Some servicers, including Bank of America, have been telling some Realtors that dual agency is not allowed in FHA short sales, but that is not correct, the National Association of Realtors warned today.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), of which FHA is a part, issued a letter to mortgage servicers in July outlining a number of new anti-fraud requirements for short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure, including a policy that “brokers and their agents may only represent the buyer or the seller, but not both parties.”
The policy was to take effect on Oct. 1, but in September, HUD postponed the policy after receiving a letter from NAR saying the ban on dual agency could make it harder for the government to get top dollar on short sales if some brokerages decided not to represent sellers in FHA short sales because they would not want to restrict their agents from representing buyers of those properties.
“As a result, HUD has agreed to work with NAR to arrive at a policy that better addresses concerns that preforeclosure sales are not meeting HUD’s minimum net sales proceeds requirements,” NAR said today.
Source: Realtor.org
