For Real Estate Agents and Brokers

Distressed Properties Law - HB 2791
Oi, talk about pouring gasoline on a fire. Thank goodness I'm not a realtor. HB 2791 adds a huge layer of legal burdens on realtors and real estate agents when it comes to dealing with individuals with distressed properties.

This is one of the easiest predictions I can make: realtors and real estate agents will simply walk-away from dealing with homeowners with distressed properties. It's not worth the legal liability.

For a distressed homeowner, the bottom line is that in their most dire time of need, there will be very little assistance/counsel coming from Realtors, because the legal risk imposed on Realtors by the State of Washington is extraordinarily onerous. The message for homeowners who are on the brink of losing their homes; don't expect any help from real estate agents. They've got a legal gun being held to their head by the State of Washington if they offer you any help; in many respects, the agents are being expected to be perfect. Perfect in the amount that they are able to sell your home for, perfect in how much they're listing your home for; and to be perfect within the context of 20/20 hindsight with the threat of lawsuit dangling over their head, for no other reason than they are trying to help homeowners desperately in need of assistance.

Here's a link fron the Washington Realtor's website discussing the implications of HB 2791.

http://www.warealtor.org/dpmedia/dvd.asp