Multiple Offers in BC: Realtor Disclosure Rules for Competing Offers

You find a home you want and learn other buyers are interested too. You may wonder whether the seller's realtor can tell you how many offers exist, what they say, or what price you need to beat. If you are the seller, you may wonder what your realtor can pass on and what must stay private.

This article explains the realtor duties that apply in a competitive situation in British Columbia. It focuses on confidentiality, honesty, conflicts and the disclosures that must be made, and notes where the answer depends on your documents and is worth confirming with a lawyer.

This article covers the law of British Columbia.

The starting point: client or unrepresented party

The rules distinguish a client, who is the principal who engaged the licensee, from an unrepresented party, who is a party to a trade and not a client of a licensee for that trade. Before providing trading services, a licensee must disclose whether or not they will represent the party as a client. Everything else about what a realtor can tell you starts from that answer.

Confidentiality and what gets passed on

A licensee owes a client duties that include keeping client information confidential, acting in the client's best interests, and communicating all offers in a timely, objective and unbiased manner. For a seller, this means every competing offer should reach you. For a buyer, it means your realtor should not share your confidential information, such as how high you are willing to go, without your instructions.

Whether and how much a seller's realtor may reveal to a buyer about other offers depends on the seller's instructions and the circumstances. Do not assume a casual comment such as "there are three offers" is accurate or complete. Ask for any such statement in writing.

Whatever is said, a licensee must act honestly and with reasonable care and skill toward everyone, including parties who are not clients. Deceptive dealing is within the definition of professional misconduct. A made-up competing offer used to push up a price would raise serious concerns, though whether a given statement crosses that line depends on the facts.

Remuneration disclosure when offers are presented

When presenting an offer to a seller, the licensee must disclose the seller's payments to the listing brokerage, payments to any cooperating brokerage, amounts retained and other licensee remuneration. A licensee must also promptly disclose to the client all remuneration paid or payable to the licensee's related brokerage, including its source and amount.

A licensee must not request or agree to remuneration based on the difference between the listed price and the actual sale price, and cannot keep remuneration calculated that way. This matters in a bidding situation, where the final price may exceed the listing price.

When one brokerage is on several sides

Competing offers sometimes come through the same brokerage. A brokerage must not engage in dual agency. Designating one or more agents does not by itself constitute dual agency unless the designated licensee represents both parties as clients. Under designated agency, the other licensees at the brokerage owe no usual client duties to that client, but the brokerage must still supervise and treat clients even-handedly.

Where a licensee would otherwise act for conflicting clients in one trade, they must either provide trading services to none of them or represent only one, and may represent only one if all the clients give written agreement. Two buyers competing for the same home through the same licensee is the kind of situation this addresses. A remote-location exception to the dual agency ban requires disclosure and written agreement with each party.

What to do next

• Confirm in writing whether your realtor represents you as a client.
• Ask your realtor to explain in writing any conflict or connection with other parties, which must be disclosed in writing.
• Sellers: ask for all offers to be presented to you, along with the remuneration disclosures.
• Buyers: set your own limit and conditions before the deadline, and do not rely on verbal comments about other offers.
• Check how your deposit will be held. A deposit for a trade is held by the brokerage as stakeholder unless the parties agree otherwise in writing or regulated circumstances apply.
• If you believe a licensee acted dishonestly, you may make a written complaint with particulars to the superintendent.

Frequently asked questions