What is the problem with the statement?
- ANothing, because the buyer is a customer and the remark is just friendly
- BIt creates a valid buyer brokerage engagement on the spot
- CIt gives the buyer false information about whose interests the agent represents
- DIt is a problem only if the agent puts it in writing
Pick an answer before you read on.
Answer: C
It gives the buyer false information about whose interests the agent represents. The agent represents the seller and must promote the seller's interests. A seller's broker may help a buyer with ministerial acts, and must not knowingly give a buyer false information. Telling the buyer their interests are being looked after misstates the relationship, and the buyer may rely on it.
Why each choice is right or wrong
A. Nothing, because the buyer is a customer and the remark is just friendly
Customer status does not excuse a knowingly false description of representation. Here the agent intends to serve only the seller.
B. It creates a valid buyer brokerage engagement on the spot
A spoken reassurance is not the written brokerage engagement BRRETA requires. It can mislead the buyer without creating representation.
C. It gives the buyer false information about whose interests the agent representsCorrect answer
The agent's promise conflicts with the actual relationship and intention. The agent should explain that they represent the seller and describe the help they can give a customer.
D. It is a problem only if the agent puts it in writing
The prohibition on knowingly giving false information is not limited to written statements. Saying it aloud can still mislead the buyer.
The trap
A spoken promise cannot create a client relationship, because Georgia requires a written engagement. That is exactly why the promise is misleading rather than binding.
The Rule
Helping a customer is not representing them, and an agent may not blur the two.
What would change the answer
- If the agent says, "I represent the seller, but I can help you with the paperwork," the statement is accurate. Acting as a scribe on preprinted forms is a ministerial act a seller's broker may perform for a buyer.
- If the buyer wants representation, they can sign a buyer engagement with another firm, or with this firm through designated agency or written-consent dual agency.
Where the rule comes from
- O.C.G.A. § 10-6A-5, Duties and responsibilities of broker engaged by seller. A seller's broker must perform the engagement, promote the seller's interests (including timely presenting all offers to and from the seller even when the property is under contract, though it need not seek more offers then unless the engagement says so), exercise reasonable skill and care, obey the law, keep requested confidences, and disclose to all parties actually known adverse material facts about the property's physical condition and conditions within one mile that a diligent inspection would not reveal.
- O.C.G.A. § 10-6A-14, Ministerial acts and transaction brokers. A transaction broker may perform ministerial acts without a client relationship and must timely account for money and property, disclose specified actually known adverse material facts, and avoid knowingly giving false information.
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.