Note: Ah-Ha of the Day was created with the real estate professional in mind, but may be applied in other industries and provide great information for home buyers & sellers.
As a real estate agent, whether you list short sales or not, if you don’t think you need to know what HAFA is, you may need to think again.
If you aren’t familiar with the Home Affordability Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA), this program was announced in November 2009 and took effect on April 5, 2010. This is the fourth program from the US Treasury created to help homeowners, the first three to aid the homeowner in retaining the home and an attempt to avoid foreclosure and the last program, HAFA, to help sell the home as a foreclosure alternative.
Why do you need to know about HAFA, OR ANY OTHER PROGRAM FOR THAT MATTER? According to the HAFA Short Sales, The Complete Course class I recently attended and offer by the Hogan School of Real Estate, the REALTOR Code of Ethics contains numerous Articles and Standards of Practice which gives supporting evidence of the importance.
Below are a few quotes from the Code of Ethics, but not limited to:
“…REALTORS continuously strive to become and remain informed on issues affective real estate…” (Preamble)
“…REALTORS pledge themselves to protect and promote the interests of their client.” (Article 1)
“REALTORS shall avoid exaggeration, misrepresentation, or concealment of pertinent facts relating to…the transaction.” (Article 2)
“The services which REALTORS provide to their clients and customers shall conform to the standards of practice and competence which are reasonably expected in the specific real estate disciplines in which they engage; specifically, residential real estate brokerage…” (Article 11)
“Realtors shall not undertake to provide specialized professional services concerning a type of property or service that is outside their field of competence unless they engage the assistance of one who is competent on such types of property or service, or unless the facts are fully disclosed to the client.” (Article 11)
“The obligations of the Code of Ethics…shall be interpreted and applied in accordance with the standards of competence and practice which clients and the public reasonably require to protect their rights and interests considering the complexity of the transaction…” (Standard of Practice 11-2)
So before you think you don’t need to know this information, you may want to think again. Are you doing what’s in the best interest of your client by not knowing? Whether you work short sales or not, are you putting yourself and your client at risk by not knowing the options? Iif you list a short sale, but don’t disclose to your client the HAFA option, could this be potential liability in the future?
If you haven’t taken a class on HAMP, HARP & HAFA, I HIGHLY recommend you do so and the sooner the better.
If you are in the state of Arizona, I highly recommend the Hogan School of Real Estate’s 6 hour class of HAFA Short Sales, The Complete Course. This class was jampacked with great information. For more information, visit their website at www.HoganSchool.com.
Whether you are in the state of Arizona or not, if you would like to recommend another class you attended, please feel free to make comments!
Please feel free to add an Ah-Ha or comment on any Ah-Ha given. I don’t have all the answers, but we can learn things together and collaborate to make things better!
Please let me know if you have any questions, anytime!
Tickled Pink,
Jamie Sistek – REALTOR
“That Tickled Pink Girl”
eXp Realty
480-451-1400 – Direct
480-734-1971 – Cell/Text
Jamie@TickledPinkHomes.com
Jamie on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sistek
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