In dual agency, the Agent represents two principals in the same transaction. Dual agency requires equal loyalty to two separate principals at the same time, which in impossible. As a result, the Dual Agency Disclosure Form informs both parties to the transaction that the Licensee is acting as a FACILITATOR NOT AS A LEGAL AGENT.
Disclosed dual agency Real Estate licensing laws permit dual agency only if the Renter and Landlord are informed and consent to the Licensee’s representation of both parties in the same transaction. Since there is no agency involved in a Disclosed Dual Agency arrangement, the Agent only acts as a Facilitator, the name of the arrangement should be Dual Facilitator, not Dual Agency. The disclosure alerts the principals that they will have to assume greater responsibility for protecting their interests than they would if each had an independent Agent looking out for their individual interests. The form informs both parties that the Agent is acting as a facilitator and cannot negotiate for either party nor act as a true Agent for either party.
In the case of a Leasing Agent working in a building leasing office, that Leasing Agent or Agents have been designated by the Sponsoring Broker as Designated Agents for the Landlord. The Leasing Agent, by law, has to give the potential renter a “No Agency” disclosure form and review it with the potential renter, informing the renter that the Leasing Agent is an Agent of the Landlord. The Leasing Agent and potential renter sign the form, and both get a copy
Where a Leasing Agent operates out of a Sponsoring Broker office and has been designated as a Landlord Agent by the Sponsoring Broker, the Leasing Agent should make clear to the potential renter that he or she is representing the Landlord in the transaction. A Sponsoring Broker may, by the Property Management Agreement with the Property Owner, or by an internal office policy, designate a Leasing Agent to represent the Landlord. The Leasing Agent would then provide the renter with the “No Agency” form which both the Leasing Agent and Renter would sign. The Leasing Agent representing the Landlord would then arrange with the Sponsoring Broker to have another Agent designated to handle the Renter.
Designated agency is a process that avoids dual agency that may occur during and in-house transaction in which two different Agents are involved. Under designated agency, the Sponsoring Broker designates one Agent to represent the Landlord and one Agent to represent the Renter. Designated agency is legal in Illinois.
