Is there any reason why an agent would leave the short sale up to the seller to handle?

Short sale agent didn't do what a short sale listing agent should do.

My buyers finally found a property they like. I begged the agent to present our offer to the seller even after the cut-off period. Yes, we know it's a short sale. Yes, we know the drill. And GREAT, the seller liked our offer the best and accepted it. So we were prepared to wait for the short sale approval.

When I requested an update, I didn't expect what the listing agent told me:

• The seller is out of town (turns out he is out of the country) and is not able to sign documents. The lenders are requesting more documents. Ever heard of DocuSign?
• Seller is working on getting the documents the short sale lender needs. Did you not have a checklist of what is required in order to submit a short sale package?
• The seller spoke with the lender....AHA! The seller, not you?
• The agent is waiting for the seller to give her the update. Shouldn't the agent be the one updating her seller on the progress of getting the short sale approval?

Turns out the agent has not done a short sale before. But doesn't her broker make sure she knows how?

With the near-tsunami of short sales, here's an agent who took a short sale listing, presented offers, and then left it to the seller to handle the short sale negotiation with the lender. She more or less stepped back, and waited....and waited...and waited.

At this point in time, with the seller already in distress, we can help in the most profound way by tackling the nitty-gritty details and action items to process a short sale.

Still shaking my head in disbelief. I offered to help her by sending her a copy of my short sale package, including a checklist of what the seller needs to provide, samples of hardship letters, blank letter of authorization, financial profit/loss statement, etc.

But the bottom line is, she should have been a lot more resourceful in understanding what it takes to process a short sale so that she can help her seller....and in turn, help us buyers and buyers agents.

Ai, ai, ai, ai!