By Todd Clark (Broker/Sales Coach) 503-524-9494
If you work short sales, I’m sure you have run into the phone call in the middle of the afternoon where a buyer’s agent is at the door and they are calling to ask you why the keys don’t work. That is when you find out the locks have been changed by the bank. (Is this legal?)
Well, one of
my clients who happens to be a long haul trucker and really only uses
his house
for a storage place, told me to list his home. He had me
put it in the MLS as
vacant, but did have stuff in it so people wouldn’t panic when they
entered
what they thought was a vacant home to find what looked like a home
that was
lived in.
Fast forward two months
when I get the afternoon call about the locks being
changed and a buyer’s agent that can’t get in. I called
Bank of America and
they claimed not to know what I was talking about despite the note in
the
window saying they changed the locks and to call the number I was
calling if I
had any questions about the property.
Well, here is the
problem, everything is still in this guy’s house and now no
one has access to the property including the inspector that is supposed
to be
there on Tuesday. My client was confused and was asking me
all types of
questions that I had never been asked about this practice, because
every other
time I had seen it done the seller had completely moved out and just
didn’t
really care about the bank doing this. But, this time was different,
this guy
had all his stuff in the property and he wanted it back!
His question
was, “how could they do this, it isn’t their home until they foreclose,
right?”
To be honest, I couldn’t argue with him on that point. That would be no
different than me changing the locks on your house, they way we saw it.
But, I
told him, to be honest I don’t know and that he should contact a real
estate
attorney and ask them.
What did he do on Monday?
He called his lawyer and his lawyer said, they can’t
do that and told my client to call his bank and demand the key within 3
business days or he would have to file suit against the bank. Guess
what my
client had within 3 business days. Yep, he has his keys in hand.
So, what makes these banks think they can do this? Did they not talk to
their
lawyers about this first? I know as a landlord if I try to lock someone
for
non-payment of rent before I head to court to get the rights to the
property
back, I have the chance of going to jail and owing the renter some
serious
money. Could the banks be in line for the same results where an owner
who is
locked out sues the bank?
Todd Clark - Broker / Sales Coach
Palazzo Realty Group
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Tigard OR homes for sale, homes for sale in zip code, 97223,97224, Tigard Oregon Realtor, Tigard OR Realtor, Tigard Oregon MLS Search, Tigard OR MLS Search, 1st time home buying expert, short sale expert, avoiding foreclosure in Tigard, helping families home, LivingBeaverton, Townhomes for sale, home for sale, house for sale, Bull Mountain North, Bull Mountain South, King City, Mountainview, Greenburg, Summer Lake Neighborhood, Summerfield neighborhood, Tigard neighborhood, Walnut Grove Neighborhood. Tigard Oregon Real Estate, Tigard OR real estate, Todd Clark, (503)524-9494, WWW.LivingTigard.com, www.IFoundYourNewHome.com, www.SavingyouFromForeclosure.com
©2009 Todd Clark - Originally posted at Hey bank don’t change the locks or you may not sell the home and could get sued
