What Duties does a Realtor owe to You?
When Working with a Realtor to buy or sell a house, you can be their Client, or Customer.
When you sign a contract with a Realtor for them to work on your behalf, they now have certain legally mandated duties that they owe to you, called fiduciary duties. This means they will act in your best interests.
The required fiduciary duties are different, but whether you are a Client, or Customer to a Realtor, a common example of service they will owe you is Confidentiality of your information, and
In a fiduciary capacity, it is the duty of the real estate agent or broker to protect the clients’ privacy and keep all information confidential, (unless required to divulge it by a court of law).
OLDCAR
That’s an acronym for the fiduciary duties required of a real estate professional acting as an agent of their client.
Obedience:
Your Realtor must Obey your instructions, unless your requests are illegal, unethical, or not in accordance with the contract.
Loyalty:
Your Realtor must be loyal and keep your best interests in mind, ahead of their own interests, or any other parties. For example, they shouldn’t consider their commission ahead of your needs.
Disclosure:
Any Real Estate Agent, even if they are not representing YOU, should be making you aware of any material latent defects on the property (See below). They will also only disclose information that will bring you ahead in negotiations.
Material Latent Defects:
make a property dangerous or potentially dangerous
make a property unfit to live in
make a property unfit for the buyer’s purpose (if the buyer has told their industry member or the seller’s industry member the purpose)
A material latent defect may also exist if:
the defect is very expensive to repair
the seller has received a local government or authority notice that a circumstance of the property must be remedied
the seller does not have appropriate building or other permits for the property
Material Latent defects are issues that might cause the Buyer to change their mind about purchasing.
Confidentiality:
Your Realtor will not disclose anything that they learn about you, their business, financial or personal affairs or motivations.
Accounting:
Your Realtor needs to keep track of the deposit, pass on the contract to lawyers, and ensure all monies pertaining to the transaction and their ultimate disposition is your Realtors fiduciary responsibility. They must not co mingle any of your money with their own business funds.
Reasonable Care:
Your Realtor must use all of their skills to the best of their ability for their client. Sometimes reasonable care is only fully defined when it’s too late, and your Realtor is in front of a judge for them to decide. Ensure your Realtor has the capacity to suggest and help you make big decisions.
How Agency is Created:
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Oral
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