I have sold my house and am moving approximately two hours away. The closing date on my house is June 9. I found a house last weekend at my new location, and my realtor submitted an offer on Thursday. I have a pre-approval letter from my lender. My loan is through a major lender, but backed by the Native American Program, managed by HUD.
The seller's realtor called my realtor, upset, saying that these loans take too long to process in her experience, and is going to notify the sellers that this is not a good offer because of this.
My loan officer has assured me that she can get this loan processed in a timely manner. My question is, after researching, I think that this realtor has breached the Fair Housing Act by her actions. She has interfered with a legitimate offer to the seller. In any case, if she kills my deal, I am going to file a complaint against her with her broker, and possibly with the State Real Estate Commission and the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
I have never received one cent from my tribe. I am not trying to get something for nothing. I was simply trying to take advantage of a program that is available to me. This loan would allow me to put less than 20% down without PMI, which I may or may not do. I could qualify for a conventional loan, but at this point, it is a matter of principal with this realtor. She is not new in her field, and should know better.
I understand that she is trying to do what she thinks is best for her seller, but I think she has crossed the line. What do you realtors think?

I'm not a Realtor, but I hate it when people start making complaints about discrimination, when in fact, it may take longer than planned for such a loan. I know it is common for sellers to balk at such loans.
The listing agent is looking our for her client, as she should.
Don't defend not trying to get something for nothing, that is not the point. Only timing is the point, stick to it.
The agent can't kill the deal, the decision is up to the seller.

Im not a realtor...but I definately think you have a case here. That is just so wrong....

Actually, Meischa, it was my major lender's loan officer who used the D(iscrimination) word yesterday when I talked to her on the telephone and told her what was going on. She was livid, and told me that she was going to have the regional Native American Program representative call the agent.
She also told me to have the agent call her. I passed the number on to my realtor, who passed it on to the seller's agent, but we haven't heard anything back yet. And as you said, you aren't a realtor, who has to follow rules and law.

I don't think you can say that the REALTOR discriminated, after all, it is the sellers decision to accept or reject the offer. The REALTORS experience with this type loan, rightly or wrongly (remember, the agent probably has a fiduciary obligation to the seller and not to you), might sway the seller to reject it, so I would suggest a very strong pre-qual/approval letter from the lender stating that they have not had any closing delays because of this type financing in xx years etc.
A financial offer to the seller of $xxx for not closing on time, or within a week of the scheduled date, might be seen positively by the seller.
p.s. based on your other post, just having your signature on the contract and not the sellers, means you don't have a ratified contract.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: berniek,

Thanks, Berniek, I appreciate your opinion and advice. I've been looking at other properties online all afternoon. I'll talk to the loan officer on Monday, and if she can't persuade me that this loan can be done in a timely manner, I guess I'll just go conventional. I'm going to be homeless in less than a month.

The contracts i work with all have an end date for closing. Unless you are doing a repo/short sale type of sale, there's no earthly reason a loan can't be finalized in 3-4 weeks, at maximun. The seller's agent is only doing her job protecting her seller's best interest, and it's not discrimatory for agent or seller to recommend a shorter close date with financing that achieves that goal. Good luck.

You need to find out (if you can) if the sellers have any other offers. If they don't, here is an approach to consider: Even if the loan process takes longer than they would like, will they get another offer which will close in less time than it takes to process your loan? If they don't take your offer, they could be sitting with an unsold house for a much longer period of time..... and they have to decide if that is a risk they want to take.

I just wanted to let you all know that my realtor in the new location called me last night and told me we have a signed contract. Thanks for your replies.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: hannah'snana,

I'm glad it worked out for you - and I'm just going to add a personal "oh it takes so long to get that kind of loan" story. When I bought my first house - I didn't have alot of money, and didn't have a downpayment. What I did have was that I was ex-Navy, and I had a really good job with IBM (in the 70s - was a golden job). I went for a VA loan. My realtor told me that she hated to work with VA loans, because it had been their offices' experience that they could take months to get approved (this wasn't the seller's agent - it was mine) so she and I made a bet that I could get it done quickly ($10). I went to the loan office for the VA loans in that area (this was back in the day - obviously - you could actually talk to people) and I met my loan officer that processed the VA loans. I explained to him that my dogs were living in a kennel in NC, because I had to stay in a hotel until I got into my house. He was SO nice. Anyway - in 2 DAYS, I had my VA loan approval (probably a world record). Not only did my realtor give me my $10, she also took me to lunch - because she said she had such a neat story to tell her peers that it was worth it to her.... Anyway, with finding any kind of buyers these days, I didn't have any question that the seller would accept your offer........ . (Also, when I got my dogs to CT with me, I took them in to meet my loan officer - he just really did make it such a great experience for a first time buyer.....)

Great story Debid. I like working with VA and their limits now have increased dramatically.