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A few months ago we put an offer on a short sale, which was approved 3 weeks ago. The same day, my real estate agent died. She was a wonderful person and her passing was deeply tragic. Her husband is general contractor that also happens to have a real estate license and decided to take on her accounts. We'll call him Bill.
Understandably, Bill is having a tough time. I was supposed to close on this property on Friday and its become clear that is not going to happen. He takes days to answer emails. He says he'll call me back, and doesn't. I've contacted his broker on 3 occasions now. At some point in the last 2 weeks Bill decided to transfer his real estate license from the large local brokerage to a one man operation in a small town 2 hours away, which I had to find out from his old broker. A few days later, without any explanation, Bill sends me a brokerage transfer form attached to a one line email that just say "Please sign this form". I haven't signed it.
I found out in my last conversation with Bill's broker that Bill hasn't submitted any paperwork at all about the deal, and his broker knows nothing about it, there's no record of the transaction in their system. The broker has said twice he'd straighten the situation out, but I never hear from him.
I just don't know what to do, I never agreed to work with Bill, I agreed to work with his now deceased wife, though we never signed a buyer's agreement. But now he (and only he) has all of the paperwork, though I at least have a copy of the purchase contract. To top it all off, Bill had a minor heart attack the other day, so is even less responsive, and now I feel bad about being upset with him.
What are my legal options here? I know I could find another agent and another house, but I just want an agent that can finish this sale.
The agent who passed away was an agent for her broker. That broker is technically the one you are were working with. Bill has nothing to do with anything, in terms of an agency relationship, so you need to have another conversation with the original broker and be absolutely clear with him exactly what you want to have happen and, if you don't get the impression that he is going to be responsive, you need to explain that if he doesn't personally see to it that you close, he is the one you'll make a formal complaint against and possibly sue.
bbronston is correct with the chain of agency relationship, ultimately the broker is where your concerns lay.
Now having said that unless there is something in writing between you and Bill with you agreeing to the change again and your not getting any satisfaction to your questions or concerns call the broker.
Or the broker agreed to give Bill all of his wife's ongoing deals and the broker made you aware of his decision which sounds like that didn't happen and your not getting any satisfaction to your questions or concerns call the broker.
Call the broker as bbronston discussed and be firm with your concerns about closing on this property.
bbronston is correct with the chain of agency relationship, ultimately the broker is where your concerns lay.
Now having said that unless there is something in writing between you and Bill with you agreeing to the change again and your not getting any satisfaction to your questions or concerns call the broker.
Or the broker agreed to give Bill all of his wife's ongoing deals and the broker made you aware of his decision which sounds like that didn't happen and your not getting any satisfaction to your questions or concerns call the broker.
Call the broker as bbronston discussed and be firm with your concerns about closing on this property.
Hope this helps,
That is all excellent advice. As they said, the original broker owns your account, not Bill nor the agent that died.
You do not have to agree to them transferring your account. Apparently the agent who died had not turned in the original purchase contract to the broker. So you need to send the broker a copy of everything that you signed. It may be wise to make a personal appointment with the broker so as to get this resolved quickly.
How do you know that the short sale was approved? Did you get a copy of the approval in writing?
Have you sent any earnest money to an escrow or title company? (I don't know which state you are in, so that may not apply.)
Were you going to pay all cash for the property, or do you have a lender arranging for a mortgage?
The property is not going to close without you signing a lot of papers.
At this point, if you don't have anything besides the original offer, I would call the broker, who can look up the house on the MLS, then call the other agent to get the details.
Have your original agents managing broker call the other agent to get copies of all the documents. If you are working with a title company they should have the entire contract as well. Work with the original principal broker, forget Bill, and get your house closed assuming that the bank agrees to extend the short sale approval date for you...
i just had this happen. almost identical. it was embarrassing bek you dont wana say anything but the reality is your needs are not being met. speak to a honcho and get your services covered. you need them.
How do you know that the short sale was approved? Did you get a copy of the approval in writing?
Have you sent any earnest money to an escrow or title company? (I don't know which state you are in, so that may not apply.)
Were you going to pay all cash for the property, or do you have a lender arranging for a mortgage?
The property is not going to close without you signing a lot of papers.
At this point, if you don't have anything besides the original offer, I would call the broker, who can look up the house on the MLS, then call the other agent to get the details.
Good luck!
The seller's agent contacted me directly to tell me that the sale had been approved. He wasn't able to get a hold of my original agent. I found out later that day that she had passed away. For some reason Bill only provided me with the first 3 pages of the approval...which very oddly did not include a price.
I've deposited $1000 into escrow and am working with a lender for a mortgage.
The appraisal came in a few thousand short so I asked Bill to ask the seller to contribute some towards closing costs. On Tuesday he said he had made a deal for the sellers to contribute. My lender and I tried to get the details of the deal out of him, to ensure that we were still on track to close. By Friday the entire SS approval had been called off and closing postponed indefinitely while the bank reviews the file again. I still haven't been able to get a straight story of what exactly occurred. The sellers agent again contacted me directly to try to explain it, but without an agent of my own it was difficult to trust him. I'm willing to pay the price in the original approval, but I can't get answer about why that isn't possible.
Have your original agents managing broker call the other agent to get copies of all the documents. If you are working with a title company they should have the entire contract as well. Work with the original principal broker, forget Bill, and get your house closed assuming that the bank agrees to extend the short sale approval date for you...
Good advice as usual from Silverfall. I also recommend this course.
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