Which duty does this transaction broker owe?
- ATo negotiate the best possible price for the buyer
- BTo keep each party's negotiating position confidential as a client
- CTo promote the seller's interests over the buyer's
- DTo timely present all offers and account for all money and property received
Pick an answer before you read on.
Answer: D
To timely present all offers and account for all money and property received. A transaction broker has no client relationship with any party and performs only ministerial acts. Section 10-6A-14 still requires timely offer presentation and accounting for money and property. It also requires disclosure of actually known adverse physical facts that a reasonably diligent property inspection would not reveal, and specified adverse physical conditions within one mile that neither neighborhood inspection nor reasonably available government records would reveal. The broker may not knowingly give false information.
Why each choice is right or wrong
A. To negotiate the best possible price for the buyer
Negotiating the buyer's best price means advocating for the buyer. This transaction broker represents neither party and performs only ministerial acts.
B. To keep each party's negotiating position confidential as a client
Neither party is a client of this broker. Do not import a client confidentiality duty into the transaction broker definition.
C. To promote the seller's interests over the buyer's
Promoting the seller's interests is a seller's broker duty. The facts expressly say this broker represents neither side.
D. To timely present all offers and account for all money and property receivedCorrect answer
No representation does not mean no duties. Section 10-6A-14 requires timely offer presentation and accounting, along with specified disclosures and truthful information.
The trap
No client does not mean no duties. Neither "no duties" nor "honesty only" accounts for the transaction broker's presentation, accounting, and disclosure duties.
The Rule
A transaction broker advocates for no one, but still presents offers, accounts for money, and discloses specified defects.
What would change the answer
- If either party signs a brokerage engagement with the broker, the broker stops being a transaction broker for that party and owes the full duties for that client's role.
- A transaction broker is not liable for passing on false information it did not know was false, if it disclosed the source.
Where the rule comes from
- 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.
- O.C.G.A. § 10-6A-3, BRRETA definitions. Defines client, customer, brokerage engagement and ministerial acts. A customer is someone the broker is not representing in an agency capacity but may perform ministerial acts for.
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.