Broker cheated us, broke contract and lied

**tiffanyls** · 12-16-2008, 03:50 AM

hello, i just need to ask a couple of questions, heres me story.....

my husband and i were in the process of buying this townhome, it is a forclosure. we signed and submitted an offer and our agent told us it was accepted. we then went on to sign an addendum and also gave the deposit check to start escrow. the day after we gave the check our agent called with bad news, the broker, our agents boss, told us there was a higher offer on our house and that we needed to counter it. we were obviously confused and upset because our offer was already accepted, we signed the offer contract and also the addendum. we sat down with the broker and he said 1. the seller never signed the contract and 2. that because we took too long giving the deposit check that the other offer came in and he has to consider it. we went over the contracts and the offer clearly states that we are allowed 3 business days to perform and even after that we must be given a notice to buyer to perform that gives us at least another 24 hours to take applicable action, also on the addendum that we signed it says that we do not have to give an earnest money check until AFTER the addendum is signed by the seller. i really dont know what to do, the broker is obviously a sleazy guy and when we spoke with him all he had to say was that nothing was signed by the seller. i actually have an email he sent to our agent saying that "the seller accepts the terms set before him in terms of prices, credits and timelines etc."
is he allowed to say the offer is accepted if it wasnt?
he also said that because this is a forclosure the bank has its own sets of procedures, but dont they have to follow californias rules, guidelines and contracts, even though they are a bank the property is still in california?
i feel that this is wrong and against DRE rules and regulations, i know hes done this to other people and his own agents. i also feel like he left the contract open ended just in case another higher offer came in, and that is exactly what happened. maybe he even got the contract signed and is just being sleazy and not letting anyone know.
please, any advice would help, i want to get an attorney but i feel like its too much money with no guarantee. thanks for reading.

also does anyone know of Deutsche Bank National Trust, securitized asset backed recievables. this is the seller of the property and i was thinking maybe i could speak with them directly to see if the offer was at all signed, maybe just tell the the situation and something could be done. i really really loved this house, it was honestly perfect in EVERY SINGLE WAY and the price we got it for was AMAZING, i know everything else we look at wont come close and it really hurts that this had to happen.

**Greg** · 12-16-2008, 08:49 AM

If the bank did not sign the papers then there was no contract and a higher offer could still be taken by the seller. None of the emails mean anything and it is not a contract until you have a copy with the sellers signature in your hand.

The broker works for the bank and by law is required to get the highest price for his client. Why do you consider this sleazy and illegal? If the broker let you have the house at the lower price then he would have been breaking the law. He was just doing his job. Don't blame your lose on someone else.

Your mistake was finding the perfect house and not acting aggressive enough. When the right property comes along at a fantastic price there will always be multiple buyers wanting it, even though the news media would have you believe the contrary.

**tiffanyls** · 12-16-2008, 09:17 AM

i said he was sleazy because he TOLD us the offer WAS accepted. we followed all of the requests he gave us, even gave the check to open escrow. the offer came in AFTER we did all of this yet he still took into consideration the other one.
by the way, we gave that check only 3 days after acceptance, how is that too long? and this property was on the market for[B] 6 months with no offers before ours.

**dpylyp** · 12-16-2008, 11:21 AM

" i said he was sleazy because he TOLD us the offer WAS accepted. we followed all of the requests he gave us, even gave the check to open escrow. the offer came in AFTER we did all of this yet he still took into consideration the other one. "

Someone told him the offer was accepted.

The better way to phrase this is ;

As of 4:45 PM today your offer seems acceptable to the bank and I am recommending to our (board superiors commitee) that it be accepted.

If that acceptance had been signed and communicated to you, you would have the accepted offer in your hand.

I regret that you feel the agent did something unethical.

We also, here in Toronto, are seeing a market hesitation, yet last week an estate sale came out that went to multiple offers. In that case 5 people were very upset that theirs was not accepted and one was gleeful.

**Greg** · 12-17-2008, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by tiffanyls

i said he was sleazy because he TOLD us the offer WAS accepted. we followed all of the requests he gave us, even gave the check to open escrow. the offer came in AFTER we did all of this yet he still took into consideration the other one.

He is required by law to present all offers to the seller. The seller took the other offer because it was better then yours. If you had come in with the higher offer and found out he gave preference to a lower offer because it was there first, you would be even more upset than you are now and the broker could get in trouble.

Originally Posted by tiffanyls

by the way, we gave that check only 3 days after acceptance, how is that too long? and this property was on the market for[b] 6 months with no offers before ours.

Your offer was lower than the other offer which shows you were not aggressive enough. 3 days was too long because it gave the other buyer the time they needed to write their offer.