Under RECA's rules, what is the difference between a 'client' and a 'customer' in an Alberta real estate transaction?
Correct Answer
A) A client is owed fiduciary duties through agency; a customer receives limited, non-fiduciary services
In Alberta, a client has entered into an agency relationship (written service agreement) with a brokerage and is owed fiduciary duties including loyalty, confidentiality, and full disclosure. A customer has not entered an agency relationship and receives only limited services and basic honesty and fairness.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
In Alberta, a client has entered into a written service agreement creating an agency relationship with the brokerage and is owed fiduciary duties including loyalty, confidentiality, full disclosure, and obedience. A customer has no agency relationship and receives only limited services with basic obligations of honesty and fairness — no fiduciary duties.
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Under the RECA Rules, a brokerage practising common law agency lists a seller's home, and one of its buyer clients wants to buy that home. How must the brokerage proceed?
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Under RESA, a managing broker becomes aware that a licensee in the brokerage has failed to disclose a conflict of interest in a transaction. What is the managing broker's obligation?