Hi,
I am buying a home in Suffolk County NY and I have 2 agents working for me. I went to see a property on Thursday 8/28/08 and liked it very much. I signed paperwork with my agents in regard to a bid on the property. The asking price was $299,990 and I bid $290,000 I requested my agents to accept a counter offer and go to the asking price if necessary. Also along with this offer it was stipulated that the offer was with no money down as it was going through the Neyermeyer Grant. This grant ended on Tuesday 9/2/08. My Mortgage Broker checked the property value and it came back positive as the 6% added to the asking price + 3% Total of 9% above bid. Without hearing anythig from the sellers agent on Monday, I contacted my Mortgage Broker and he submitted the paperwork on Tuesday to cover me on the grant. I am already Pre-approved and ready to go with the closing date of Sept 30th (Stipulated with the Grant)I went to the seller on Monday on my own accord and found out the the bid was not presented to him. Also the seller's agent, who lives 3 doors down was called by the seller to visited visit us. I asked the seller's agent why he had not presented the bid to the seller. He said that he did not like the Grant, and with no money down he didn't present the offer. This is a licensed broker who works for Prudential Real Estate in Ronkonkoma, NY. We discussed the Grant and the listing agent was advised of the background by a fax from my Mortgage Broker. It looked to me that this listing agent had his mind made up about the NO MONEY DOWN issue and was not budging from his own issues. They met with the sellers attorney on Wednesday and all agreed to accept the bid on the full price. This was after the sellers agent told the seller of the bid for $290,000 on that same day, Wednesday. (Bid was given on Thursday)Mind you I was in constant contact with my 2 agents on this matter. The listing agent for the seller does not have Power Of Attorney. I was so pissed of at this meeting that I went to the Prudential office on Monday and made a complaint to the manager of the office. He had the nerve to tell me that he tells all of his agents not to accept offers from people who do not put money down or use grants with no money down. He was changing the subject so often I had to step in and repeat myself that the offer was not given to the seller and that the agent had the right to give the offer, regardless of his personal feelings. I didn't get me no where as the sellers agent just gave the offer to the seller on Wednesday 9/3/08 We went to the asking price, with stipulation of no concessions on cosmetic problems with the engineer. That doesn't rule out problems with the Electric, plumbing and heating issues if they arrise. Termites included. What can I do about the sellers agent and the Prudential office he works for?

Not sure about the laws in New York, but in Oregon we are obligated to present all offers asap regardless of whether they are good or not. You could check with your State's real estate commissioner to see what the laws in your State are and maybe file a complaint.

Same here. Offers have to be presented. They don't have to be written, but once written have to be presented.

my question though is how do you KNOW the offer was presented.

in our area it is not uncommon for everything to be done over the phone / fax because this is mainly a 2nd home market, and the sellers may be in Delaware, California, Alaska, or Hawaii - and you can REQUEST a conference call to present your offer, but the agent could always say "The seller has instructed me to collect all offers for him and present them myself" and then what?

When you're dealing with dishonest agents you really wish you could meet with the sellers and their agent face to face to state your case.

it's possible for the agent to lie and get away with it because your chances of ever running into the seller are slim to none if they're from out of state. though I could always supply THE BUYER with the seller's address (public record from tax records)who can write and say "I'm sorry you declined my offer...I had hoped we could work it out" and see what happens.


hmmm.

I agree that you never really know if the offer has been presented or not and there really is no proof unless you call the seller yourself. However, I think it is an ethics violation to contact the seller directly, at least in Oregon it is. Usually, if I am concerned about a shady agent that has a reputaton for these sorts of things, I will ask my PB to call his or her PB and ask.That usually gets some action. Also our forms have a place for the listing agent to fill in the date and time the offer was presented, but, of course, they could always lie about that too.

I tell Buyers that IF they submitted an Offer in writing, with all of the "i"s dotted and the "t"s crossed; then they are entitled to receive a written response evidencing the Seller's receipt and his/her Acceptance/Rejection/Counter-Offer.

While the N. Y. Real Estate Rules and Regulations don't necessarily require this, Common Business Courtesy does. But Business Courtesy isn't so "common", is it ?

The suggestion that you contact the Real Estate Commission in New York is a good one; but don't expect a response for weeks. Your own Attorney may be able to advise you of other recourse or ways to approach this problem.

OP states that he contacted the Seller.

Who is the seller??

A regular homeowner,a bank,a short sale that requires lender approval.

All offers usually have to be presented.In most states verbal offers can be presented and although legal are generally unenforceable in a court of law.

The EXCEPTION is if the client instructs the listing agent/broker that they will not accept certain terms in a contract and to not present those offers.

Even though the cutoff date for Nehemiah and Ameridream and all the other DPA programs is Oct. 1st many banks that are selling properties have said NO that they will no longer contribute as a seller to DPA programs.

This could be a reason that your offer was never presented.

Who knows we weren't there but many aren't messing with the dpa's.

Report them to the New York real estate commission. In your report provide dates you met with the seller, the seller's agent and the broker. Explain what transpired during these meetings and then provide the seller's name and contact information if possible.

The broker has every right to make suggestion against accepting a zero down offer but they cannot choose to not present the offer.

Although the listing agent was totally out of line in not presenting the offer, my guess would be it is because the Nehemiah program is dead as of 10/1. Most lenders stopped taking applications well before 9/3 - that would be very tight to close by 9/30. I'm surprised you found a lender taking apps that late into the game.

Listing agent probably did not want the property tied up under agreement for a deal that would probably not happen. That being said, he should have presented it to his Seller and advised his Seller not to accept it. Would have made life a lot easier for him!