Disclosing Personal Relationships by REALTORS® when Buying and Selling for their Personal Account
- Aug 17, 2010 ArchiveREALTORS® buying property for their own account are sometimes wondering what they should disclose and not disclose in regards to their relationship to the buyer or seller.
Article 4 of the REALTORS® Code of Ethics states:
"Realtors shall not acquire an interest in or buy or present offices from themselves, any member of their immediate families, their firms or any member thereof, or any entities in which they ave any ownership interest, any real property without making their true position known to the owner or the owners's agent or broker. In selling property they own, or in which they have any interest, Realtors shall reveal their ownership or interest in writing ot the purchaser or the purchaser's representative."
Realtor® Jenny is representing her fiance in a ocndominium purchase. Her fiance has asked her not to disclose their relationship as he worries that disclosure will impacdt the negotiations. The Wedding will not occur until after the closing.
Since her fiance is not technically a member of the Realtor's immediate family, it seem likely that a disclosure is not required. BUT
Under the scenario just presented, it's likely that a hearing panel would not find Jenny in violation for failing to disclose the representation of a fiance in a transaction. Even with this likely outcome, though, its advisable to ask yourself: "Why do you not want to disclose the relationship"? Failure to disclose, even though it's not required, could backfire if the other side were to obtain the information, further complicating matters and possibly risking a successful transaction.
An excellent article that all REALTORS® need to read. A major portion of this article is from the Florida Realtor magazine August 2010 edition.