Agency Reminder...

Have you implemented agency disclosure in your sales practice? The Real Estate Commission has received a number of reports that some licensees are ignoring the rule governing agency relationships. Those provisions have been in effect since July 1995 - plenty of time to learn and implement them.

Remember these basic requirements of the rule:

1.    All your agency agreements in real estate sales transactions must be in writing. This includes listing contracts, buyer agency agreements and dual agency agreements.

2.    All such agency agreements must include a definite termination date, specified nondiscrimination language, and the Description of Agent Duties and Relationships.

3.    When you are working directly with a buyer but you are not the buyer's agent, you must give the buyer the Disclosure to Buyer from Seller's Agent or Subagent form at your first substantial contact and ask him or her to sign it. If the buyer won't sign, you may choose to work with that buyer anyway, but be sure to make a note for your file of the circumstances under which you gave the Disclosure form and the fact that the buyer wouldn't sign it.

4.    When you are a buyer's agent, you must disclose your agency status to the listing agent at the initial contact. Your disclosure can be made orally; e.g., over the phone. Confirm your buyer-agency status in writing no later than the presentation of the offer. You can simply check the "buyer agent" box at the bottom of the Offer to Purchase and Contract (NCAR/NCBA Standard Form No. 2).

If you have not yet implemented these basic principles into your sales practice, you are acting in violation of the law. Failure to make agency disclosures, representing a client without a written contract, or otherwise ignoring the rules can result in disciplinary action.