make .025% to service a loan and .050% to service a defaulted loan. If its not their loan and make more money, they aren't motivated to see it go away. I'm looking into one now, seller current and wants to stay current, non owner occ, property worth $90k. A short sale agent called and told the seller they could get $20k. I had to tell them each deal is different with different people involved with different financial situations. I certainly don't want to over promise and under deliver. I don't think current files have priority, am I wrong.
@ Bryant
I can't speak for Florida because I'm not licensed there but in California it doesn't happen like that. Now, there is a HAFA "relocation" benefit of $3000 to seller. But here, a seller cannot receive proceeds as a result of a shortsale. I only list shortsales since the market flipped over backwards. I asked agent friends of mine and it's definitely an oddity. I'm only speaking on California because that how it's always been here. But as we both know, there's nothing "normal" about this market. I'm over getting surprised anymore.
Well Jennifer, I do know who Lee is and I have a lot of respect for the guy; he recently used your Chase letter and blogged about it. I do thank you for your recommendation regarding short sale genius but I'm not sure how to take your comment regarding that ONLY SSG members are capable of handling all the curves that banks throw at us. There are many talented agents out there that are handling these curve balls effectively, many in this community. But I think what you were really saying is that SSG is better than CDPE and you know, that is possibility. In reality, we can all learn from each other.
Regarding the comment about direct referrals from the bank, every one of us is different and have our own set of personal standards and integrity, some will be tempted to not do the right thing when getting these leads directly from the bank but I'm sure that many that strive to do the right thing will continue to do so to under any circumstances.
I read the letter from Chase that you are referring to and I don't see why this seller couldn't have said to the bank that he already had an agent that was experienced and whom he felt comfortable with. I don't think that the bank can make this or any seller pick a specific agent. Of course, that is easier said than done...I'm sure this seller saw the $30K incentive and he wanted to be 100% sure he would get this money.
In closing, I am always the first to admit that I do not have all the knowledge there is to have about anything, not just short sales. Life is about learning and a never ending process.