Agent Donna represents seller Frank in listing his home in Rock Hill. During a showing, buyer's agent Steve asks Donna whether Frank has received any other offers. Frank has received one offer but instructed Donna to keep it confidential. Under South Carolina agency law, Donna should:
Correct Answer
B) Decline to disclose the existence of the other offer, honoring Frank's confidential instruction
As Frank's seller's agent, Donna owes him the fiduciary duty of confidentiality and obedience to lawful instructions. Frank's instruction to keep the other offer confidential is a lawful instruction that Donna must follow. The existence of competing offers is not an 'adverse material fact about the property' that must be disclosed to all parties — it is strategic negotiating information belonging to the seller. Donna must decline to disclose it to Steve, honoring her client's instruction under S.C. Code Ann. § 40-57-350.
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Related Topics & Key Terms
Key Terms:
Related Concepts
The legal principle that holds a broker responsible for the actions of their agents and employees performed within the scope of the agency relationship.
An agency relationship created when a principal's actions or words lead a third party to reasonably believe that an agent has authority, and the principal fails to correct this belief.
An agency relationship created when a principal approves or accepts an agent's previously unauthorized actions, effectively granting authority after the fact.
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