Hi,

I'm a California resident with an offer in on a short sale but I'm finding this process is taking a long time to work out. One thing that I'm concerned about is the fact that the listing agent is actually living in the property. They are not the owner but are 'renting'. This seems to me to be a conflict of interest on their part. What is general policy for listing agents that are living in the property they are selling?

Thanks,

Sanders

There is no conflict at all as long as it is disclosed.

Ask your agent to find out if there is a written lease, when it expires, etc. And ask your agent to explain the tenant's rights in your state when a rental property is sold. If you are wanting to move in but must honor the lease for example.

Yes technically there is no conflict of interest but it definitely is a sticky situation. Good luck!

Thanks for the responses but now we have a problem! The agent said in the disclosure document that they would clean the carpets when they moved out but they failed to do so and I ended up having this work done at my own expense. I've tried to get reimbursed from the agent but they so far have refused so I went to their real estate agency but am still getting rebuffed. Do I have any options filing a complaint with any governing body here in CA?

If it was in writing and all parties signed then they should have been responsible for doing so. I'm really surprised the listing agents broker isn't more involved in resolving the problem. I'm assuming you already closed and your buyers took possession?

I am the buyer (not an agent, just found your forums) and yes we took possession. Statement that the carpets would be cleaned is signed by the Agent (former tenant) but nothing done and it cost me $475 as the carpets and the house in general were filthy when we moved in.

You should have never taken possession without verifying that the work was done. They should have provided you with a copy of the invoice for the carpet cleaning. Live and learn.

As far as filing a complaint, you can do it with the DRE in California, but in this case, the party you have a complaint against is a tenant and an agent. Unfortunately, you might not really have a complaint against them as an agent. Tenant's are not party to the contract, and the agent should not have filled out the disclosure notice.

You really should have had added the provision to the contract, asked for proof of the work, and then done a final walkthrough and acceptance before signing the closing documents.

1.You shouldn't have closed on it if a condition was not met. Was the property vacant or the agent living in there right up until closing?

You should have had a contingency that the property had to be vacant and empty of belongings a few days before closing for inspection.


Bottomline on this is you probably got a smoking deal on this compared to values of a few years ago so that is what I would focus on.

The brokerage is not responsible for what a tenant does.

If I have an agent at my brokerage that doesn't pay their home power bill am I responsible for it just because they are licensed with my company?? NO............

This isn't a license law or ethics issue so most likley you would file a civil action and sue the former tenant for your 400 and something dollars of which you might or might not win and get a judgement. About 90 percent of judgements never collect.


So what I am saying is you can move on or waste alot of your time messing around for nothing.

no legal advice

I guess what we are trying to say is that you have to separate the agent's two roles in this transaction - agent and tenant - and act as if they were two different people. The liability of the broker does not extend to the agent's role as a tenant.

Thank you all for your advice. Live and learn indeed!