OYAToMLG dual agency was in the news

it’s a perennial topic, if also an annual post
I came across a post from (yes) One Year Ago on Manhattan Loft Guy and figured it is worth a re-post because Agency Disclosure is an issue dear to me heart (honest) and the topic has been in the news enough lately to likely cause all the big firms to tighten up procedures, remind agents about rules, warn agents about consequences for not following rules. That was my May 16, 2012, the Warburg guy wants to take the Dual out of Agency in Manhattan residential real estate, which is a bit of an homage to The Warburg Guy for taking on this topic. I’d love to know if there are any procedures or policies in place at Warburg to prevent agent from taking on this (legal, if done right) form of service.

If you follow the industry rags (or are in the industry) you surely know about this story a few weeks ago from The Real Deal about an investigation (not an indictment, certainly not a finding) involving a rather well-known agent at a rather well-known firm who may have done a deal “representing” both buyer and seller without having adequately disclosed, explained, and signed up the documents. The part that rattled cages at every Manhattan residential real estate firm that pays attention to such things (I hope there’s 100% overlap of that group with Manhattan residential real estate firms) is that the investigation includes the branch manager and head of the firm, who are statutorily responsible for supervising the agent in question.

A finding (hypothetical, at this point) that the agent did not follow the dual agency rules here will certainly rattle cages; a finding that penalizes the manager and the head of the firm will rattle the whole zoo.

If “agency” is a topic that fascinates you, enjoy! If not, maybe you’ll learn something, and tomorrow is another day.

© Sandy Mattingly 2013