Tuesday, March 17,2009

Realtor Commission Reductions Eliminated for Fannie Mae Short Sales

By: Paul Silvestri

Effective March 1, 2009, Fannie Mae loan servicers will no longer require real estate brokers to reduce their commissions as a condition to a short sale approval. According to Fannie Mae, the closing of a pre-foreclosure sale cannot be conditioned upon a reduction of the real estate commission below what the listing agent and borrower negotiated. However, there is one exception: if the total commission is more than six percent of the sales price, this new policy will not apply.

What does this mean for Realtors? Now realtors will need to determine whether the underlying loan in a short sale is a Fannie Mae loan. Realtors now will want to ask the lender or loan servicer whether the loan is a Fannie Mae loan, and if necessary, submit the Fannie Mae Announcement to the lender with the short sale package. Loan servicers still must continue to obtain any approvals that may be required by interested third parties in connection with preforeclosure.

Click here to view the announcement from Fannie Mae.



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Friday, March 13, 2009

Realtors & Homeowners Beware of Predatory Investors & The Option Contract

We here at Yesner & Boss, P.L. have had many clients recently whose homes have declined in value and who have become victims of predatory investors. Below is what will be the first of many video posts on legal topics we will be adding to our Blog and website in the future. This video is of a recent presentation done by one of our attorneys, Christoper W. Boss, Esq., to Realtors at the Pinellas County Realtor Organization to inform Realtors and their clients of these potential scams that may lead to liability to the Realtor and further financial liability to the homeowner.