On every other list this site covers, an objection is something the agent answers. On the pre-foreclosure list, the decision that has to be made before the first dial is which of the homeowner’s objections are yours to answer at all, because several of the things a homeowner in default will say to you are not objections. They are requests for help that the law reserves for a housing counselor, a lawyer, or the lender, and an agent who answers them helpfully has stepped across the line the pre-foreclosure leads piece draws.
So the sort on this list has three bins instead of the usual two.
There is the instruction, which you follow. There is the objection, which you answer, inside your license. And there is the request you route, with the name of the person it goes to, and no attempt to be useful in the meantime. Eight things a homeowner in default says, sorted into those bins, follow. Make the sort before the call.
On the call the pull toward helping is strong, and the wrong kind of help is the thing the rules punish.
Yours to answer
“It’s none of your business how I’m doing with my mortgage.” Correct, and the answer says so. “You’re right, it isn’t, and I don’t know anything about it beyond a notice the county recorded, which is public. When I see one, I call. If you’d rather I hadn’t, tell me and I’ll take you off my list.” This is the same honest answer to “how did you get my number” that every list requires, delivered without defensiveness. Most homeowners who lead with this stay on the line once they hear that you are not pretending to know more than a recording date.
“I’m not losing my house.” Agree with it. You did not say they were, and the pre-foreclosure script is built so that you never do. “Good. I hope that’s how it goes. Have you spoken with a HUD-approved counselor yet, because they’re free and they deal with exactly this, and if not I can send you the lookup.”
Then the ask for permission to check in, inside the state clock, and nothing else. A homeowner who is going to keep the house and who got a counselor’s number from you will remember who gave it to them.
“I owe more than it’s worth.” This one is yours, narrowly. A short sale is within the license, and the FTC’s 2011 enforcement statement says the agency will not enforce Regulation O’s disclosure and advance-fee provisions against a licensed agent who helps a homeowner obtain a short sale while listing the home. The answer stays inside that: “If that’s the case, selling it for less than the loan with the lender’s approval is something I do as part of listing a house, and the lender has a process for it. I can’t promise they’ll approve it, I don’t charge anything up front, and the counselor can tell you whether a short sale or something else makes more sense for you.” Three things in that sentence are required, not optional: no promise about the lender, no fee before the lender agrees in writing, and no claim that a short sale is the right answer before someone qualified has looked.
“I can’t afford to fix anything, so I can’t sell it.” Yours. Houses sell as they sit, buyers price the condition, and the honest response is the two numbers the listing conversation would produce anyway, as-is and after minimal preparation, offered in writing. No claim about what either number is until you have seen the house. “Most of what sells in your situation sells as-is. I can’t tell you what yours would bring without seeing it, but I can tell you nobody’s asking you to spend money you don’t have.”
“An investor already offered me cash.” Yours to answer, and worth answering carefully, because this is where the third body of law lives. In California, an investor who buys an owner-occupied home with a recorded notice of default against it is an equity purchaser under Civil Code 1695.1, and the transaction carries contract, cancellation and other protections for the seller, including, under Civil Code 1695.17, a requirement that anyone representing the purchaser provide the seller with written proof of a real estate license and a bond equal to twice the property’s fair market value, failing which the seller can void the contract. Other states have their own versions. You are not going to explain any of that on the phone. What you say is: “That may be a fine offer. Has anyone put a market number in front of you, so you can see what the cash offer is being measured against? I can put that number in writing, and I’d suggest you show both to your attorney or the counselor before you sign anything.” Do not disparage the investor.
Give the homeowner the number the investor hopes they never see, and the name of the person who should look at the contract.
Someone else’s to answer
“Can you just talk to the bank for me?” No, and the no has to be clean. Negotiating with a lender on a homeowner’s behalf to modify a loan, obtain a forbearance or delay a sale is a mortgage assistance relief service under Regulation O, the FTC’s forbearance for agents does not extend to it, and in states like California a person who offers to do it for compensation is a foreclosure consultant under Civil Code 2945.1 unless they are acting under a real estate license, which negotiating a modification is not. The homeowner is asking for something reasonable, and the reasonable answer is where it lives: “I can’t do that one, and I want to be straight about why: there are rules about who’s allowed to negotiate with your lender for you, and a real estate agent isn’t on the list. A HUD-approved counselor is, and they’re free. Here’s the lookup.”
Send the lookup, and nothing else.
“Can you lend me enough to catch up?” or “Do you know anyone who can?” No, and this one goes to the lawyer as well as the counselor, because the offers that answer this question are the ones the foreclosure rescue statutes were written about. An agent who arranges a loan, introduces a private lender, or proposes buying the house and renting it back has left the license entirely. “I can’t, and I’d be careful about anyone who says they can. If you want to talk through what’s possible, the counselor is the first call and an attorney is the second, and I’m glad to be the third once you know what you want to do with the house.”
“I’m filing bankruptcy.” Stop. Filing the petition triggers the automatic stay in 11 U.S.C. 362, the foreclosure halts, the homeowner is in a federal proceeding with counsel, and whether the house is sold is a question for that proceeding. “Then you have a lawyer, and that’s who should be steering this. I’ll take you off my list. If the house ends up needing to be sold and your attorney wants a broker’s number, I’m easy to find.” Close the record with the reason, and reopen it only on a dismissal that restarts the foreclosure, per the list build.
| What they say | Yours, or routed | What you say | The rule behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| “None of your business.” | Yours | The record is public; you call when you see it; the exit | Honesty about the source; the exit every script offers |
| “I’m not losing my house.” | Yours | Agree; the counselor; permission for one check-in | No promise, no pressure; the counselor first |
| “I owe more than it’s worth.” | Yours, narrowly | Short sale as part of a listing; no promise about the lender; no fee up front; the counselor on whether it fits | FTC forbearance covers short sales in a listing; Reg O’s advance-fee and misrepresentation bans still apply |
| “I can’t afford repairs.” | Yours | As-is is normal; two numbers after a walkthrough; no spending required | Ordinary listing advice; no number before seeing the house |
| “An investor offered cash.” | Yours | Offer the market number in writing; suggest the attorney or counselor review the contract; do not disparage | Equity purchaser statutes (Cal. Civ. Code 1695 et seq. as the example) |
| “Talk to the bank for me.” | Routed to the counselor | Say plainly you are not allowed to; send the lookup | Reg O covered service; outside the FTC forbearance; state consultant statutes |
| “Lend me the money to catch up.” | Routed to the counselor and an attorney | Decline; warn about anyone who says yes | Foreclosure rescue and consultant statutes; outside the license |
| “I’m filing bankruptcy.” | Routed; stop | Their lawyer steers; close the record | Automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. 362 |
Why the sort has to happen before the call
The pull on this call is toward helping. The homeowner is frightened, the agent knows things, and “let me see what I can do with your lender” is the most natural sentence in the world. It is also the sentence that turns a licensed agent into an unlicensed foreclosure consultant in the eyes of a state statute, and no amount of good intent changes what the statute says. The three routed answers are the agent knowing where the help actually is and sending the homeowner there before anyone wastes a week.
The five answers that are yours are all, at bottom, the same offer: the house can be sold, openly, at its market price, by a person who will tell the truth about it, and here is the number. That is a listing. Nothing else is inside the license, and on this list nothing else is needed.
Every seller list has to earn its place in the week, which is what the prospecting hub is about. Pre-foreclosure earns its place slowly, with the sort made in advance, and with the agent comfortable saying “that one isn’t mine to answer” out loud, which is a sentence most homeowners in default have never heard from anyone who called them.