The problem was, we had signed a lease to rent the place out. Our renters demanded $4K for us to break it, which is the norm in California. So we paid them.
As it now turns out, our buyer's loan is not good. He has bad credit and has outstanding child support that is preventing him from closing a loan and closing the place. We feel our realtor withheld this information from us - and that because of this we are $22K out of pocket - $4K for cancellation and $18K in lost income from the one year lease.
I know it was our decision to accept the offer, but do we have any legal recourse against our realtor?Can you sue a realtor for bad advice and withholding information?
I have to say, I have had more than one occasion when a listing agreement expired or was canceled and I got an offer that day or the next. I know it is hard to believe, but it does happen.
That being said, regardless of what anyone tells you (including the mortgage broker/lender) the loan is not approved until it is out of underwriting with a ';Clear to Close';. Pre-approval and approval letters are generally not worth the paper they are written on. For any agent to make a definite statement that the loan will go through is appalling. They just don't know.
The circumstances of your buyer and how you found out about the problems are not surprising. This happens all of the time.
All of that being said, if you think you can prove that the agent did not represent you adequately you can call your local real estate board and see what your options are.
You might also talk to an attorney, but you are going to need some good documentation/evidence to get anywhere (based on what you have presented here.
I know it is a bad situation for you, but unless you have things in writing or a lawyer advises you differently, I would move on and get a new agent from a different office.
Good Luck!Can you sue a realtor for bad advice and withholding information?
it is realtors like that, that gives realtors a bad name.
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Here's the bottom line. If the loan was truly ready to fund, you shouldn't had let the offer include a financing contingency!
I'm sure that's the buyer's exit clause. If anybody ever encounters this scenerio, you should ask for a (letter of commitment to lend) from the lender.
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It all depends on the laws in California. You should look up the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act (RESPA) laws for California. Below is a link to a website that I found that provides a lot of good info as well. I work for a title company in FL. (obviously... with a name like ';title girl';, are you surprised?)
I'm curious... Had a purchase contract been executed? Or any disclosure forms? Although I don't know if the contract in California specifies anything about lender financing for the buyer, they, in addition to a copy of the lease you had with the renters will provide a timeline and support the truth of your claim, should you need to take this further.
Here is the link to California's Department of Real Estate. I hope its helpful. Good Luck!
http://www.dre.ca.gov/default.htm
i went through the same thing years ago. i didn't sue, but i'm sure i could have. i just took the hit. i would rather lose the money than give it to a lawyer.
if you have proof of your accusations, i'm sure you could find a lawyer to take the case, and you would probably win.
You will have to ask a (gag) lawyer for the answer to this one. The ONLY thing in this world I hate more than lawyers are realtors. I would laugh my @ss off if you actually sued one, problem is the damn lawyer would get half of the money.
no. any loan could fall out of escrow. you should have waited til the lease was up and then re-listed. the agent was protecting her commission. you should have demanded her to pay the $4000 out of her commission. i don;t think she was holding back the mysterious buyer. why would she hold back a commission? you should have consulted a real estate attorney not the agent. anyone can take a few classes and become an agent.
check with your local consumer organisation and real estate registry body. id say you have a case.
oh yes..most deff
Basically, you can sue anyone for anything if you have the money. Check with the Real Estate Commission in the State
of California, if you can prove you were lied to or misled,
you may have a case. All you can do is check the laws and
check the deal out, find out how long the mortgage company
new it was a bad loan. And find another Realtor, it sounds
pretty fishy to me, too.
It depends on the law of your state, but if you can prove it, you might have a case. The key here is being able to prove it: you'll need to show that he was holding onto the offer and not presenting it to you, than he knew the buyer wasn't qualified, etc. You'll need good evidence. Good luck!
Was your Realtor representing the buyer also? Did you see a letter with approved financing from the buyers loan officer? These are a few question you should of asked. All else fails contact the real estate broad.
The ';Big Red Flag'; part of your question -- ';We were repeatedly assured by the realtor that the buyer's loan was approved and was good.';
Rule #1 in real estate transactions -- NEVER accept any verbal agreements. If the buyer did not supply a letter of pre-approval from his lender, then you should not assume that he has been approved regardless of any verbal assurances.
If you have some form of record -- emails, faxes, letters, etc. -- from the realtor claiming that the buyer's financing was approved, then you might have a case. If, however, everything was just verbal assurances... sorry bud, I think you just learned a very expensive lesson.
Unless it's in writing that the realtor knew, you can't prove it and there is always a clause there protecting them. So sorry. Makes you sick huh? I just helped my sister sell a house, what a nightmare. Go forward and donn't waste any more time. Get a realtor and sell, don't rent and try to recoup som of the money. If they knew and you can prove it, see a lawyer. Good luck.
You can sue anyone for anything. But I think your case would hinge on whether you have any hard evidence that the realtor claimed the loan was approved. I find that highly unlikely. Realtors always are making all kinds of ';Fluff'; claims that they can never be held to.
You can definitely sue a Realtor for withholding information, but not for bad advise. You would have to provide solid evidence that the Realtor knowingly withheld information. Based on my own experience I can tell you that child support issues sometimes will not show up until the title company completes their title search. This happens during escrow and not prior to procuring a pre-approved loan. Also, there are lots of lender who can do 100% loans for folks with credit problems. It doesn't sound on the surface like the Realtor could have known about the problems with the loan. If your Realtor was also representing the buyer I would advise that you arrange to meet with the agent's broker and express your concerns. If that was the case it could be that the Realtor had his or her own interests at heart instead of yours. Remember though that the agent doesn't earn their commission until the deal closes, so there would be no motivation for the agent to bring you an unqualified buyer.
In my experience, no financial institution would loan 100% for a mortgage and any credible agent/broker should know that as well. I would check with the realty Licensing board in CA to see what your options are as far as the agent is concerned, as most states now have a full disclosure law for both the seller and the agent.
You can only take action if you have like 75% or more of this in writing.
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