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Please Read About "Agency" Here...... |
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Agency -- This is a framework that
has developed in the law to allow individuals to act through another
person or representative. This particularly occurs in commercial
transactions. Examples might include hiring an attorney to represent you
in a business transaction, working with a stock broker to purchase stocks
or other investments, or working with a real estate broker to buy or sell
real estate. Your legal agent may have unlimited or limited powers on your
behalf. Your legal agent owes you fiduciary duties such as the duties of
loyalty, accounting, and disclosure. In the purchase or sale of real
estate you have several different options. Buyer's Agent -- A buyer may ask a real estate brokerage company to act as the buyer's legal agent in the process of purchasing real estate. This can be done by designating one or more sales associates as your legal agent in a written agreement with the broker or by entering into an agency agreement with the real estate broker which would provide that the broker and all sales associates affiliated with the broker would be acting as legal agents of the buyer. The authority of your legal agent to act on your behalf would be limited to those powers granted in the written agreement. In the purchase of real estate the buyer's agent will be acting in the buyer's best interest. Dual Agency -- In this type of situation, both the seller and buyer in a transaction are represented by the same legal agent. This, fiduciary duties are owed to both parties. The law has stated that this is not legally possible without the consent of the buyer and seller. Thus, your consent will have to be secured to allow for this type of situation to exist. If a disclosed dual agency actually exists, the role of the sales associate will be somewhat limited and the buyer and seller will act at times on their own behalf in negotiations for the sale or purchase of the property. Seller's Agent -- When you sign a listing agreement with a real estate broker you are typically signing an agency agreement that makes that broker and all sales associates affiliated with the broker you legal agents. In a designated agency the broker would name one or more sale associates as your legal agent. The seller's agent is a limited as opposed to general agent. In other words, the listing or other agreement with the broker gives the selling agent certain authority to act on your behalf in the marketing and sale of the property. However, the selling agent does not have general powers to act on your behalf such as the power to enter into a binding contract for the sale of your real estate. In the marketing of your real estate, the seller's agent will be acting in the seller's best interest ** Information
taken from the Illinois Association of Realtors web site – February 2003**
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