Real estate brokers and salespersons; duties, licensees engaged by buyers.
HB1684 revises Virginia’s real estate brokerage law to clarify and expand the duties of brokers and salespersons across residential and commercial transactions, with a particular focus on licensees engaged by buyers. The bill updates definitions for agency, brokerage agreements, clients, customers, standard agents, limited service agents, dual agents, designated agents, and independent contractors, and it specifies when a written brokerage agreement is required and what it must contain. It also refines the rules governing ministerial acts, confidentiality, disclosure of material facts, and the circumstances under which a licensee may assist a party without creating a brokerage relationship.
A major feature of the bill is its treatment of buyer-side representation. It requires a brokerage agreement before a licensee shows property to a prospective buyer in most cases, but it also states that a written agreement is not required before showing property to a prospective buyer, resolving a point of tension in the existing framework by preserving pre-agreement showings while still regulating brokerage services. The bill also updates disclosure rules for limited service agents, dual agency, dual representation, and designated representation, including detailed written consent forms and warnings about the limits on advice and confidentiality when one firm represents multiple parties in the same transaction.
The bill amends and reenacts multiple sections of Title 54.1 governing real estate brokers and salespersons, including provisions on brokerage relationships, seller and buyer duties, landlord and tenant representation, limited service agency, dual agency, dual representation, and designated agency. It changes the statutory framework for when brokerage agreements must be written, what disclosures must be made, and how licensees may interact with unrepresented parties or parties represented by limited service agents. The bill also preserves and clarifies existing disclosure obligations related to residential property defects, defective drywall, lead-free plumbing disclosures in rental transactions, and settlement-service disclosures.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and moved through the General Assembly with strong bipartisan approval. It was reported from subcommittee and committee with some initial dissent in subcommittee, but later committee votes were unanimous or near-unanimous, and both chambers passed it overwhelmingly. The voting pattern suggests general agreement that the bill modernizes and clarifies real estate brokerage rules without generating major controversy.
The main point of contention appears to have been the buyer-side showing-property rule and the extent to which a written brokerage agreement should be required before a licensee can show property to a prospective buyer. The bill text reflects an effort to balance consumer protection and disclosure with practical real estate practice, and the subcommittee’s 6-2 vote suggests some disagreement at the outset. Other potentially sensitive issues include dual agency, limited service representation, and the limits on confidentiality and advice when one broker or firm represents multiple parties, but the final votes indicate these concerns were resolved or not politically divisive.