How to handle a dishonest broker?

April 10, 2025
by a searcher from Miami University of Ohio in Cleveland, OH, USA
Has anyone dealt with a broker that they lost confidence in keeping the sellers informed in good faith? How did you handle it and is it worth trying to work the deal through or is this a deal killer?
A bit more detail: The broker had the deal pre-approved with a bank and we started down that path but due to a 15% down payment requirement we decided to confirm if this is a good deal by bringing in a loan broker. Once we started asking for additional information the deal broker refused to share the information. From there he said he would ultimately tell the sellers they should walk if we choose a different bank and we won't be able to close or at least not within a reasonable time frame. The kicker is, I don't have faith he has communicated this with the sellers and is doing this on his own hoping we will come back to "his bank", assuming he wants his fee from the bank.
Any thoughts are appreciated
A bit more detail: The broker had the deal pre-approved with a bank and we started down that path but due to a 15% down payment requirement we decided to confirm if this is a good deal by bringing in a loan broker. Once we started asking for additional information the deal broker refused to share the information. From there he said he would ultimately tell the sellers they should walk if we choose a different bank and we won't be able to close or at least not within a reasonable time frame. The kicker is, I don't have faith he has communicated this with the sellers and is doing this on his own hoping we will come back to "his bank", assuming he wants his fee from the bank.
Any thoughts are appreciated
from Eastern Illinois University in 900 E Diehl Rd, Naperville, IL 60563, USA
I do not see an issue with brokers having lenders they refer deals to that they trust. We have several brokers we work with and help get deals done for their buyers. But if a broker is requiring you to use a certain lender, and also earning a fee for doing so, then in my opinion there is a conflict of interest there. Some people may say I am biased because we are a Commercial Loan Brokerage shop, but I do not believe in only allowing buyers one option.
My recommendation would be to try and get a pre-approval from another lender and present that along with your best offer. If the broker chooses to ignore it, then you probably just want to walk away. If you are having these types of issues now, it is only going to get worse if there are any delays in the approval process or if the broker gets another offer from a buyer who is willing to use their preferred lender. If you would like to discuss getting additional offers, you can reach me here or directly at redacted
from ESADE in Vancouver, BC, Canada