I remember a few occasions where I would speak directly to the seller's real estate agent. Usually my conversations are with the buyer's agent as it was my responsibility to provide preapproval letters and such to interested third parties. That's standard issue, as any loan officer can tell you. A potential buyer would complete a loan application and credit authorization among other required credit documents such as paycheck stubs and the like. It would then be my job to provide written verification that such documentation was indeed reviewed and met the basic parameters of a loan approval.
When I was asked to speak with the seller's agent, I really had no qualms about it. After all, if the seller's agent had not worked with me in the past, it was pretty much expected that agent would not just review a preapproval letter but wanted to ask a few more questions, including my experience in the industry and so on. And even though the preapproval letter clearly stated that credit and employment information has been reviewed and approved, sometimes a few more questions were in order.
Some questions I could answer while others I could not. If the agent asked me if I have reviewed the credit history, I would respond that I had. If the agent then asked me about the nature of their credit or even representative credit scores, I would not reveal that information. I cannot divulge private credit data with my client to third parties, even if those third parties are part of the transaction, albeit on the seller's side. My fiduciary responsibility is with my borrower, not the sellers.
The same can be said about asset verification. If the sellers wanted to know how much down payment was involved or even how much money the sellers had available for the purchase, that's going a bit too far. It's none of the seller's business how much money my clients have just as I'm not going to reveal credit scores. All the sellers need and should know is what is provided on the preapproval letter. That being income, employment, credit and assets have been reviewed. The details of those items are withheld from the sellers and rightfully so.
If you've been in a situation where the sellers want to personally review your paycheck stubs, W2s or bank statements, that's out of bounds. I get that they're acting in the best interest of their clients but they can't move past that wall of confidentiality. If you're being asked to provide personal data, simply refer them to your loan officer. Your loan officer will put a stop to those queries pretty quickly. And agents that get too suspicious when someone doesn't turn over a paycheck stub should probably review confidentiality guidelines. That agent just needs to know what is on the preapproval letter. Nothing more and nothing less.
