A seller's agent represents a co-op owner in New York. During negotiations, the buyer requests information about the building's financial statements and board approval process. The seller instructs the agent not to communicate any information about the co-op board to the buyer. What is the agent's most appropriate course of action?
Correct Answer
B) Advise the seller that withholding standard co-op transaction information could jeopardize the sale and potentially expose both parties to legal risk, and counsel the seller toward a compliant approach
Under New York agency law and DOS regulations, a seller's agent owes fiduciary duties to the seller but cannot follow instructions that cross into fraudulent concealment of material information. Co-op board approval and building financials are material facts in a co-op transaction. The agent's proper role is to counsel the seller about the legal and practical risks of the instruction — including potential deal failure or fraud liability — and guide the seller toward a lawful approach. This reflects the agent's duty of counsel and good faith under NY Real Property Law §443.
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Related Topics & Key Terms
Key Terms:
Related Concepts
The legal ending of an agency relationship, which can occur through completion, expiration, mutual agreement, breach, death, incapacity, or bankruptcy of either party.
The fiduciary obligation to protect a client's private information and not disclose it to third parties without permission, surviving even after the agency relationship ends.
In real estate, a client is someone to whom the agent owes fiduciary duties through an agency relationship, while a customer is a third party to whom the agent owes only honesty and fair dealing.
More Agency Relationships Disclosures Questions
What is the primary risk that New York dual agency disclosure is designed to address?
Under New York law, what is dual agency?
What document must be provided to both parties before a New York broker can act as a dual agent?
Agent Michelle meets first-time homebuyer Tony at her brokerage's office in Albany. Tony asks about the difference between condos and co-ops in the area. What must Michelle do before explaining these property types?
Which of the following most accurately describes the content required in the agency disclosure form under NY Real Property Law §443?
- → Under New York's agency disclosure law, which of the following constitutes 'first substantive contact' that would trigger the disclosure requirement?
- → Under NY Real Property Law §443, at what point must a real estate agent provide the agency disclosure form to a prospective buyer during an initial property visit?
- → A seller's agent learns that a comparable property nearby recently sold for significantly below the seller client's asking price after a deal collapsed. The seller has not yet asked about recent comparable sales. What is the agent's obligation regarding this information?
- → Under New York's Property Condition Disclosure Act, a seller who chooses not to complete and deliver a Property Condition Disclosure Statement to the buyer must do which of the following?
- → A New York licensee is acting as a dual agent and receives simultaneous offers on the listed property from two different buyers, both of whom the agent also represents. Which obligation is most specifically implicated by the dual agency relationship in this situation?
- → A seller in Utica is selling residential real property to a buyer. The seller does not wish to complete the New York Property Condition Disclosure Statement (PCDS) and asks the listing agent how the seller's obligations changed after the March 20, 2024 amendments to NY Real Property Law §§ 462 and 465. Which of the following best describes current New York law?
- → In a New York disclosed dual agency transaction, the seller asks the dual agent: 'What is the lowest price I should accept for this property?' How must the dual agent respond?
- → In New York, what happens if a broker acts as a dual agent without obtaining proper written consent from both parties?
- → In New York real estate law, what is dual agency?
- → In New York, what form of consent is required for dual agency?
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