September 2013 – Affiliate Business Arrangements

All of us are familiar with the Affiliated Business Arrangement (AfBA).  I suspect that it offers most, if not all, of us much consternation.  For obvious reasons, it is a source of great frustration for us.  I will not bother citing the law, because I think we can all agree that it is illegal for Lenders and/or Real Estate Agents to force you to use their AfBA.  Now, I know that they all have the buyer/borrower sign something that indicates their desire to use the AfBA —  which effectively takes that decision out of your hands — but how informed is that decision, really?  I am reminded of a recent anecdote from one of our customers who represented a buyer who signed forms for the lender AND the Realtor requiring the usage of each company’s AfBA.

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