Law of Agency - RPS

Real Estate License Course Details

Description

Our daily lives can involve a variety of agency relationships. When you ask your physician to communicate information to the pharmacy to fill a prescription, you are authorizing the physician to act as an agent of sorts to fulfill a specific task for you. If you hire a professional real estate person to market your home, or find you a new home, or find you a new office space, or you retain an auto broker to locate a replacement car or truck, or contract with an art dealer to find works by a specific artist, or employ a private detective to track down a long-lost relative, or you deliver some inherited furniture to an antique dealer for sale on consignment at a specific minimum price, you are participating in an agency relationship. All of these examples involve a contract, either verbal or written. It is that contract that creates the agency relationship.

No matter the rules, statutes or practices that may become involved, at its core, an agency relationship is a contract between two parties:

the person that is delegating authority (the Principal) and
the person that is being given the authority (the Agent).

The more substantial the proposed relationship and/or contemplated transactions become, the more complex the principal–agent relationship and the rules surrounding it can become. New laws, court cases, experiences in day-to-day business and new ways of doing business can complicate and add new layers of responsibilities and duties to the relationship. Nevertheless, at the core, an agency relationship is still that contract between the Principal and the Agent.

The purpose of this course is to better acquaint the leaner with the various types of agency relationships that can exist, and to build an understanding of the scope and the limits of agency in general and of the rules as they relate to the practice of the real estate profession.

This course contains numerous opportunities for interaction. You will be expected to complete each exercise, quiz, reading assignment, and exam in this course.

Topics Covered

This course includes the following topics:

  • Lesson 1: Agency Concepts
  • Lesson 2: Basic Agency Relationship, Disclosure and Duties to the Client
  • Lesson 3: Duties and Disclosures to Third Parties
  • Lesson 4: Seller Agency
  • Lesson 5: Buyer Agency
  • Lesson 6: Representing More than One Party in a Transaction: Intermediary Brokerage
  • Lesson 7: Creation and Termination of Agency
  • Lesson 8: Clarifying Agency Relationships
  • Lesson 9: Employment Issues
  • Lesson 10: Agency, Ethics, and the Law
  • Lesson 11: Deceptive Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act
  • Lesson 12: Implementation and Presentation

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

  • Enumerate basic agency relationships, including disclosure and duties to clients;
  • Identify the relevant section of the Texas property code as it relates to an agent's duties and disclosures to third parties;
  • Describe the concept of seller agency and the benefits of such a relationship;
  • Enumerate the details of buyer agency, how it is created and the benefits of such an arrangement;
  • Comprehend the intricacies of representing more than one party in a transaction (including what is known as intermediary brokerage);
  • Describe how agency is created and terminated;
  • Navigate disclosure policies and navigate a company's policies in this area;
  • Discover various employment law issues involving agency, including independent contract agreements and employment issues with brokers, principals and personal assistants and agents;
  • Explain the interaction among agency, ethics, law and morals, including codes of ethics, minimum ethical standards and the rules of TREC and TRELA
  • Recognize the various aspects of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act as they impact the purchase and sale of real property;
  • Discover some practical aspects of agency, including working with sellers and buyers;
  • Relate a practical guide to everyday practice; and
  • Comprehend risk management issues as well as other considerations that impact a daily practice.



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