If a listing agent does something illegal such as leaking pricing info or filtering offers before submitting to the bank (we are talking about REOs only), the consequence can be devastating. My agent made one agent lose her license when he had the evidence for her wrong doing.
However, in reality, the problem is that the listing agent controls which offers the bank can see. The solution is to make all offers transparent to all agents and the bank, which can be achieved by using a centralized offer submission system. It sounds logical, easy and simple but my agent and his wife have been trying hard to campaign to change the system but so far nothing has happened. Actually, my current agent is one of the most educated that I have met so far. He is smart, very knowledgable and works hard. He appears to be honest too.
However, so far he has not been able to find investment deals for me. I need to make some changes.
I am going to ask him send me properties that can achieve close to 10% cap rate in selected areas only. I will contact listing agent directly for properties that I find myself. I can always use my agent if I feel necessary.