What to know about dual agency: How consent works and what you give up

Written by Samantha SheltonNMLS 1647301Updated October 2026

This article is general information about real estate agency law, not legal advice. Agency rules and consent requirements vary by state and by the wording of your agreement. Consult a Michigan real estate attorney.

Real estate agent standing between buyer and seller at a dining table, illustrating the conflict at the center of dual agency

Dual agency is one real estate licensee representing both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction. Michigan law defines it by what is missing: under the Occupational Code, a “dual agent” acts as the agent of both the buyer and the seller and completes the transaction without the full range of fiduciary duties owed by a buyer’s agent and a seller’s agent. Michigan permits it with informed written consent from both parties. At least 3 states (Florida, Texas and Wyoming) do not permit it at all.

That is the whole trade: you are not buying a shortcut, you are agreeing to have your advocate stop advocating. The statutory form Michigan licensees use says so outright, in a dual agency situation, the licensee will not be able to disclose all known information to either party.

Learn how dual agency works, how consent happens, how designated agency differs, where it is banned, and how to decide, or start with our Selling a Home guide.

Key takeaways:

Seven duties, and loyalty is one of them: Michigan sets 7 minimum duties a licensee owes a client (care, performance, loyalty, compliance, referral, accounting and confidentiality) and defines a dual agent as serving both sides without the full range of them.
Consent is written, mutual, and it comes first: A licensee must disclose every available agency relationship before you share confidential information, on a statutory form covering transactions of not less than 1 or not more than 4 residential dwelling units.
Designated agency is the alternative Michigan already allows: 2 designated agents affiliated with the same broker may each represent a different party in the same transaction and are expressly not dual agents.

What is dual agency, and how is it different from two agents at the same brokerage?

Michigan’s agency disclosure statute describes 4 licensee roles, and only one collapses both sides onto one advocate.

Seller’s agent and buyer’s agent, the 2 single-agency roles: Each acts for one party under a listing or buyer’s agency agreement, consistent with the fiduciary duties existing under common law, and tells that party what it learns about the other. The benefits of hiring a buyer’s agent are almost entirely about that one-directional flow.
Dual agent: One licensee acting for both, with informed written consent from both, without the full range of fiduciary duties either side would otherwise receive.
Transaction coordinator: Not the agent of either party, permitted on proper notice, service, not representation.

Designated agency sits outside that list and is routinely confused with dual agency. Under a written designated agency agreement, a broker names one salesperson or associate broker as your legal agent. Michigan then says two designated agents affiliated with the same broker may each represent a different party in the same transaction and shall not be considered dual agents, and that your agent’s knowledge of your confidential information is not imputed to the other licensee. Same firm, two real advocates, a wall between.

Two catches. When designated agents land on opposite sides, the broker and any named supervisory brokers still become disclosed consensual dual agents, and the agents must say so before an offer is presented. Without a signed designated agency agreement, you have an agency relationship with the broker and every affiliated licensee, how people end up in dual agency without choosing it.

Feature	Single agency	Designated agency	Dual agency
Who advocates for you	Your agent, undivided	Your named designated agent	No one, on price or terms
Full common-law fiduciary duties	Yes	Yes, from your designated agent	No, limited by definition
Your confidential information	Protected	Not imputed to the other agent	Held by the person serving both

What duties do you actually give up in dual agency?

Loyalty, first, 1 of the 7 duties Michigan puts at the floor of every client relationship. The statute requires a licensee under a service provision agreement to deliver, at a minimum, reasonable care and skill, performance of the agreement, loyalty to the client’s interest, legal compliance, referral for outside expert advice, a timely accounting, and confidentiality. A dual agent still owes you the other six (care, performance, compliance, referral, an accounting and confidentiality) but cannot take your side. The second loss is not on that list at all: the statutory form itself warns that in a dual agency situation the licensee will not be able to disclose all known information to either party, so the one-directional flow of information a single agent gives you stops in both directions.

Price advice disappears: A dual agent cannot tell the seller what you will pay or tell you what the seller will accept, and cannot coach either of you toward a number. Coaching one side is disloyalty to the other.
Motivation stays sealed: A divorce, a job transfer, a second offer that collapsed. Context a single agent would mine for you is confidential information the dual agent cannot use.
Negotiation becomes messaging: Offers still move, but nobody argues your position on inspection credits, repairs or an appraisal gap.
What survives is administrative: Presenting offers, coordinating dates, moving the file to closing. Work, not representation.

Two things consent does not touch. Acting for more than 1 party in a transaction without the knowledge of the parties is itself prohibited conduct for a Michigan licensee, and so is failing to deliver the written agency disclosure the statute requires. And the seller’s own obligation stands separately: Michigan’s Seller Disclosure Act requires a seller of 1 to 4 residential dwelling units to deliver a written disclosure statement to the buyer before the seller signs a binding purchase agreement, whatever the agency arrangement.

How is consent supposed to work, and when does it have to happen?

Before you say anything you would not want repeated. Michigan requires a licensee to disclose all agency relationships available and the duties each creates before you disclose any confidential information. The disclosure must be in writing and must substantially conform to a form the statute spells out word for word: Disclosure Regarding Real Estate Agency Relationships.

The form is not a contract and signing it hires no one. It acknowledges that you received the explanation, with a checkbox naming the status the licensee claims. Seller’s agent, buyer’s agent, dual agent, or none of the above, with a limited-service variant listed for each of the 2 single-agency roles, plus an affiliated-licensee disclosure saying whether your agency relationship is shared by only the broker and named supervisory brokers or by every licensee at the firm.

Timing is the protection: the rule lands before you volunteer your ceiling, your timeline or your reason for moving. Consent also has to be informed, not merely written. A signature collected quickly at an open house is a weak record of understanding. Ask what changes, in writing, or decline and ask for designated agency.

Where is dual agency prohibited, and what replaces it?

In at least 3 states a licensee may not act as a dual agent at all, and each puts a different, non-fiduciary or limited role in its place.¹

Florida, banned, transaction brokerage presumed: A licensee may not operate as a disclosed or nondisclosed dual agent, and Florida presumes all licensees are transaction brokers unless a single agent or no brokerage relationship is established in writing.
Texas, banned, intermediary instead: The Texas Real Estate Commission is blunt: Texas law does not permit dual agency. A broker representing more than one party must act as a statutory intermediary with written authorization from both, and may appoint separate license holders to advise each.
Wyoming, banned, intermediary instead: A licensee shall not establish dual agency with any seller or buyer, and may act for the seller while treating the buyer as a customer, or the reverse, but not as agent for both.

Beyond those, states fall into categories rather than a tidy list: some permit dual agency with informed written consent, as Michigan does; some substitute a neutral facilitator (transaction broker, intermediary) where nobody represents anybody; some let a brokerage hold both sides only through designated or appointed agents. The same label can carry different duties one state over, so do not trust a copied 50-state chart, including one on a page like this. Check the licensing authority where the property sits, and take the agreement to an attorney licensed there.

Does dual agency save you money on commission?

Not automatically, and never by rule. Commission has always been negotiable and there is no standard or customary rate, so any reduction a dual agent offers is a negotiated concession, not a discount schedule.² Nothing in Michigan’s statute ties compensation to the agency relationship.

Compensation also shifted under the National Association of REALTORS® settlement practice changes effective August 17, 2024. Offers of compensation may no longer be communicated through an MLS, and MLS-participant buyer agents must have a written agreement with their buyer before touring a home. It can still be negotiated off-MLS or handled as a seller concession. What changed is where it may be communicated, not whether it may be paid. See selling without a REALTOR® for the seller’s side.

Run the arithmetic before treating savings as the reason to consent. A negotiated reduction is a known, one-time number; what you trade for it is your advocate in every price conversation. One round you lose (an appraisal gap you absorb, a repair credit you do not get) can exceed the concession.

How should you decide whether to consent?

Ask 6 questions first, in writing, before you sign anything.

Is designated agency available here? If the brokerage can name a different licensee to the other side, you keep an advocate and the firm keeps the deal. This resolves most situations.
What specifically can you no longer tell me? Price guidance, negotiating position, the other party’s motivation.
How does your compensation change? Get the number and the source of payment in writing.
When did you first hold confidential information from the other side? If their disclosures preceded yours, know what is sealed.
Who else at the firm is affected? Ask whether the broker and supervisory brokers become disclosed consensual dual agents.
Can I walk this back? Ask what withdrawing consent mid-transaction does.

Consenting is most defensible when the deal is simple and you are experienced: a property you know, a price verified against closed comparables, an attorney reviewing the agreement. Decline when the stakes are high, a first purchase or sale, a contested price, condition questions, an estate or divorce sale. Our Selling Strategies hub covers the negotiation work you absorb.

What Michigan buyers and sellers should know

Michigan permits dual agency under Article 25 of the Occupational Code (on transactions of not less than 1 or not more than 4 residential dwelling units, or a residential building site) and hands you the alternative in the same section.

Ask for a designated agency agreement in writing: Without one you have an agency relationship with the broker and all affiliated licensees. The setup that becomes dual agency the moment someone else at the firm brings the other party. Your listing or buyer’s agency agreement can be amended by addendum at any time.
Know where to take a problem: Brokers and salespersons are licensed under Article 25 of Public Act 299 of 1980 and regulated by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Contract and damages questions go to a Michigan real estate attorney.

One point people miss: your financing is independent of the agency arrangement. Align Lending is a mortgage broker, not a listing brokerage and not a law firm. Whether you consent, request designated agency or bring your own agent, the loan side stays separate, we shop your file across competing wholesale lenders and answer only to you. See the benefits of working with a mortgage broker.

What does research say about dual agency and sale prices?

At least two academic studies have measured it, and both counted deals where one firm, not only one person, sat on both sides. They point in different directions, which is a reason to judge your own deal rather than lean on a general rule.

Hawaii, before and after a disclosure law: According to Gardiner, Heisler, Kallberg and Liu, “The Impact of Dual Agency” (The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, vol. 35, July 2007), Hawaii made written disclosure of dual agency to both parties mandatory in 1984. Using approximately 2,000 residential sales in each period, the authors report that dual agency significantly reduced the sale price, with the effect much smaller after the law (8.0 versus 1.4%), and cut time on market by approximately 8.5% before the law and 8.1% after it.
Long Island, 2004 to 2007: Kadiyali, Prince and Simon, in the working paper “Is Dual Agency in Real Estate Transactions a Cause for Concern?”, analyzed 10,891 transactions and report that dual agency was uncorrelated with sale price and negatively correlated with time to sale. On very fast deals, list and sale prices were significantly higher when the house sold through dual agency. The authors say this is consistent with agents first showing houses to in-house buyer clients and with sellers being induced to set a higher list price in anticipation of an in-house buyer, alongside agents leaning on sellers to accept a lower price on other deals.

The same paper found little difference between same-agent deals and same-agency deals with different agents, and described the overall effects as mild. Its authors concluded that prohibiting the practice is not likely to substantially increase welfare; the Hawaii authors measured a cost that shrank once disclosure became mandatory. Neither study measured Michigan or Michigan’s designated agency rules, so read them as evidence about incentives, not as a forecast for your price. If a home is offered quietly inside one firm before it reaches the open market, see buying a pocket listing, and for the price conversation itself, how to negotiate house prices.

How do other states’ consent forms describe what you give up?

Michigan’s form is one of many. Reading how other regulators word the same choice shows what to ask for in writing here, even though only Michigan’s statute governs a Michigan sale.

State and document	What the state’s document says
New York, Department of State, Disclosure Form for Buyer and Seller (DOS-1736-f, Rev. 09/21)	By consenting to dual agency, the buyer and seller are giving up their right to undivided loyalty. With consent, a broker may designate one sales agent for each side, but a designated sales agent cannot provide undivided loyalty either. Buyers and sellers may give advance consent on the form.
Maryland, Real Estate Commission, Consent for Dual Agency	The broker assigns separate intra-company agents, who must advise their own clients on price and negotiation strategy. Without written consent, neither may disclose that the seller would accept a lower price, that the buyer would pay more, or why a party is buying or selling. If either party refuses consent, the broker must end the brokerage relationship for that property with the buyer, the seller, or both.
Pennsylvania, Consumer Notice under the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act	A dual agent may not take any action that is adverse or detrimental to either party but must disclose known material defects. Under designated agency, the broker automatically serves as a dual agent because the broker supervises both designated licensees.
Ohio, model Consumer Guide to Agency Relationships, published on the Ohio Department of Commerce site (revised 9/2011)	Dual agents must maintain a neutral position, may not advocate one client’s position over the other client’s interests, and may not disclose either party’s confidential information without written consent.
Virginia, Code of Virginia section 54.1-2139	Written consent of all parties must come after written disclosure of the consequences and before the dual agency begins. A disclosure does not count if the client did not sign it or if it was given inside a purchase agreement, lease or other transaction document. A licensee may withdraw, without liability, from representing a client who refuses consent.
Hawaii, Hawaii Administrative Rules section 16-99-3.1(g)	A licensee may not be the agent for both buyer and seller without the written consent of both. The consent must state that the licensee made a full disclosure of the type of representation, and a general statement that the licensee represents both is not sufficient.

Sources: New York Department of State, DOS-1736-f; Maryland Real Estate Commission, Consent for Dual Agency; Pennsylvania Consumer Notice; Ohio model Consumer Guide to Agency Relationships; Code of Virginia section 54.1-2139; Hawaii Administrative Rules section 16-99-3.1, via Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.

Two points carry over to Michigan. First, Maryland’s list of what stays sealed carries extra weight when several offers are in play; see how to handle multiple offers. Second, Pennsylvania’s line on material defects matches the separate duty a Michigan seller already has; see what a seller’s disclosure covers. For how other rules differ from state to state, see state-specific home buying regulations.

What have federal regulators said about dual agency?

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission issued a joint report, “Competition in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry”, on May 8, 2007, after an October 2005 workshop and nearly 400 public comments, according to the Justice Department’s announcement of the report. Dual agency comes up in two places.

Designated agency as protection: According to the report, when the cooperating and listing agents work for the same firm, some states protect the parties through designated agency, with different agents in the firm designated to represent the buyer and the seller.
Disclosure as the fix for undisclosed dual agency: Answering a claim that limited-service listings expose cooperating brokers to undisclosed dual agency, the agencies reported that they had not found any increased incidence of undisclosed dual agency problems tied to limited-service brokerage, and that requiring buyers’ brokers to disclose the potential for dual agency to the seller and obtain a waiver would eliminate the danger.

The report treats written disclosure as the tool for this risk, which is the approach Michigan’s statute takes.

How is a dual agent’s pay set after the 2024 settlement?

Under the NAR settlement practice changes, when one licensee represents you as a buyer, the pay for that side has to be written into your buyer agreement in a form you can calculate. Per the National Association of REALTORS® settlement FAQs, compensation agreed in a written buyer agreement must be objectively ascertainable and not open-ended. NAR’s examples of what is not allowed are a commission of “whatever amount the seller is offering to the buyer” and “between X and Y percent.”

According to the same FAQ, NAR policy will not dictate the amount agreed between buyers and buyer brokers, listing, for example, $0, a flat fee, a percentage or an hourly rate. Per the FAQ, listing agreements are not held to the objectively ascertainable rule; they can be structured however the seller and listing broker agree, so long as the agreement specifies the amount or rate of any payment from the seller to the listing broker; see the selling process for where the listing agreement fits. In a dual agency deal, ask to see both numbers side by side before you consent; see how real estate agent commissions work. Sellers can see what a change in either number does to their proceeds with the seller net sheet calculator and the finances of selling.

How do you report undisclosed dual agency in Michigan?

Acting for both sides without the knowledge of the parties is prohibited conduct under MCL 339.2512(1)(a), and Michigan puts a clock on the complaint. Under MCL 339.2512(2), a complaint that seeks a penalty under article 5 for a violation of that section must be filed not later than 18 months after the date of the alleged violation or, if it occurred in connection with a real estate transaction, the date the transaction is completed, whichever is later.

Start with the license: The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs real estate page carries the state’s “Find / Verify a Licensed Professional or Business” and “Make a Complaint About a Licensed Professional or Business” services. Checking the license before you sign anything is also part of choosing a real estate agent.
Keep the paper trail: Per MCL 339.2517(3), Michigan’s form requires a party acknowledgment that the disclosure was provided before any confidential information was shared, so keep your signed copy with its date, plus any designated agency agreement or addendum, through the home closing process and after.

How Align helps when you are selling

If you are buying your next home too, the order matters. Samantha lines up your next mortgage before your home lists, so the sale and the purchase run on one timeline instead of two.

Your closing date is set by your purchase agreement. Her job is to have your loan ready well before it.

She lives and works in Oakland County, and local agents bring her in for second opinions when their buyers arrive preapproved elsewhere. You get one person who knows your goals from the first call to the closing table, with a processor supporting her behind the scenes.

Plan a buy before you sell

FAQ: Dual agency

Here are answers to common questions about dual agency.

What is dual agency in real estate?

Dual agency is one real estate licensee representing both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction. Michigan’s statutory definition is blunt about the cost: a dual agent completes the transaction without the full range of fiduciary duties a buyer’s agent and a seller’s agent would owe.

Is dual agency legal in Michigan?

Yes, with conditions. A Michigan licensee may act as the agent of both the seller and the buyer, but only with the knowledge and informed consent, in writing, of both parties, and the disclosure must reach you before you share confidential information. If you are uncomfortable, decline and ask for designated agency instead. See how to handle seller disclosures.

Does dual agency save you money?

Only if you negotiate it. Commission has always been negotiable and there is no standard or customary rate, so nothing about the arrangement produces a saving on its own. A dual agent may agree to a reduction, or may not. Weigh any reduction against losing price advice on both ends. See our guide to selling your house.

What is the difference between dual agency and designated agency?

In dual agency one licensee serves both sides and advocacy is limited for both. In designated agency the broker names two licensees, one per party, and Michigan law says those two are not dual agents, with confidential information not imputed between them. The broker and supervisory brokers do become disclosed consensual dual agents.

Do I still need a written buyer agreement if the listing agent represents me too?

Yes. According to the NAR settlement FAQs, the answer is the same for dual agency, where a single agent works for the seller and the buyer, and designated agency, where one broker designates an agent for the buyer: if an MLS Participant is working as an agent for a buyer, a written agreement is required. State law can require that agreement earlier than the tour, and it still governs your disclosures.

Can I withdraw my consent to dual agency?

Michigan’s statute, MCL 339.2517, does not say. Per Maryland’s Consent for Dual Agency form, the signer understands that consent may be withdrawn at any time upon notice to the dual agent, and that refusing consent means there will not be a dual agency. In Michigan, ask the broker how withdrawal works, get the answer in writing, and ask an attorney what it would do to a pending offer and its contingencies.

Is a transaction broker the same as a dual agent?

No. According to Pennsylvania’s Consumer Notice, a transaction licensee provides real estate services without any agency relationship and has no duty of loyalty or confidentiality, yet is still prohibited from disclosing that the seller will accept less than the listing price, that the buyer will pay more than the written offer, or that either side will accept other financing terms. A dual agent is an agent of both parties.

Does a dual agency disclosure form have to say commissions are negotiable?

Under the NAR settlement practice changes, yes. According to the NAR settlement FAQs, any pre-closing disclosure form that pertains to broker representation must include, or be accompanied by, a conspicuous statement that broker commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable, and NAR names a dual agency disclosure form as an example. Ask for that statement if your form lacks it.

The bottom line on dual agency

Dual agency is one licensee representing both the buyer and the seller, permitted in Michigan only with informed written consent from both parties and prohibited outright in states including Florida, Texas and Wyoming. Michigan defines a dual agent as serving both sides without the full range of fiduciary duties: loyalty, 1 of the 7 minimum statutory duties, is the one you surrender, and the statutory form warns the licensee will not be able to disclose all known information to either side. Before consenting, ask whether designated agency is available: 2 designated agents at one brokerage are expressly not dual agents.

If you’re ready to buy or sell with your financing on your side of the table, talk to Align Lending. We’ll shop your scenario across our lender network and show you the numbers side by side, whatever agency arrangement you choose. Call 248-506-5727 or start online. Take agency and contract questions to a Michigan real estate attorney.

Footnotes:

1. This is general information, not legal advice, and Align Lending is a Michigan mortgage broker rather than a real estate brokerage or law firm. State agency law changes, and the Florida, Texas and Wyoming descriptions above reflect each state’s own statute or licensing-authority guidance as of publication; the list is illustrative, not exhaustive, and other states restrict or replace dual agency in ways not described here. Confirm current rules with the real estate licensing authority in the state where the property is located and with a real estate attorney licensed in that state before consenting to any agency arrangement. Return to text.

2. Align Lending is not a party to the National Association of REALTORS® settlement and is not a real estate brokerage; the practice changes described are administered by NAR and by individual MLSs, and local MLS rules and forms vary. Real estate commissions have always been negotiable and there is no standard or customary rate; nothing here is a quote, an estimate, or a representation of what any brokerage will charge. Confirm compensation terms, MLS rules and the wording of your own agreement with your real estate broker and, where appropriate, a Michigan real estate attorney. Return to text.

Sources: Definition of “dual agent” as a licensee acting as agent of both the buyer and the seller who provides services to complete a real estate transaction without the full range of fiduciary duties owed by a buyer’s agent and a seller’s agent, MCL 339.2517(11)(f); definitions of “buyer’s agent,” “seller’s agent,” “designated agent,” “designated agency agreement,” “affiliated licensees,” “supervisory broker” and “transaction coordinator,” MCL 339.2517(11)(a) through (k); requirement to disclose all types of agency relationships available and the duties each creates before disclosure of any confidential information, MCL 339.2517(1); written disclosure substantially conforming to the statutory “Disclosure Regarding Real Estate Agency Relationships” form, its application to transactions of not less than 1 or not more than 4 residential dwelling units or a residential building site, the “Dual Agents” paragraph requiring knowledge and informed consent in writing of both the seller and the buyer, the statement that in a dual agency situation the licensee will not be able to disclose all known information to either party, the licensee disclosure checkboxes and the affiliated-licensee disclosure, and the party acknowledgment that the form was provided before disclosure of any confidential information, MCL 339.2517(3); transaction coordinator permitted on proper notice, MCL 339.2517(5); designated agency agreements and the default agency relationship with the broker and all affiliated licensees absent one, MCL 339.2517(6); supervisory brokers named in the agreement, treatment of the broker and supervisory brokers as disclosed consensual dual agents when designated agents represent different parties in the same transaction, and notice to clients before an offer to purchase is made or presented, MCL 339.2517(7); two designated agents who are affiliated licensees may each represent a different party in the same transaction and shall not be considered dual agents, and confidential information not imputed to affiliated licensees, MCL 339.2517(8); limits on a designated agent’s disclosure of confidential information, MCL 339.2517(9); amendment by written addendum to establish designated agency or change a designated agent or supervisory broker, MCL 339.2517(10). Minimum duties owed to a client under a service provision agreement, reasonable care and skill, performance of the agreement, loyalty to the interest of the client, compliance with law, referral for expert advice, timely accounting, and confidentiality, MCL 339.2512d(2)(a) through (g); written authorization of a designated agent, MCL 339.2512d(1). Prohibited conduct where a licensee acts for more than 1 party in a transaction without the knowledge of the parties, or does not provide the written agency disclosure required under section 2517, MCL 339.2512(1)(a) and (1)(b). Seller’s written disclosure statement delivered to the prospective transferee before the transferor executes a binding purchase agreement, on transfers of not less than 1 or more than 4 residential dwelling units, Michigan Seller Disclosure Act, 1993 PA 92, MCL 565.952 and MCL 565.954. Licensing and regulation of real estate brokers and salespersons under Article 25 of Public Act 299 of 1980, as amended, Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Real Estate Brokers & Salespersons. Prohibition on a Florida real estate licensee operating as a disclosed or nondisclosed dual agent, and the presumption that licensees operate as transaction brokers absent a written single agent or no brokerage relationship, Fla. Stat. 475.278(1)(a) and (1)(b). “Texas law does not permit dual agency”; a license holder may not represent both principals as a dual agent, and a broker representing more than one party must act as an intermediary with written authorization from both parties, who may appoint separate license holders to advise each party, Texas Real Estate Commission, citing TRELA 1101.561(b), 1101.558 to 1101.561 and 1101.651(d). Prohibition on a licensee establishing dual agency with any seller or buyer, and the rule that a licensee may act for the seller treating the buyer as a customer or for the buyer treating the seller as a customer but not as agent for both, W.S. 33-28-302(o) and 33-28-302(k); intermediary relationship, W.S. 33-28-305. Practice changes effective August 17, 2024 prohibiting offers of compensation from being communicated through an MLS and requiring MLS participants working with a buyer to enter a written agreement before touring a home, and the statement that compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable, National Association of REALTORS® settlement FAQs. Further reading: Michigan’s agency disclosure statute, MCL 339.2517, the state licensing page for Michigan real estate brokers and salespersons, and the CFPB’s guidance on protecting yourself in a home purchase.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, financial, or tax advice. Real estate agency law, consent requirements, disclosure forms and licensing rules change and vary by state; confirm current requirements with the real estate licensing authority in your state, confirm agency, contract and disclosure obligations with a Michigan real estate attorney, and confirm loan terms with your loan officer. Align Lending is an independent Michigan mortgage broker, NMLS #2041154, and is not a real estate brokerage or a law firm.

Sources

Every outside source this guide links to, in the order it appears. How we choose and check sources

“The Impact of Dual Agency”ideas.repec.org
“Is Dual Agency in Real Estate Transactions a Cause for Concern?”ideas.repec.org
New York Department of State, DOS-1736-fdos.ny.gov
Maryland Real Estate Commission, Consent for Dual Agencylabor.md.gov
Pennsylvania Consumer Noticepa.gov
Ohio model Consumer Guide to Agency Relationshipsdam.assets.ohio.gov
Code of Virginia section 54.1-2139law.lis.virginia.gov
Hawaii Administrative Rules section 16-99-3.1, via Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institutelaw.cornell.edu
“Competition in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry”U.S. Department of Justice
Justice Department’s announcement of the reportU.S. Department of Justice
National Association of REALTORS® settlement FAQsNational Association of Realtors
MCL 339.2512(1)(a)Michigan Legislature
Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs real estate pageState of Michigan
MCL 339.2517(3)Michigan Legislature
MCL 339.2512d(1)Michigan Legislature
MCL 565.952Michigan Legislature
MCL 565.954Michigan Legislature
Fla. Stat. 475.278(1)(a) and (1)(b)leg.state.fl.us
TRELA 1101.561(b)trec.texas.gov
W.S. 33-28-302(o) and 33-28-302(k)wyoleg.gov
CFPB’s guidance on protecting yourself in a home purchaseConsumer Financial Protection Bureau