Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Any broker is an agent of the person or entity that hires they and is under a civil liability to properly represent them; unless there is fraud involved, rarely is there any criminal liaibility [illegal act]. A broker should convey all offers to the owner unless the owner has indicated that an offer at that sum is unacceptable or clearly inferior to a current offer. It is wiser to simply convey all offers so the owner has an idea how many people are interested and at what price ranges. If the owner indicates they want to hear about all offers then the agent must follow those orders. My experience has been that agents often only pass along the highest offer. If an agent feels the lender will not accept a certain offer, they might not even tell the owner about it, which is wrong.

Even if the broker fails to act properly, you must show what damages that caused, which might be very difficult to do.

I agree with Mr. Shers that it is wrong for a broker not to convey all offers, or at least a summary of them, but it is not illegal unless it causes losses or damages to the seller the broker represents. The broker's duty is to the seller to get the best deal possible for the seller. This is true regardless of whether it is a short sale or not. The broker is under no obligation whatsoever to the buyers to convey their offers unless a) he makes an express promise or agreement to do so, or b) he has a signed dual agency agreement and disclosure with the seller and buyer.

I agree with both prior answers, but one thing about your question is a bit unclear to me. When you say "turn in," do you mean to the owner, or to the lender? The broker should pass along all offers to the property owner employing said broker, for the owner's information, consideration and instructions. Whether the broker should submit the offer to the lender for its approval is another matter. The broker should follow the owner's instructions, and if the owner hasn't given any, and broker very well could be justified in doing nothing further, especially if he/she knows the lender would reject the offer.

Also, whether an action or failure to act by a broker is "illegal" or not depends upon what we mean by illegal. Most likely, at worst, the broker would be breaching a contract or fiduciary responsibility, which is something that could result in civil liability for damages, or if it was a repeated course of conduct with other errors and omissions, could get the broker's license restricted, suspended or even revoked by the Department of Real Estate. It would take much more to constitutue criminal activity for which misdemeanor or felony charges could be brought.

If you are the owner here, I suggest you discuss with your broker his or her reasons for not passing along the offer(s) in question. There may be a good reason, but maybe not.