the wasserblawg

It has long been a standard operating practice in my office to make immediate inquiry with Sellers and in the public records to try to ascertain the status of a seller's mortgage liens at the outset of every Chicago area short sale transaction I work on.  Buyers certainly want to know information like this as they determine how much (or whether) to make an offer in a short sale situation. If the deal is unworkable, why bother putting up earnest money or wasting time, right?  Do listing agents have a duty to disclose this, even without a specific inquiry? According to one appellate court in California, the answer seems to be yes. RIS Media reported today on a California appellate court decision earlier  this week ( Holmes v. Summers )  to the effect that r eal estate practitioners (Realtors)  have the same responsibility as sellers to disclose information they have that affects the “value and desirability of the property.”  In that case,...