Connecticut Real Estate Buyer Agency Policy
It’s shocking to have recently read a comment on a local Patch site regarding CT Real Estate Buyer Agency Policy (working with a real estate agent to purchase a home). The writer said, “I have to say that I've looked at numerous houses in CT and have NEVER been asked to sign anything”. What? My immediate thought was to place blame….but on whom? The Realtors in that circumstance because they should know they are breaking the law? The consumer? The CT Dept. of Consumer Protection? Our Legislators?
I suppose you could run across this with numerous laws or regulations. For instance, take the distracted driving law. You see hundreds of people every day on the road with a phone in their hand either texting or using the speaker while it’s still in their hand as if it’s now a hands free device as the law calls for. So, who’s at fault? Is the driver to blame for breaking the law? What if the driver does not know the law exists? Is that possible? Is it the lawmakers fault for not getting the information to the public? Or, is it law enforcements fault for not policing this better?
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Most consumers nowadays are savy. And, that's no exception in the real estate business. Third party real estate web-sites such as Realtor.com, Trulia.com and Zillow.com have become dominant in our industy. Compared to the consumer from a decade or two ago, the online resources today for consumers are staggering. Which is also why, today more than ever, a good real estate agent is worth more now in sifting through what's important and what's not.
A simple Google search topic of "CT Real Estate Buyer" returned almost 15,000,000 results in .40 seconds. The CT DCP was on the first page.
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So, with reference to the buyer agency law in CT, I thought I’d take this opportunity to write a little about buyer agency and how it works in CT.
I've found sometimes, even when you do things correctly and by the book, and others in your profession do not and elicit a comment like the one above, it gives reason for pause.
Connecticut Real Estate Regulations covered in Section 20-238-6 states that a real estate buyer wanting representation must sign a buyer representation agreement and be given a copy. THIS IS A CONTRACT. It also states that the terms are negotiable. It goes on to say that an agent of a real estate brokerage firm cannot show a buyer another firms listing(s) without a written, signed buyer representation agreement. What if a buyer does not want representation? In that case the buyer can sign an “unrepresented party” agreement acknowledging that they do not want representation.
For the full outline of “working with a buyer’s agent” you can go to the CT DCP website here: http://www.ct.gov/dcp/cwp/view.asp?a=1622&q=423310
I welcome any comments and questions.
