A buyer's agent learns that a competing offer on the same property comes from a client of a colleague at the same brokerage. The two agents represent different buyers. What ethical obligation applies to the buyer's agent?
Correct Answer
A) Keep each buyer's offer terms confidential from the other buyer
Each buyer's offer terms are that client's confidential information, and Code of Ethics s. 12 bars disclosing them to a third party without the client's written consent; under designated representation, O. Reg. 567/05 ss. 22.0.4 and 22.0.5 also bar sharing them with other salespersons at the brokerage. If the brokerage itself represents both buyers in the trade, s. 22 adds disclosure to each buyer and each buyer's written consent. That disclosure goes to the brokerage's own clients, not to the seller.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
This answer is correct because each buyer's offer terms belong to that buyer as confidential information. Code of Ethics s. 12 prohibits disclosing them to anyone, including the competing buyer, without that client's written consent, and O. Reg. 567/05 ss. 22.0.4 and 22.0.5 require designated representatives to keep a client's information from colleagues at the same brokerage. Keeping the offers apart lets each salesperson promote and protect their own client's best interests, as Code s. 8 requires.
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