DTC Real Estate & Investments

Review: Listing agent making an offer on his own listing and not accepting other offers.

I tried making an offer on this agents listing and found out from him that the he submitted his own personal offer and refuses to accept any other offers. Desired Settlement: The ability to submit an offer on his listing

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

Mr. [redacted], although this is not the name he used with me, has completely misstated the true facts. The accepted offer on said property is from a young couple that are first time home buyers. They had already been in contract for three months waiting for the selling bank to approve the short sale. After three months in escrow, Mr. [redacted] contacted me stating that he wanted me to present his offer. I had over 18 offers on this property from its original listing three months ago, and the offer that was accepted was the one that netted the selling bank the most money. We did keep two additional offers as back-up. When Mr. [redacted] approached me about presenting his offer three months later, I explained that it was too late, plus he wanted to offer $40,000 less than the top offer. Mr. [redacted] became extremely angry, called at least ten different times using different phone numbers, and then cussed me out during his final call. His argument was that he "was all cash and could close in 5 days," which is completely irrelevant to a bank, as all sales are cash to them, and it's about the net bottom line.

It is important to note that Mr. [redacted] also pursued this property unethically, as he violated posted instructions to not bother or contact the occupant. He personally contacted the occupant who he thought was the seller, but who in fact was an elderly gentleman who did not have the authority to negotiate selling the property. Mr. [redacted] spent two hours investigating the property and negotiating terms for his offer when he shouldn't have even been on the premises, Also, if Mr. [redacted] was a "seasoned investor" as he stated to me, then he would know that real estate short-sale laws require an "arms length" transaction. This means that anyone involved with a short sale, such as the seller or the listing broker/agent, cannot purchase or sell the property to themselves or to someone they know. Not only would I not attempt something illegal or so unethical, the selling bank wouldn't even consider such an offer an would report me for the offense.

Additionally, after three months of being in a binding contract, contract law does not allow me to renegotiate a new offer from a new buyer whether or not the offer is a better offer. So, not only was Mr. [redacted] asking me to violate contract law, he also tried to bribe me monetarily to find a way to bump out the accepted offer and the back-up offers. This is totally illegal!

I take great pride in the broker's license I hold. After many years and thousands of real estate transactions under my license, I continue to maintain a spotless record. Any inquirers can go to the California Bureau of Real Estate's website at http://www.dre.ca.gov/ and look up my license #XXXXXXXX. They will find that I have never had a violation or disciplinary action. Given my stellar record, it is unfortunate that the Revdex.com doesn't allow for the public to post "good" comments. If this option was available, I would have thousands of positive comments, with one negative and false comment by Mr. [redacted].