Did the buyer's designated agent breach a BRRETA duty?
- ANo, because the firm's knowledge is shared by everyone in it anyway
- BNo, because the conversation stayed inside the brokerage
- COnly if the buyer had asked in writing for the budget to stay private
- DYes, because a designated agent may not disclose the client's confidential information
Pick an answer before you read on.
Answer: D
Yes, because a designated agent may not disclose the client's confidential information. Under 10-6A-13, a designated agent may not disclose a client's confidential information to anyone except the broker, unless BRRETA allows or requires it. For this purpose confidential information is information the client has not consented to disclosing that could harm the client's negotiating position. A buyer's ceiling is the clearest example there is. The statute also says knowledge is not imputed across the firm.
Why each choice is right or wrong
A. No, because the firm's knowledge is shared by everyone in it anyway
Section 10-6A-13 does not impute one designated agent's knowledge to the other. That rule is no permission to pass information across the negotiating table.
B. No, because the conversation stayed inside the brokerage
The seller's designated agent represents a different client. Being in the same firm does not authorize sharing the buyer's protected budget with that agent.
C. Only if the buyer had asked in writing for the budget to stay private
The designated agency rule protects information the client has not consented to disclose that could harm their negotiating position. It does not require a written secrecy request.
D. Yes, because a designated agent may not disclose the client's confidential informationCorrect answer
The extra $15,000 would help the seller negotiate against the buyer. The buyer did not consent, and the recipient is the other side's agent rather than the supervising broker.
The trap
Designated agency does not pool the two agents' knowledge. Each has actual knowledge, not knowledge imputed from the other. Sharing the buyer's budget with the seller's agent defeats the confidentiality that keeps the roles separate.
The Rule
Sharing a firm does not mean sharing confidences.
What would change the answer
- If the buyer had said the budget could be shared, it would not be confidential information under § 10-6A-13, which covers only information the client has not consented to disclose.
- The designated agent may tell the broker. The broker then may not reveal it to the other side unless the law requires it.
Where the rule comes from
- O.C.G.A. § 10-6A-13, Designated agency, actual knowledge, and confidentiality. A broker may designate different affiliated licensees for different clients; a compliant designation does not make the broker, firm, or affiliated licensees dual agents, and the statute controls actual knowledge and confidentiality.
This is an original teaching question written from the statute. It is not a PSI exam item, and it is not copied or reconstructed from one. On the exam, BRRETA sits inside the Georgia agency and listing content. The BRRETA guide covers the client and customer table and the dual and designated agency rules in one place.