What must the listing agent do?
- AKeep it confidential, because the seller made an express request
- BDisclose it only if a buyer asks about the foundation
- CDisclose it only to buyers who have their own agent
- DTimely disclose it to buyers, because it is an actually known hidden physical defect
Pick an answer before you read on.
Answer: D
Timely disclose it to buyers, because it is an actually known hidden physical defect. A seller's broker must timely disclose to all parties it is working with any adverse material facts about the property's physical condition that it actually knows and that a reasonably diligent inspection would not reveal. The confidentiality duty in § 10-6A-5 yields where the law requires disclosure, and this disclosure is required. Section 10-6A-9 also makes the duty not to give false information prevail over confidentiality.
Why each choice is right or wrong
A. Keep it confidential, because the seller made an express request
An express secrecy request usually matters, but it cannot override a disclosure required by law. This hidden, known foundation defect falls within the disclosure duty.
B. Disclose it only if a buyer asks about the foundation
Section 10-6A-5 requires timely disclosure of covered facts. It does not make that duty depend on a buyer asking about the foundation.
C. Disclose it only to buyers who have their own agent
The duty applies to the parties with whom the broker is working. Whether a buyer has their own agent does not determine whether they receive this disclosure.
D. Timely disclose it to buyers, because it is an actually known hidden physical defectCorrect answer
The agent actually knows of an adverse physical condition that a reasonably diligent inspection would not reveal. The seller cannot make that required disclosure confidential.
The trap
The seller's express request does trigger confidentiality for most information. It cannot cover a hidden physical defect the statute orders the broker to disclose.
The Rule
A confidentiality request cannot hide a known physical defect that the law requires the broker to disclose.
What would change the answer
- If the crack were plainly visible in an unfinished basement, a reasonably diligent inspection would reveal it, and the broker's statutory disclosure duty would not apply. The broker still could not lie about it.
- BRRETA says the broker's disclosure rules do not reduce whatever duty the seller has under other law to disclose what the seller knows.
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-9, Duration of brokerage relationships. After an engagement ends, the broker still must account for money and property and keep confidential information confidential unless the client allows disclosure, the law requires it, or it becomes public from another source; the duty not to give customers false information prevails over 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.