Credit Check on Offers

[Brian Taing]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone from California, particularly in Ventura County, could give me some advice on what is going on. Here's the situation:

I recently put in an offer for a condo in Oxnard city, which is REO from Bank of America (25% down, 75% financing). They were considering my offer, but would consider accepting unless they ran a credit check. They are asking to do a credit check BEFORE they accept the offer. To me, this makes no sense. Why should I need to have a bank run a credit report for every property I want to place a bid on? To me, the running the credit makes sense after an offer is accept and we open escrow. My mortgage broker agrees and claims the loan officer at BofA is 100% wrong.

Has anyone had this situation? I have more than enough info for pre-approval to show that I can afford the investment property, plus a good cash cushion in case it is vacant: W-2's, stocks, savings, pay stubs, etc.