Agent’s duties

Reasonable skill and care

A real estate professional must work in the best interest of every individual they work with; carelessness and incompetence is unacceptable.

Honesty and good faith

An agent must act with honesty and good faith towards all individuals, making inaccurate or misleading statements is a breach of duty. An intentional misrepresentation may be considered fraud.

Present all written communications

All written offers must be presented to the other party in a timely manner. This continues even after the property is subject to an existing contract.

Disclose material facts

A real estate professional must disclose any material facts if 1) the agent knows about it and 2) it is not apparent or readily apparent to the client. A material defect would be a latent defect in the property, something that would not be discovered by an ordinary inspection. This does not include a suicide or death, gang-related activity, political or religious activity, if the property has been the site of a crime or anything that does not affect the physical condition of the title or property.

Accounting of funds

An agent must be able to account for all funds that are entrusted to them. They must not mix, or commingle, trust funds with their own personal funds.

Agency disclosure

All agents must disclose in writing to all parties whom the agent represents; the buyer, the seller, both or neither.

Loyalty

Real estate agents must put their client’s interests and needs above their own interests. An agent can not make secret profits from a transaction.

Conflicts of interest

Any conflict of interest must be disclosed. For example, an agent must inform the other party if they are working for a relative, business associate, friend or a company in which the agent holds an interest in.

Confidentiality

All confidential information must remain confidential, even after the relationship terminates. This does not pertain to latent defects (see disclosure of material facts) in the property.

Expert advice

A real estate agent must advise the client to seek professional advice on anything that is beyond the agent’s expertise. An agent can not advise on the structural soundness of a home; that should be referred to a professional inspector.

Good faith and continuous effort

An agent must work to fulfill the terms of the agreement between the agent and the client. For example, an agent must make an effort to find a buyer for a property listed for sale with that agent.