Who's buying wholesale properties without seeing the contract?

[Michael Evans]

My business partner and I have been trying all week to purchase our first investment property since 2005, and we have run into a strange problem: Wholesalers want to assign their contracts to us, but they don't want show us the original purchase contract they have with the seller for the property.  This is crazy to me.  I would never take over a contract that I can't view.  I can't verify that the Wholesaler even has the property under contract.  We've run into three properties like this in three different cities and states (Memphis TN, Atlanta GA and Pensacola FL).

Is this the norm?  Do investors purchase properties without first seeing the purchase contract the Wholesaler has with the seller?  How do you verify the Wholesaler even has the right to "sell" the property?  I offered to "buy" the contract from the Wholesaler for their assignment fee via an assignment agreement that had the original purchase contract as an attachment.  I recommended that we also amend the original purchase contract to remove them as the buyer and to put me as the buyer.  I offered to give them their assignment fee upfront (via escrow contingent upon the property passing my property inspection) before closing, and two of them refused.

What am I missing?