Real estate brokers: dual agency.

Existing law regulates activities of listing agents, selling agents, and associate licensees in real property transactions. Existing law requires the listing agent and the selling agent to provide the seller and the buyer with a specified disclosure form. The disclosure form, among other things, states that a real estate agent acting directly or through one or more associate licensees can legally be the agent of both the seller and the buyer in a transaction, but only with the knowledge and consent of both seller and buyer. Selling agents and listing agents are required to disclose when they act as dual agent representatives, subject to specified requirements. Existing law provides that these and other provisions do not relieve agents and their associate licensees, subagents, and employees from liability for their conduct, as specified, or for any breach of a fiduciary duty or a duty of disclosure. This bill would declare that the law regarding the responsibilities of associate licensees and supervising brokers in dual agency transactions requires clarification due to the holding in a specified California Supreme Court decision. The bill would describe when dual agency exists and would specify, with respect to certain provisions of existing law, some of the duties of licensees in conducting dual agency transactions. The bill would also revise the mandatory disclosure form used in dual agency transactions to make the terms in the form consistent with the ruling by the California Supreme Court, referenced above.