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

Reply by a lender
from Eastern Illinois University in 900 E Diehl Rd, Naperville, IL 60563, USA

I have seen some brokers use this tactic before. I am not sure if it is because they just trust their lender or because they are getting a fee. The issue in running a deal past a broker's lender is you do not know what that relationship is and what personal information that lender might share with the broker from what you intend to offer to what you can afford, etc. Also, depending on the credit criteria of that lender's institution, they may not be able to assist you when other institutions can. If that lender tells the broker the deal is not financeable any other way or you are not financeable, then that might taint the deal for you with the broker. However, you may be able to get it financed with another lender.

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

Reply by an intermediary
from ESADE in Vancouver, BC, Canada

Thanks for the tag ^redacted‌. Misaligned incentives can create challenges, but they’re not always deal-killers. If the seller is committed, staying professional, transparent, and well-documented on your end can still help move things forward. Hopefully, everyone's working toward the same goal of getting the deal done.

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