Seller wants to see financial statement?

[Reloing]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Washington DC

I am trying to purchase a condo (not a coop) and the seller wants to see my financial statement before deciding whether to sell to me. I am not asking the seller for any financing. I have financing for the purchase all lined up and no questions have been raised regarding the adequacy or legitimacy of those arrangements. I am a gainfullly (and legally) employed professional. This is not an issue of a coop or homeowners association approval, it is simply because the seller wants to see it. I am purchasing in a nice neighborhood but its not THAT hoity-toity. To me this seems reminiscent of distasteful forms of discrimination that I thought were a thing of the past. Maybe this is just a product of the hot RE market that has been typical here for a while but I don't see what legitimate purpose this serves. Has anyone heard of this practice? Does this trouble anyone else? Does this rise to the level of an unprofessional or unethical practice if the RE agent insists on or advises a client to demand this? Thanks.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by Reloing

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Washington DC

I am trying to purchase a condo (not a coop) and the seller wants to see my financial statement before deciding whether to sell to me. I am not asking the seller for any financing. I have financing for the purchase all lined up and no questions have been raised regarding the adequacy or legitimacy of those arrangements. I am a gainfullly (and legally) employed professional. This is not an issue of a coop or homeowners association approval, it is simply because the seller wants to see it. I am purchasing in a nice neighborhood but its not THAT hoity-toity. To me this seems reminiscent of distasteful forms of discrimination that I thought were a thing of the past. Maybe this is just a product of the hot RE market that has been typical here for a while but I don't see what legitimate purpose this serves. Has anyone heard of this practice? Does this trouble anyone else? Does this rise to the level of an unprofessional or unethical practice if the RE agent insists on or advises a client to demand this? Thanks.

**A: yes, the Seller can request and yes, you can deny that request.

[Drinker Nisti]

I don't think this is all that uncommon (at least in Southern California), particularly if you're planning to make a large downpayment. The seller wants to make sure there's no disconnect between your pre-approved/pre-qualified loan and the offered sale price. I.e., are you really good for it?

This was requested of us in our first offer back in July (didn't get the house, but for other reasons)-- we faxed a recent bank statement that showed the 20% downpayment and marked out the account numbers for the obvious privacy concerns.

[Drinker Nisti]

One more thing-- we also blanked out the activity in the checking account, so salary deposits, etc. were kept private. Didn't seem to be a problem...

[HomeGuru]

thanks for sharing......