How to contact an REO lender?

[Regina Boneso]

I am interested in buying a condo in San Francisco and have found an REO in the complex we are interested in. We contacted our local realtor where we currently live and he is experienced in REO's. It has been 2 weeks now that he has been trying to get a "live" person to talk to at Washington Mutual -- who is the lender. Is this common?

I found my information from RealtyTrac and it shows the home as " bank owned pending." Does the word "PENDING" mean the property has not yet hit the MLS? The site also posted a San Francisco local realtor to contact--would the local realtor have sped up the contact process?