It is most likely the agent broke the rules if not the law. Agents who can not follow the rule/law need to be purged. Our profession suffers enough at the hands of scofflaws.

Blaming the secretary does not work. We are still responsible for what our name is attached to.

ccfcjc70 Do us all a big favor and report this agent to the real estate commission and the local MLS.

I see the point Artiste is making. In a short sale, your comment should read "Ask a real estate agent to sell your house, expect offers for consideration". Notice that I took out the part about being a specific price. In a short sale, price typically doesn't matter to the seller. I am not saying that changing price without at least discussing it is right. I am just saying that you shouldn't make a big deal about it.

Len:

I'm not sure why you take out "a specific price" as I don't know of a valid listing agreement anywhere that does not specify a price.

I also disagree that the price doesn't matter to the seller. The seller still needs to be assured that a short sale price is going to be acceptable to the lender holding the mortgage, if it isn't then the foreclosure option will be the alternate route.

Mr. Foreclosure

If I changed a list price without a client's authorization, I would be fired and probably fined by my real estate commission. We, as agents, do not have the authority to unilaterally change the list price of a property.

My first broker advised me to get "Amendment to listing agreement" forms signed at the listing appointment to save me from having to "bother" the seller again. I absolutely refuse to EVER have a client sign a blank document, but there are agents that do it. Make sure this didn't happen to you, Mr. Original Poster.

Like northtx says, this would NOT fly in Texas and I seriously doubt it does in your state. I don't care what the situation is. If an agent would do this sort of thing without your authorization, what else would she do? She seems like one of the worst our profession has to offer, and it would seem that you have plenty of evidence (screen print the listing from the web) to relieve yourself of any obligations contained in the listing agreement (but you still need to ask your agent or her broker for the cancellation paperwork). CYA!

I am not saying that the listing agreement doesn't have a list price, of course it does. I am just saying that if there is no activity at that list price, then there are no offers to bring into the bank anyway. So by lowering it slightly, I believe the agent was just trying to gain some activity on the property. If you really think about it, she may have really been doing this in the seller's best interest.

I don't agree with it, but I don't think it's as big a deal as some of you make it sound. You make the agent sound like a criminal. There are worst things to worry about in life.

Can we get an update on this situation from the original poster?

That's my point - the Realtor's trying to help and she did the right thing by doing a price reduction.

I feel it's really not the "owners" right to have a cow about it even if a particular "i" wasn't dotted or a "t" crossed at the right time.

It all works out in the end - she's trying to help them and she's getting nothing but guff from a person who really needs to step back and go along with the process and not get all wadded up over technicalities that will be solved later on.

I'd so fire that client and let her get foreclosed upon if that's how she wants to be.

I have listed and sold over 100 short sales in the past three years. It is NOT proper for an agent to change a price from that of the original listing agreement without the written authorization of the seller. That being said, I have an addendum to the listing agreement that authorizes me to make such changes at my discretion. I discuss this addendum with the sellers upfront and they have a choice as to whether or not they want to put that sort of trust in me. Additionally, I always contact my sellers by phone and discuss the change prior to making the change in the MLS to ensure they are on board with my strategy every step of the way.

Whether the agent is trying to help or not, they are putting their broker in a position to be sued by not getting the owner's written permission to change the price. The price drop may even be in the owner's best interest. However, that is completely irrelevant. All agreements must be in writing and you are exposing yourself to problems my not "dotting your i's" or "crossing your t's".

As an example, I know an agent who had a nice million dollar listing that recently expired. She went to the owner to tell him that they were getting interest in the property and to ask to continue listing it for him. The owner gave her a verbal ok to proceed and the agent never got written approval. A few months later, a deal went sour and the owner sued everybody. Since he did not have a written agreement to extend the listing with the broker, the broker ended up having to pay almost $10K to settle the inevitable lawsuit. So, if somebody has the attitude of Artiste or Agent 007, you would not be working in my brokerage. You are just asking for trouble.

Whoa, slow down there cowboy! Let's set the record straight right now, I never said that I work like that. I merely stated that I thought it was getting blown out of proportion. Please don't attach my name to your comments negatively when I never stated that I work like that. I agree with you all that it should be done properly, but I just think you are making it a bigger deal than it is. Some of the comments on here advised the owner of firing the agent without even speaking with the agent first. The correct advice should be for the owner to talk it over with their agent and let them know that they are displeased with the way the agent changed the price without permission. So all I am saying is that some of the comments on here were a bit harsh for what happened.

The good intentions of wanting to get the job done is not a valid excuse to shortcut the legal and ethical task of getting the client's permission to reduce the listing price.

Either do it right or don't do it all!

It would be considerate for the OP to give us an update and let us know if the price change was accidental or on purpose.

At the chance the price was input wrong by mistake, the OP should have picked up the phone to get clarification and a correction from the agent.
Telephones work both ways where I am.

I think both are at fault but more so the agent.You don't wait 3 months on a short sale to reduce the price!

It sounds like a seller COUNTING on there broker/agent to be knowledgable in short sales and to guide them properly to help get the property sold.

The agent/broker is a professional agent so they should know better than to run there business this way.

Maybe a brokerage should REQUIRE all of the associate broker/agents to undergo a short sale education class that they teach and have to pass a test before they are allowed to go after short sale listings.

If a regular listing became a short sale listing while it was listed then the associate broker/agent would have to take the class or have a certified broker/agent within there brokerage partner up on the deal. Most would op for the class as they would not want to split the commission.

The associate broker/agents could take an outside conintuing ed class on short sales but if it was my brokerage I would make them take my class to work the short sales the way I wanted it. After all it is the principal brokers neck on the line.

Agent 007,

Unless the price reduction is in writing and signed by the Seller, there is no legitimate excuse for dropping the price. The agent is opening up their broker for legal problems even if the price drop was done with the best of intentions. If the Seller is malevolent, the broker is going to get nailed. Get it signed and you don't have to worry about it. And, again, if you don't want to get written authorization, I would not put you in my brokerage. It's just too much of a liability.

NTB