Anyone seeing an increase of aggresive behavior towards you as the BPO agent by short sale listing agents and negotiators?

In the past week, I have gotten very nasty phone calls from listing agents and two negotiators. In all cases, they found some tiny thing to make a fuss over and blew it totally out of proportion. For example, one threw a hissy because I set up the interior photos through the showing desk after they didn't return my call directly. Called that "unethical behavior" and threatened "repercussions" since I did the BPO without "having all the facts" (ie, I didn't have them tagging along with a sheaf of bogus repair items). Another got furious that I didn't use the comps they forced on me and again, hinted there would be "repercussions". Another insisted he had to come along on the BPO and talked ominously about "BPO agent liability".

What the heck is going on out there? Is there some new short sale class suggesting that intimidating the BPO agent is a good way to get your deals put through? I know that it is getting tougher to close deals all the time, but this kind of behavior is REALLY OBNOXIOUS. On EML orders now they are asking us to verify that we will inform them if we feel someone is trying to influence the BPO value. I didn't really put this kind of behavior in that category before, but I'm starting to feel like it is not just tension over getting these deals closed but out and out attempts to cow agents into coming in low "or else".

So I'm going to be turning them in from now on. In fact, I may start turning in anyone who pulls the "you can't do the BPO unless I'm there" BS. If they want to send me info by email, fine, but I'm really getting sick of this behavior.

Sounds like it is coming from investors who are trying to pick up the short sale at a steal. Trust me, I know from experience this is what they teach. They are told to influence the BPO as much as possible!

Interiors....

You can have them!!!

Well, fine. If they try "influencing" me, especially through veiled threats, they are going to get on the bank's blacklist.

Glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. I pass on all interiors.

And bfisher is right. The harassing agents are doing the A-B-C flips, so they need the value to come in really low. If they were selling at market value, they would have nothing to worry about. The California DRE has taken the position that these deals are illegal, so hopefully we will not see many more of them.

I'd like to dump interiors, but I'm preferred with EML and I don't think they let you opt out of them. Maybe I should check and see if they would. Between being threatened by crazy owners and now this rash of crap from short sale listing agents and negotiators, I am really sick of them. They are SO not worth the extra $25!

Never been coerced or harrassed by anyone to do anything in RE...yet.

I told an agent to stop harrassing me by email because her short sale got closed. I hate interiors from Farvv..

I do a lot of interiors. Nobody has ever harassed me, but I get some people who try to influence my values. They send someone to meet me at the home, the leave a package with comps, repair list, and a bpo, or they just notify me what the pending price is over the phone or through email. I can understand their frustration. There are a lot of stupid agents doing bpos and comping the houses really high, but i'm not one of them.

I have had a lot of agents try to tell me a house is a fix up but I arrive to find the home in move-in ready condition.
Short sale agents try to influence[unsuccesfully] my price all the time, I dont blame them, they want the sale to go through so they can get paid. About 50% of the time the home is priced at market value, the other 50% is usually way low, with low DOM, and a very difficult agent, those make me a little suspicious.
I always take my husband on interiors, he doesn't look like the type of person you want to threaten[ he's really a big softy], so I haven't had to deal with any veiled or real threats thank goodness!

Several years ago they actually took me off the interiors list, so all I would get was exteriors. That lasted like 6 months, then interiors showed up again. Some update in their system reset it, and when I tried to get it switched, they said no. However, I am not on the "preferred list" (which is odd, b/c I am always at capacity with them, and actually get more from them since they implemented that program.

Since I am still chasing blasts, I have set up a program thru Imacros that detects when there is an interior order through its image recognition plug in, and plays an audio alert for me to let me know there is an exterior order sitting there. For interiors, it plays no noise, and I can pass.

The solution for all of this is to say "by the banks guidelines, we have to weigh traditional/standard sales more than we would the last REO or short sale that sold within a six month period". If they give you anymore guff, tell them to take it up with the Bank.

I no longer do many paid BPOs, as I am mostly an REO agent right now--but my favorite line is "I'm sure you are aware that influence peddling is illegal." That usually stuns them a bit and puts them on the defensive. I can then quickly follow up with something like, "I insist on avoiding even the appearance of illegal behavior, so I'm sure you will understand when I say that this conversation is over."

If I were a short sale agent, I would be worried about future ramifications, Their list price is usually unreasonable. I got a call yesterday from an appraiser wanting to know why short sale agent listed property (before I got property as a foreclosure)40 K below what

To continue; I sold it for. What was I to say??? Short agent needed to drum up business of any kind even though he knew bank would not work with is number?? I'm afraid these short sale agents are just asking for problems.

I tell those agents that I have guidelines from the lender that I must conform to. Those comp's are not in conformity with the lender's so I can't use them. If that doesn't work, I ask them to step outside as they are interfering with my work product.

I usually say thanks, take the comps, get in the car and just toss them on the floor. I have never even looked at them. This stuff gets as much attention as the stuff on my windshield when I come out of the store. It is a tad annoying, but I have never been threatened, coerced. If I were, I would tell them to back off. But, I do a lot of orders and at most, I get agents that want to give me comps and a copy of the contract. Thanks very much and I immediately toss it and forget about it. Never any problems with it.

Good Morning - I need access to mls #546328929.92037 - and the beeping you'll be hearing is becuase this and all contact is recorded.

At the subject: Excuse me, would you mind turning to your right for a profile shot, I need it to send in with this report, along with your comments, comps, and of course the recording of your conversation. Do you have a business card I can use???

Thanks - see you later.

I have recently refused taking any paper work for fear of the appearence of impropriety. I share my concerns in a notorious way. I used to collect and recycle the back side of the pages.

Had a interior recently. Contact is listing agent, call agent he says he will call me back. Calls back with a name and number for someone else. I ask "Is this the home owner?" He says no and doesn't want to tell me who the person is. I ask him "Is this a short sale negotiator?" He reluctantly says yes. So I get a hold of the negotiator I finally have a time set up to get into the home with the negotiator since he needs to be there and it's not convenient for him to come out there for a couple days. I get to the house and see there is a car in the driveway and I am right on time. I ring the bell and the owner answers and tells me " I was told to not let you in until my representative gets here" and abruptly closes the door in my face. The negotiator gets there 20 minutes late and when we go into the house the negotiator says be careful the dog is mean, so I ask the owner to please keep the dog in another room because we are not allowed to have pets or people in the the pictures. The owner says No! You keep him out of the way! I refused to take any comps from the negotiator since some bpo companies are now asking us not to take anything from anyone. I dislike short sale negotiators and the ahole owners like this guy.

And was it listed 20% below value, with a contract for another 10% less no doubt?
I spend my life justifying why short sale list prices are not predictive of the actual value of the home, while bpo companies are still looking for the value to be less than list.
Some of them still dont get the process.

Unbelievable. In their minds they are doing you a favor, so you better be thankful and take what you can get...unreal. Wrong in so many ways.

Next time tell them you are going to sit in the car for 5 minutes until they get the bag of fleas under control and out of the picture. If they do not want to cooperate in that amount of time you will leave and report access issues to the bpo provider. I bet you would not get down the front steps before Fido was leashed.

I agree 100%, as I have the same problem from time to time. While I no longer sell R.E. if I did, unless the MLS remarks say that the third party lender approved of the short sale list price, I would be very hesitant to show the property to a buyer. IMO, it is hard to walk into a home and not really know what it is actually for sale for. I explain that to some of the QC people, and then light bulb goes on and they finally get it.

That appears to be permission to kick said dog until he gets the message. bwahahaha!

Ahh, come on. It's not usually the DOG that needs kickin...

It seems to me that the conclusion of this thread is that any agent doing a BPO interior should insist on being able to do the inspection with NO INTERFERENCE OF ANY TYPE (verbal or via paperwork). Contact between BPO agent and point of contact should ONLY involve making the appointment for the inspection.

Actually, something like the following process would work, though it is probably a pipe dream: 1) BPO agent calls point of contact and schedules inspection time. Any other conversation is strictly forbidden. 2) Point of contact is required to either provide lockbox on property or leave a key at agent's office. 3) No people are allowed to be present before, during, or after inspection and all animals are secured or removed from property ahead of time. 4)BPO agent phones point of contact when leaving the property.

And we can turn down all the paper comps that we want, but most of my communications for access, appts, etc is done electronically. They send me comps, contracts, etc. I do not even look at the stuff. When they prod me for what my value are going to be, I jut tell them I do not know yet. when they call after the appt, I do not answer or reply. I just ignore all of it. It used to annoy me but I just do not let it bother me anymore.

I had a dog issue about a week or so ago. I call the listing agent for an appointment. I ask if there are any dog? She said, "yes...the owners son is staying in the property until it closes escrow. I then said, " as nobody will be home, the dog has to be contained, either caged or dog run". She called the occupant and was told dog would be in a cage. I show up at the property, ring the door bell, and wait for the dog to bark.......nothing. I then opened the door and noticed the dog cage was empty....oh, great. I slowly enter the house (leaving the front door open), looking for the dog....nothing....not a bark, whimper, or growl. I decided to take my interior shots, prior to going in back yard. While taking my pictures, I noticed large piles of dog poop....this was in every room, including the master bedroom. I'm still looking for the dog....still, nothing. Every room had the door shut and every room had large piles of dog poop. I slowly crack open the doors and hear nothing. I finally have all my interior shots completed......backyard time. The sun is shining directly at the rear of the house. I look out the windows.....no dog, but I'm blinded by the sunlight. I slowly crack open the sliding door.....there he is, just laying on the patio. He looks at me and I look at him. He slowly gets up and gets up and gets up. I think he was a cross between a Great Dane and Pit Bull....that's all I need......a 4 foot tall alligator.....lol. Well, I guess no pictures of the rear of subject. This property is currently under contract and they still have to do their walk thru. As I vacated the property, I thought to myself. " I should call the agent and alert her of the interior condition. Then I thought, "naaaaaaa, she's entitled to the same thrill I got...lol. I hope she enjoys her walk thru.

Ahh, Candy, you are so bad!

I'm glad you escaped with no damage (how'd the bottom of your shoes make out?)

I got my training, years ago, on how to walk in a mine field....lol