Jill Kushner - Specializing in The Colony Golf & Bay Club, Bonita Springs, Florida FL - Downing-Frye Realty Inc. - Jill Kushner, Realtor: Honesty Is Still The Best Policy

Almost 100% of the time, our Colony neighbors can be relied upon to do the right thing. But that very small percentage of time we can't rely, it seems from which the whole legal industry was built. Recently I took a listing on a high rise in The Colony. After reviewing the property, I could confirm that the party signing the agreement owned the property. Secondly, I could confirm what was owed on the property.
But what hadn't been revealed to me during the listing process and only occurs during the ordering of estoppels, is what was owed to the Association(s)-The Bay Club, etc. The seller suggested that it would have "been burdensome to have shared that information with me".
What ended up happening was upon my delivering a buyer for the residence and via my attorney did I learn what had to paid before a closing was to take place. Naturally the buyer had to be told, as the items had to appear on the closing statement.   We then learned that there had been a stop order on the lender's intention to foreclose on the property. Again, none of this revealed until we entered into a sales contract.
Lesson learned.   The minority sometimes dictates the rules for the majority and while I would have always relied on the seller to fully disclose their financial situation, it now becomes necessary to ask a full line of questions in addition to the already somewhat arduous disclosure process required of them.
The decision not to disclose the financial condition of the residence nearly resulted in the loss of a buyer, something I could have easily explained in a forthright fashion had been perceived by the buyer as my attempt to hide pertinent information about the residence.   The seller was very lucky the buyer was that resolved to make The Colony their new home.