Real estate brokers and salespersons; duties, licensees engaged by buyers.
SB1309 revises Virginia’s real estate brokerage statutes governing the duties of brokers and salespersons in residential and commercial transactions. The bill updates definitions and clarifies the relationships a licensee may have with clients and customers, including standard agency, limited service agency, independent contractor status, dual agency/representation, and designated representation. It also restates and reorganizes the duties owed by licensees to sellers, buyers, landlords, and tenants, including confidentiality, ordinary care, accounting for funds, disclosure of material facts, and compliance with fair housing and other applicable laws.
A major feature of the bill is its treatment of buyer-side representation. It requires a brokerage agreement before a licensee provides brokerage services to a prospective client, but it also states that a written agreement is not required before a licensee shows property to a prospective buyer or prospective tenant. The bill further preserves the ability of licensees to perform ministerial acts for unrepresented parties without creating a brokerage relationship, and it continues to authorize limited service representation with specific written disclosures. The measure also maintains and refines rules for dual agency, dual representation, and designated agency, including written informed consent requirements and standardized disclosure language.
The bill amends and reenacts multiple sections of Title 54.1 of the Code of Virginia, primarily in Chapter 21, Article 3, which governs real estate brokerage relationships. It changes the statutory framework for when brokerage agreements are required, what must be included in those agreements, and how licensees may interact with prospective buyers and tenants before a formal agreement is signed. It also updates disclosure obligations for limited service agents, dual agency, dual representation, and designated agents, while preserving existing duties related to material facts, confidentiality, and consumer disclosures under related housing statutes.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Senate and House unanimously at each recorded stage, including committee reports and floor votes with no recorded opposition. The absence of negative votes or recorded committee debate suggests general agreement on the need to clarify and modernize real estate brokerage rules, especially around buyer representation and pre-agreement property showings.
No significant contention is reflected in the available voting history or transcripts. The main policy issue addressed by the bill is the balance between requiring written brokerage agreements for client representation and allowing brokers and salespersons to show properties or perform ministerial acts before such agreements are executed. The bill also preserves the longstanding tension in real estate law between single-client loyalty and dual representation, but the unanimous votes indicate that these provisions were not materially disputed in the legislative process.