Brokerage Relationships

Agent

A person licensed to represent another in a real estate transaction; or a person authorized to represent another (the principal) in dealings with third parties.

Client

Person who employs a broker, lawyer or other professional.

Customer

A party in a transaction to whom an agent does not have a fiduciary duty or relationship, but to whom an agent must still be fair and honest.

Confidential Information

All information the client directs to be private, which, if disclosed, would have an adverse effect on the client's position.

Agency

A relationship of trust created when one person (the principal) gives another person (the agent) the right to represent the principal in dealings with third parties.

Subagent

An agent of an agent; a person that an agent has delegated authority to, so that person can assist in carrying out the principal's orders.

Dual Agency

An agency relationship in which a licensee represents both buyer and seller (or both landlord and tenant) in the same transaction. Requires the informed written consent from both parties.

Agency Disclosure Statement

Form that states whether an agent is representing the seller or the buyer, or both, in a transaction.

Listing

A written agency contract between seller and a real estate broker, stating the broker will be paid a commission for finding (or attempting to find) a buyer for the seller's real property.

Fiduciary Relationship

A relationship of trust and confidence, in which one party owes the other (or both parties owe each other) loyalty and a higher standard of good faith than they owe to third parties.

Contemporaneous Offers

When a single agent represents multiple clients making offers on the same property at the same time

Exclusive Agency Listing

A real estate agreement where a seller grants one broker the exclusive right to market and sell a property, but the seller retains the right to find a buyer independently without paying a commission to the broker.

Exclusive Right to Sell Listing

A contract between a property seller and a real estate broker that gives the broker the sole right to represent the seller and earn a commission if the property is sold during the contract's term, regardless of who finds the buyer

Open Listing

A real estate agreement where a seller hires multiple agents to market a property, but only the agent who successfully brings a buyer receives a commission

Net Listing

A real estate agreement where the seller sets a minimum amount they want to receive from a sale, prohibited in most states.

Redlining

Discriminatory practice of denying financial services like loans and mortgages to residents of certain neighborhoods based on their racial or ethnic makeup

Blockbusting

A discriminatory and predatory practice where real estate agents induce panic among homeowners in a neighborhood, often by spreading racial fears, to buy properties at low prices

Steering

The illegal practice of a real estate agent or broker discouraging or encouraging a home buyer to purchase housing in a particular area based on a protected characteristic