Buyers May Not Know Rules of Dual Agency

I feel compelled to write in support of Robert Bruss’ Oct. 8 article that Jay Belson and Valerie Fitzgerald so vehemently objected to.

I base my opinions on my experience as a real estate agent. During that time, I acted exclusively as a buyer’s agent, thus my company did not take listings and did not work with sellers.

What Belson and Fitzgerald fail to discuss is the specific situation of dual agency (when an agent represents the buyer and seller). Can a buyer be properly represented? Dual agency is most common when a buyer stumbles on an open house, which happens hundreds of times each weekend. In this situation, I don’t feel that buyers understand that the listing agent has a fiduciary duty to disclose to the seller (the client) whatever the buyer says, even if the buyer puts an offer on the property with that agent. For example, if the buyer says, “Let’s offer $200,000, and the highest I’ll go is $240,000,” the agent legally must disclose that to the seller. Is that fair? Is that proper representation?

Belson and Fitzgerald say that a buyer should disclose a deadline to buy, the motivation and desire. Why is that any business of the agent if the buyer doesn’t want them to know? An agent should make sure the client is pre-approved before showing properties to make sure the buyer is qualified and what the maximum purchase amount can be, and that should be enough.

JEFF LANDAU, Woodland Hills