BILL OF RIGHTS FOR REAL ESTATE

(This was one of the "historic documents" I wrote in the early 80s.  The documents  were signed by agents in our company and then by some across the country when buyer agency was a brand-new idea, before agency disclosure, and when many  agents and most of the public didn't know all agents were supposed to represent all sellers.    "Equal rights" for buyers was a revolutionary idea.) 

We believe all real estate consumers should have these rights.   Some of these rights, however, must be negotiated between consumers and real estate brokers and some are matters of individual company policy which no company can dictate to another.

I. Buyers as well as sellers have an equal right to choose the real estate professional they want to work with and to have the client privileges – loyalty, advice, advocacy, confidentiality, disclosure, in addition to “fair and honest” answers.

II. The real estate industry (trade associations and companies) should have policies and procedures that conform to public expectations and desires, and to common sense, concerning who is loyal to whom and what either party can expect of the professional he is working with.

III. Real estate agents should be able to openly represent the party in a transaction with whom they have the closest relationship, rather than having to attempt to be loyal to a seller they may never have seen or to work for a price they had no part in setting, when they are showing property to someone who wants an agent to be on their side.

IV. Sellers’ agents, in the interests of their clients, should expose the properties to as many buyers as possible, without letting the desire to collect both listing and selling commission dictate their policies when another agent is working for the buyer. Sellers have a right to a written statement of these policies.

V. Sellers have a right to know their listing broker’s policy concerning equal access to their property by all buyers, represented or not represented, and to direct the listing broker’s marketing of their property in this respect.

VI. Real estate commissions, said by listing contract to be included in the listing price, are high enough to cover compensation for a listing broker and a selling broker. Giving all consumers representation should not increase total commission in any transaction.

VII. Sellers have a right to know that agents working for the listing broker or as subagents from other companies have a legal duty to do what is best for the seller and sellers have a right to be informed of potential conflicts of interest. “Insiders” (agents purchasing for themselves and family) should have to abide by the same rules for access, commission sharing, and disclosure of interest as the public must abide by when they choose to have an agent represent them.

VIII. Sellers have a right to be informed that they can be held responsible for the actions of subagents even if they had no voice in hiring them, even though the subagents do not always appear to be working in the best interests of the sellers. Sellers have a right to choose not to accept this responsibility.

IX. Sellers have a right to be fully informed when their property is listed concerning what will happen to the commission – with whom the broker will share it, in what amount, and under what circumstances, so that qualified buyers will not be hindered from purchasing the property because the listing broker’s policy makes the total commission excessively high.

X. Companies which do not choose to offer a service, for whatever reason, should not attempt to hinder that service from being offered by other companies.