Florida Senate - 2025 SB 1770 By Senator Collins 14-01198-25 20251770__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to duties of a real estate licensee; 3 amending s. 475.278, F.S.; revising the duties of real 4 estate licensees when providing certain forms of 5 representation to buyers, sellers, or both; defining 6 the term limited confidentiality; revising the 7 contents of certain disclosures; providing an 8 effective date. 9 10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11 12 Section 1.Subsection (2) and paragraphs (a) and (c) of 13 subsection (3) of section 475.278, Florida Statutes, are amended 14 to read: 15 475.278Authorized brokerage relationships; presumption of 16 transaction brokerage; required disclosures. 17 (2)TRANSACTION BROKER RELATIONSHIP.A transaction broker 18 provides a limited form of representation to a buyer, a seller, 19 or both in a real estate transaction but does not represent 20 either in a fiduciary capacity or as a single agent. The duties 21 of the real estate licensee in this limited form of 22 representation include all of the following: 23 (a)Dealing honestly and fairly.; 24 (b)Accounting for all funds.; 25 (c)Using skill, care, and diligence in the transaction.; 26 (d)Disclosing all known facts that materially affect the 27 value of residential real property and are not readily 28 observable to the buyer.; 29 (e)Presenting all offers and counteroffers in a timely 30 manner, unless a party has previously directed the licensee 31 otherwise in writing.; 32 (f)Sharing information on the property and responding to 33 inquiries from any licensees representing prospective buyers. 34 (g)At the sellers or lessors direction, making the 35 property available for showing to prospective buyers. 36 (h)Publicly advertising or marketing the listed property 37 in or on a publicly accessible publication, platform, or website 38 within 1 calendar day after the start date of a written listing 39 agreement, unless the seller opts out of such advertising or 40 marketing. A seller may opt out of public advertising or 41 marketing if he or she signs a disclosure and opt-out form 42 adopted by the commission which includes, but is not limited to: 43 1.Expressly requesting in writing that the sellers agent 44 withhold the listed property from all public marketing or 45 advertising and outlining the specific reasons for the request 46 in writing; and 47 2.Acknowledging that: 48 a.Real estate licensees representing prospective buyers 49 may not be aware the sellers property is available for sale or 50 lease; 51 b.The sellers property will not be displayed on Internet 52 platforms or websites that are used by the general public to 53 search for property listings; 54 c.Real estate licensees and prospective buyers may not be 55 aware of the terms and conditions under which the seller is 56 offering the property for sale; and 57 d.The reduction in exposure of the listed property may 58 reduce the number of offers to purchase or lease the listed 59 property and negatively impact the sellers ability to sell the 60 listed property at terms favorable to the seller. 61 (i)Maintaining limited confidentiality, unless waived in 62 writing by a party. As used in this paragraph, the term limited 63 confidentiality means the licensee cannot disclose any of the 64 following: 65 1.That the seller is willing to accept a price lower than 66 the listed amount. 67 2.That the buyer is willing to pay more than the submitted 68 offer. 69 3.The motivation of any party for buying or selling the 70 property. 71 4.That a seller or buyer is open to financing terms other 72 than those stated. 73 5.Any other information a party has requested to remain 74 confidential. 75 (j)(g)Any additional duties that are mutually agreed to 76 with a party. 77 (3)SINGLE AGENT RELATIONSHIP. 78 (a)Single agent; duties.The duties of a real estate 79 licensee owed to a buyer or seller who engages the real estate 80 licensee as a single agent include the following: 81 1.Dealing honestly and fairly; 82 2.Loyalty; 83 3.Confidentiality; 84 4.Obedience; 85 5.Full disclosure; 86 6.Accounting for all funds; 87 7.Skill, care, and diligence in the transaction; 88 8.Presenting all offers and counteroffers in a timely 89 manner, unless a party has previously directed the licensee 90 otherwise in writing; and 91 9.Sharing information on the property and responding to 92 inquiries from any licensees representing prospective buyers; 93 10.At the sellers or lessors direction, making the 94 property available for showing to prospective buyers; 95 11.Within 1 calendar day after the beginning date of the 96 term of any written listing agreements authorizing the licensee 97 to sell the clients property, publicly advertising or marketing 98 the listed property for sale in or on a publication, platform, 99 or website that is broadly accessible to the general public. A 100 seller may opt out of public advertising if he or she signs a 101 disclosure and opt-out form adopted by the commission which 102 includes, but is not limited to: 103 a.Expressly requesting in writing that the sellers agent 104 withhold the listed property from all public marketing or 105 advertising and outlining the specific reasons for the request 106 in writing; and 107 b.Acknowledging that: 108 (I)Real estate licensees representing prospective buyers 109 may not be aware the sellers property is available for sale; 110 (II)The sellers property will not be displayed on 111 Internet platforms or websites that are used by the general 112 public to search for property listings; 113 (III)Real estate licensees and prospective buyers may not 114 be aware of the terms and conditions under which the seller is 115 offering the property for sale; and 116 (IV)The reduction in exposure of the listed property may 117 reduce the number of offers to purchase the listed property and 118 negatively impact the sellers ability to sell the listed 119 property at terms favorable to the seller; and 120 12.Disclosing all known facts that materially affect the 121 value of residential real property and are not readily 122 observable. 123 (c)Contents of disclosure. 124 1.Single agent duties disclosure.The notice required 125 under subparagraph (b)1. must include the following information 126 in the following form: 127 128 SINGLE AGENT NOTICE 129 130 FLORIDA LAW REQUIRES THAT REAL ESTATE LICENSEES OPERATING AS 131 SINGLE AGENTS DISCLOSE TO BUYERS AND SELLERS THEIR DUTIES. 132 133 As a single agent, ...(insert name of Real Estate Entity 134 and its Associates)... owe to you the following duties: 135 1.Dealing honestly and fairly; 136 2.Loyalty; 137 3.Confidentiality; 138 4.Obedience; 139 5.Full disclosure; 140 6.Accounting for all funds; 141 7.Skill, care, and diligence in the transaction; 142 8.Presenting all offers and counteroffers in a timely 143 manner, unless a party has previously directed the licensee 144 otherwise in writing; and 145 9.Acting in good faith to publicly advertise the listing 146 to prospective buyers on a platform or website accessible to the 147 public and licensees representing prospective buyers or tenants; 148 10.Sharing information on a listed property with all 149 licensees representing prospective buyers or tenants and making 150 the property available for showing to such buyers or tenants; 151 and 152 11.Disclosing all known facts that materially affect the 153 value of residential real property and are not readily 154 observable. 155 156 ............Date ........................Signature 157 2.Transition disclosure.To gain the principals written 158 consent to a change in relationship, a licensee must use the 159 following disclosure: 160 161 CONSENT TO TRANSITION TO 162 TRANSACTION BROKER 163 164 FLORIDA LAW ALLOWS REAL ESTATE LICENSEES WHO REPRESENT A BUYER 165 OR SELLER AS A SINGLE AGENT TO CHANGE FROM A SINGLE AGENT 166 RELATIONSHIP TO A TRANSACTION BROKERAGE RELATIONSHIP IN ORDER 167 FOR THE LICENSEE TO ASSIST BOTH PARTIES IN A REAL ESTATE 168 TRANSACTION BY PROVIDING A LIMITED FORM OF REPRESENTATION TO 169 BOTH THE BUYER AND THE SELLER. THIS CHANGE IN RELATIONSHIP 170 CANNOT OCCUR WITHOUT YOUR PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT. 171 172 As a transaction broker, ...(insert name of Real Estate Firm and 173 its Associates)..., provides to you a limited form of 174 representation that includes the following duties: 175 1.Dealing honestly and fairly; 176 2.Accounting for all funds; 177 3.Using skill, care, and diligence in the transaction; 178 4.Disclosing all known facts that materially affect the 179 value of residential real property and are not readily 180 observable to the buyer; 181 5.Presenting all offers and counteroffers in a timely 182 manner, unless a party has previously directed the licensee 183 otherwise in writing; 184 6.Acting in good faith to publicly advertise a sellers 185 listing to prospective buyers on a platform or website 186 accessible to the public and licensees representing prospective 187 buyers or tenants; 188 7.Sharing information on a listed property with all 189 licensees representing prospective buyers or tenants and making 190 the property available for showing to such buyers or tenants; 191 8.Limited confidentiality, unless waived in writing by a 192 party. This limited confidentiality will prevent disclosure that 193 the seller will accept a price less than the asking or listed 194 price, that the buyer will pay a price greater than the price 195 submitted in a written offer, of the motivation of any party for 196 selling or buying property, that a seller or buyer will agree to 197 financing terms other than those offered, or of any other 198 information requested by a party to remain confidential; and 199 9.7.Any additional duties that are entered into by this or 200 by separate written agreement. 201 202 Limited representation means that a buyer or seller is not 203 responsible for the acts of the licensee. Additionally, parties 204 are giving up their rights to the undivided loyalty of the 205 licensee. This aspect of limited representation allows a 206 licensee to facilitate a real estate transaction by assisting 207 both the buyer and the seller, but a licensee will not work to 208 represent one party to the detriment of the other party when 209 acting as a transaction broker to both parties. 210 211 ................I agree that my agent may assume the role and 212 duties of a transaction broker. [must be initialed or signed] 213 Section 2.This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.