The Federal Trade Commission announced in July that it will not be enforcing most of the provisions of the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule (also known as the MARS Rule) against real estate brokers and their agents who work with lenders and/or servicers to obtain short sales for their clients.
The heart of the MARS Rule is that companies who offer mortgage relief services to the consumer must disclose certian information about the services they provide, refrain from collecting advance fees, etc. With this decision, the FTC would no longer enforce these provisions in certain limited circumstances enumerated above. However, real estate professionals working with consumers to obtain short sales would still be subject to the MARS Rule ban on mirepresentations.
To read the full press release from the Federal Trade Commission, click here.
