Dual Agency Issues: The New Depressed Property Law

Real estate agents are concerned about the situation in which they present an offer to buy unlisted property that is being foreclosed.

In that context if the agent says that the owner ought to sell to avoid the foreclosure or something of the sort the agent risks risk being deemed a “distressed home consultant,” and would then have fiduciary obligations to both sides of the transaction, as the agent would with a dual agency. In this situation though there is an inherently strong conflict of interest.

I believe that you would have to have the seller consult with a lawyer of his or her choice and have the seller be independently represented in the sale by the lawyer or an independent agent, perhaps chosen by the lawyer. The seller’s interests would then be protected and in the abstract I believe the agent would probably be deemed to have fulfilled his or her duty to the seller.

I would certainly recommend that even after the seller has independent representation the agent make full disclosure to the other side and maintain the highest level of honesty. I would strictly comply with the other requirements of the new law.

I’m not sure whether the new NWLS forms cover this situation, but it would certainly be appropriate to discuss the details of the situation with a lawyer at that time.

McCain’s tv ad

Senator McCain is running a television ad in key states and on national cable which portrays him as a strong environmental leader. The ad is on you tube

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The ad puts in sharp relief the inherent tension in McCain’s campaign. He is described as “standing up to the president.” This is softer than actually opposing his policies but at the same time distancing him from Bush.

McCain needs Bush’s support for fund raising and to secure Bush’s base but at the same time Bush is perhaps the least popular president ever, certainly in recent history. So McCain must present himself as a contrast to Bush.  The ad is accurate in portraying him as one of the few Republicans who acknowledged global warming and accepted the science that supported the theory when there was a presidential fiat declaring that there was no such thing.

He has chosen the environment and global warming as a signature campaign issue despite having refused to vote on all key environmental legislation in the Senate.

All the vague references to his interest and effort in the environmental arena are references to efforts in years past and certainly not to his recent voting record. He vaguely talks about a plan which as far as we can tell is quite similar to the one that just failed in Congress.  His recent record is absolutely the worst in the Senate for having failed to support anything. He is doing this in order not to lose support from utilities and industry.