Dealing with REO purchases is just. So. Much. Fun!
Two weeks ago my buyer clients and I received a bank’s verbal acceptance of our offer on their house for sale. The parties verbally agreed to close August 3.
Last week the bank sends back signed docs. Closing date is now August 18. First we heard of it!
Note to asset managers everywhere: A real estate contract is a bilateral document. One party can’t change the terms of the deal without the other party’s written consent.
Apparently banks now have the power to change contract law whenever they feel like it. Wow, that Obama administration really is bringing change. Change I can believe in? Not sure I want to.
note: I’m just being snarky. Obviously I don’t believe Obama’s team has anything to do with the fact that the banks practice the New Golden Rule: “He who has the gold makes the rules.”
further note: Giving credit where it’s due, the bank’s asset manager was trying to do the buyers a favor. She took a week to get signatures back to us, so she thought she’d compensate by kindly giving the buyers more time to get their loan processed & closed. That’s nice. But the buyers don’t want a longer close. They want to close yesterday. It seems to me that the banks should require their asset managers to at least take a Contracts 101 seminar. A day of legalese for mid-level managers negotiating millions of dollars worth of bank assets. Really, is that too much to ask?
Heather Barr is a Realtor and a happy workaholic. She eats more than someone her size ought to be able, and is a runner as a consequence. Her TiVo's full of spy thrillers, police procedurals and Whedonesque sci-fi.
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Hi John,
Thanks for visiting and reading, although I do wish you had read more carefully. I thought I made it obvious that the Obama comment was just an attempt at humor. Apparently, it wasn’t a successful attempt.
In any case, my point was exactly the same as yours: verbal agreements are a BAD idea and are also (nearly always) unenforceable.
So some clerk in the bank made a verbal agreement on a closing date? Excuse me, in California a verbal agreement in real estate carries no weight. Why blame Obama for ignorance? Seems like the right wing blames their live problems on anyone but themselves.
The Statue of Fraud in California states all real estate transactions must be in writing. Maybe you sell real estate on verbal terms. That’s worth the paper its written on and a great way to employ attorneys.
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