By
Todd Clark (Broker/Sales Coach)
503-524-9494
My
buyers are buyers with a good credit score,
but they just don't make a lot of money. So, they know the
homes they
are
looking at are going to be on the lower price range of homes on the
market and
with that, there is going to be a lot of competition. But, when you
find the
home you want and your offer is the highest, and then still losing out,
then
I'm telling them to contact their lawyer.
Here is what happened:
My clients had found a
home that they liked and was in their price
range, but
this home was a foreclosure. They put their best foot
forward right
from the
start on this one. They were done looking, they wanted this home, and
together
we formulated the best offer for them to make sure they got this
home... or so
we thought.
The listing agent came
back and said that if you want to put an offer
in on
this home than you need to get a pre-approval letter from ABC Bank
out
of
Springfield, USA. OK, my clients and I are both wondering why this is
needed,
but we decided that if they want this home we best jump through their
hoops.
Well, once on the phone
getting the pre-approval, the bank pushes my
buyer hard
to use them. How hard? They were telling my clients that
there are lots
of
offers on this home, you are the second person today that I've talked
to about
a pre-approval, but I can tell you that the amount you are offering
isn't the
only factor in getting this home. I suggest you use us to get this
home. If you
do, it will make your offer stronger than if you go with your lender.
We can't
even promise we can get your pre-approval letter out today unless you
are
planning to use us. I just hope the other offer isn't accepted while
you wait
for your pre-approval, so do you want to use us or would you rather
wait?
WOW! When my clients told
me this, I said that this sounds very, very
wrong and
you have a choice. HOW BAD DO YOU WANT THIS HOME? I think
you need to
contact a
lawyer because I know you want to stay with your lender and I agree
with you on
that, but I think what they are doing is breaking some laws, but I
think you
need to talk to a lawyer to confirm.
If you had a buyer in
this situation, what would you have them do? Do
you have
them strong armed into a bad loan just so they can get a home? Do you
have them
stick with their lender who has got them this far and contact a lawyer
and see
if there are some other avenues? I know I what I've done and that is
the 2nd
choice, stay with their lender and contact a lawyer, because when
something
stinks like _____, it usual is!
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 - My advice for my buyers is don't give up and contact a lawyer!!!
Holy Kaka! So if they go to a lawyer before the offer gets accepted they'll lose the house.....how badly do they love the house? Was it a bad loan - or was it just the strong-arming that was offensive? I guess all you can do is advise - ultimately the clients decide. ?
Todd,
Tell your clients to get a life!
Unless they think they were a protected class and that they were discriminated against there is no cause for action.
The seller can ask for any pre-qual they want, what they can't do is force you to use their lender. Whe I sold my condo I insisted I pre-qual the buyer, they were financiable, but I found they had backed out of several offers. I ask for a non-refundable $10,000.00 deposit paid to escrow the day I accepted the offer and paid to me after a 10 day inspection period. The offer expired because there lender couldn't preform. I saved the deal by providing their lender with my wholesaler. I did make their lender reduce his fees.
When you send a fool to a litigious lawyer you might find yourself on the wrong end of a tort! Right or wrong it's going to cost you.
Bill
Liz - I think it is the fact that they were told that if they don't use them they may not get the home.
Bill - I agree lawyers aren't always the answer and I agree they can ask for the pre-approval from anyone. But to tell them they won't get the pre-approval out until tomorrow because they aren't going to use them then that is just wrong. They may lose the house because the bank is refusing to deal with anyone who isn't going to use them to get the loan.
Hi Todd..Pre-Qualification is one thing, but Strong arming the Buyer...mmm seems to me they have a conflict of interest, they certainly are not working for your Buyer. Get a pre-approval from Both the Sellers Bank and the Buyers Bank..then the Buyers has some choices.
Now I'm not a lawyer ...but is sure sounds like a form of Loan Steering to me.....I hope it works out for your buyer....peace zane
Todd,
This sounds like an overzealous Loan Officer on the other end of the transaction. I would be willing to bet that the asset manager at the bank that owns the house has no idea this is happening and would be quite upset if they found out. I would report the loan officer to the Federal Trade Commission, the Asset Manager at the Bank, and I would make a complaint to the LO's supervisor. These kind of things happen occasionally but I think your client would be better served by working through formal channels of complaint than the courts.
It does sound like your client is being strong armed. I would have to agree that going through channels might be the best way to start.
Hi Todd- That is SO outrageous. I would have given those Buyers the same advice that you did. After that, it's up to them. Best of luck to all. --Sara in San Antonio
Todd, I read something about this practice and while I can't remember the exact article, I think I recalled that the owner (the bank) can legally give preference to buyers that use the bank's loan products. Not positive, and sure wish I could remember the article source. But, I know it gave me a shivery-cold feeling that that's exactly why we need to keep banks out of real estate.