Do you help clients with short sales?
If so, this FTC clarification affects you.
The Federal Trade Commission has decided that if you help a client sell his home and end up involved in a short sale, you’re exempt from the provisions of the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services rule.
What is a MARS?
Earlier this year, the FTC published a Mortgage Assistance Relief Services rule that’s caused confusion. In the April Texas REALTOR®, Senior Associate Counsel Edra Anderson asserted that Texas REALTORS® performing short sales on behalf of their clients would not automatically be subject to provisions of the MARS rule. If, however, a Texas REALTOR® promoted herself as a short-sales specialist or as an expert in helping clients avoid foreclosure, she would be subject to the provisions of the MARS rule.
It gets better
The recent FTC clarification of the MARS rule goes even further to exempt all real estate professionals from MARS rule enforcement—even those who promote themselves as short-sale specialists. The only real estate professionals not exempt are those assisting in services such as loan modification and services not involving a sale of a home. So, if you help a client sell his home and end up involved in a short sale, you’re exempt from the provisions of the MARS rule.
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