Florida is one of those states where we have a great number of part time residents and many people who live here full time are from another state in the country so we get to work with people from all over the US and Canada. Often times we will not only explain things about the city or state to our customers from other states but we also have to clarify how Florida real estate law is different from other states. One big difference is that we are a "Transaction Broker" state. Let me state right now that a "Dual Agency" in Florida is Illegal. Only Transaction Brokers can work with both the seller and buyer in a transaction. In order for your Broker to be a transaction broker, they must disclose and act in a Transaction Broker capacity with no fiduciary responsibility to the person or persons who they are working for.
What is a Transaction Broker:
- A Broker with a NON fiduciary responsibility to the customer and therefore can assist both the seller and buyer on a real estate transaction.
- Must deal Honestly and Fairly. Customers are entitled to rely on any material statement related to the transaction by the licensee.
- Account for All Funds. Transaction Brokers and all Brokers and Licensees are required to follow the law regarding escrow deposits and commissions.
- Use Skill, Care and Diligence in the Transaction. Your Transaction Broker and agent are required to facilitate your transaction with the highest level of professionalism and act legally and ethically.
- Disclose All Know Facts that Materially Affect the Value of Residential Property that is Not Readily Visible to the buyer. The person selling the home is legally required to disclose any defect of material fact that can affect the value of the home. This includes proposed changes to vacant land near the home, zoning changes, soil settlement etc... IF the Broker or Licensee know any material fact, even if the seller is refusing to disclose, the Broker and Agent MUST disclose the fact to the public. Keep in mind that your agent and Broker are not legally required to discover defects of the home. We rely solely on what the home owner tells us.
- Present All offers and counter offers in a Timely manner. Unless a party has notified their agent in writing to anything otherwise, All offers, verbal or written are to be presented in a timely manner.
- Exercise Limited Confidentiality. The main thing to know about this is that we cannot tell the buyer any information about the seller and we cannot tell the seller anything about the buyer that may put either party in jeopardy during the transaction. One great example to clarify this, if the buyer offers less than they are willing to pay for the home we cannot tell the seller that the buyer is willing to pay more than they are offering.
- Perform any duties that are mutually agreed to with the party. Just to clarify, we cannot accept any duty that is beyond the scope of our limited confidentiality or beyond the scope of our license.
Many people think that a Transaction broker is a "Dual Agency". It is Not. A Dual Agency in Florida is Illegal and if a Broker is acting as a "Single Agent" for a seller, none of their agents may represent the buyer in the transaction unless the seller agrees in writing to change their brokerage relationship back to a transaction broker. The Broker and their agents cannot have fiduciary responsibilities to both the seller and the buyer as it would conflict with loyalty and confidentiality and full disclosure requirements of a single agent relationship.
In Florida, all real estate licensees are considered to be Transaction Brokers unless requested by the customer and a single agency or non representative disclosure is signed by both parties.
Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about Florida real estate transactions. If I do not have your answer, I will get it for you.