Let’s Talk Buyer Broker Agreements
(EBBA Webinar Question and Answer session) July 29, 2024
With Juana Watkins
TRT:  54 min 16 sec
Video Transcription

Juana Watkins directly addresses camera:  So you may have noticed that during the webinar, we have had members of the Florida Realtors® hotline answering your questions for you. And I'd also like to thank you all for submitting so many wonderful questions in advance of the webinar. These questions are very helpful and allowing us to develop products, services, and tools that you need in order to help you pivot and transition into this post NAR settlement world.

So I'm going to take a little time today and personalize this settlement for Florida. As I mentioned, you know, this settlement is designed to address all of the state's, all of the local associations, all of the multiple listing services. So it gives us guidance. But now we have to take that, and we have to apply it to our state laws and our business practices.

And that is the difficulty that many of you have faced. So I hope to spend a little time today trying to ease some of that, pain for so many of you. But if there are questions that we still don't answer, as Margy mentioned earlier, I sure hope you will give us a call on the hotline and help us to, best help you.

So let's break some of this down. Bear with me while I grab my eyes. Here. So let's talk a little bit about the policy changes that NAR has given us in advance of August 17th. I touched on them a little bit just a moment ago, but I want to remind you of those as we talk about the questions that we've received.

What MLS policies have changed? well, there are a number of specific MLS policies that, we have received from NAR. Specifically, they have eliminated and prohibited any requirement for offers of compensation. We know that they have, required that the MLS, eliminate all broker compensation fields, right, so that the MLS can no longer, encourage or facilitate those offers. So the fields themselves will go away.

And here's a big one. And this is one we hear from you all frequently under the what if category. We get a lot of hypotheticals about possible alternatives for this system that used to exist. And I encourage that kind of ingenuity and creativity, but only to a point, because as you're thinking about how to craft new policies, I need to remember this language.

That new policy prohibits the use of MLS data and data feeds to directly or indirectly, directly or indirectly establish or maintain a platform of offers of compensation from multiple broker to other buyer representatives. So when you come up with these questions, Juana, can I use this as an alternative to providing MLS offers of comp? You gotta remember that the settlement prohibits the use of any MLS data or feeds in order to directly or indirectly kind of create a workaround, right?

That's not what we're doing here. We're not creating workarounds. If it is a, a, option that would allow multiple brokers to provide offers of comp to other buyer representatives, it cannot use the MLS data or data feeds in order to accomplish that. All right. So those are the prohibitions. Now, we talked about the two elements. Eliminate the offer compensation.

Require the written by a broker agreement. Let's talk a little bit about the written buyer broker agreements. So I mentioned this I'm going to I'm going to cover it again. So it's fresh in our mind as you know in terms of how we cover these questions. What must be included in these written agreements? The specific and conspicuous disclosure of the amount or rate of compensation, okay, or how that amount will be determined.

We know that. The amount of compensation in a manner that is objectively ascertainable and not open ended, objectively ascertainable. That's really just kind of fancy for is it clear? Right. Can I, as a layperson, not experienced with the business, as a non-lawyer non-realtor®, can a consumer read it and know how the compensation is derived? That's what they mean by objectively ascertainable.

You don't have any subjective knowledge of the industry. You are objectively able to understand what the compensation is. A term that prohibits the participant from receiving compensation for brokerage services from any source that exceeds the amount or rate agreed upon in the agreement with the buyer. And finally, a conspicuous statement that the broker fees and commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable.

So keep that in mind as we now get into the questions. So what forms are required, Juana, give me forms. Give me scripts. That's what I hear a lot. Give me forms. Give me scripts. Well, forms are a little bit easier, but even there it's a bit tricky, right? Because we're trying to take forms and apply them in this new post settlement world to all of our various different business models.

And contrary to popular belief, or what people would like to say about this industry, we do have so many diverse and wonderful business models. So we have been developing these forms, keeping that in mind. And so forms we have created or amended forms for the post settlement world. As we work with buyers. Today, we focused a lot on the exclusive buyer broker agreement.

I'm going to touch on two others because I want you to know that those are options. The showing agreement is also an option available to you. It has been an option. The showing agreement has been in Form Simplicity's library for a very long time. But we also have the new pre property pre touring agreement. Right. And this is a continuum.

These forms over here you have the exclusive buyer broker agreement which is the one we talked about today. On this end of the spectrum you have the property pre touring agreement in the middle here you have the showing agreement. I kind of equate them to dating. I'm not sure you know if that's like legally the most sound analogy.

But I like a good analogy. Over here you got the pre touring agreement form. We're just kind of going out for coffee right. We want to work with each other. We want to see each other. But I'm not sure about this dating thing with you customer because I don't really know you that well. But I'm going to I'm going to give you what is legally required under the settlement in order to tour properties with you.

So we're kind of going out for coffee on our date. In the middle here we have the showing agreement. This is some casual dating, and we're dating each other, but it's not completely exclusive. It's exclusive as to the properties specified on our contract, only right by zip code, by listed properties, whatever the case may be. But we just kind of casually dating each other, but only as relates to these properties, Over here,

the exclusive buyer broker agreement. We are married. We have committed to work with each other for a period of time. Until you find that property that you are interested in, it doesn't matter how you find it, who finds it for you? You have committed to me as the person who you are going to work with. So that is kind of the continuum of forms that Florida Realtors® has made available to you.

Now, a lot of folks say Juana, which forms do I have to use? Or as brokers. It's one of the things I want to talk to you about today. It is completely up to you which forms you want to use in your office. Some of you said thanks, but no thanks. I've developed a form specifically for my business model.

I applaud that. You know, one of the things about this is, you know, it's not always one size fits all. Some of you have come up with really specific tailored forms for your business model, and that's fine. But I happen to think that our Form Simplicity library is pretty doggone good. And so these are the forms we make available for you.

Now the, the property pre touring agreement checks the boxes of the settlement. But it does not get into some of the kind of contractual legalese that you see in our forms. So you know some folks say, well I like that form Juana, because buyers are not going to be put out by it. They're more inclined to sign it, but it doesn't seem like it, like, I don't know, kind of tells me what happens if they try to go around me and go to the listing broker and see the property and write the offer without me? Well, there's some truth to that. And it really is a very basic form. So I don't get into all the default sections and, and how we resolve our dispute.

So you'll see that it doesn't cover a lot of that. So that form, you say what forms do I require. Well if you go that route, one of the things we put in that pre touring form is if you wish to work with the broker to purchase a property, broker may ask you to sign a separate agreement detailing the parties responsibilities during the sale.

So the property pre touring form may be the initial form for your office, for your, agents. But as a broker you have another option. You may say I'm not going to bother with the property pre touring agreement and then try to get them to sign something different. As a broker, I want to go full on. We are married. We're not going to chase you down and get you to amend form generally that we're going to go full on exclusive relationship from the very beginning. So when you ask us what forms are required, I have to tell you, here are the available forms, which form you want to use in your office is going to be up to you, but those are the options that are available.

All three are designed to check the boxes for what is required per the terms of the settlement. Okay, so it's up to you as a broker. Now another question I get all the time is Juana, is anybody really going to know if I don't sign this agreement with the buyer prior to touring property? Well, yeah. So right now the multiple listing services are developing not just the rules and removing, the fields for cooperating compensation, but they're also developing compliance and enforcement, provisions to address what happens when brokers don't follow the requirements of the settlement because they have been tasked multiple listing services have been tasked with enforcement responsibility for the written buyer broker agreement. So I would say to you, as brokers, you should be thinking of how it is you would like to establish compliance or risk management procedures within your office to ensure not just that a written agreement is provided, but that a written agreement is timely provided. That it is actually given and executed prior to the touring or showing of property, as is required by the settlement.

Now, if you don't, what could happen? Well, obviously I've mentioned you could face enforcement action from the Multiple Listing Service, but remember, failure to comply with the settlement could result in your exposure to further anti-trust litigation. So it is really important that your risk management practices include some version of compliance review for the timely execution of these buyer broker agreements.

Another question we get all the time is what is this “working with” Juana? What what is working with mean? All right. Because that's a trigger, right? I have to have to have a written agreement. If I'm working with the buyer prior to touring or showing the home. So these are not statutorily defined terms. Working with you're not going to find that term defined in chapter 475.

So the settlement does give us some idea, as do the FAQs that that the National Association of Realtors® has posted, they give us an idea of what working with means. And so they say that this working with is intended to distinguish a situation where a Realtor® is providing brokerage services to a buyer versus simply marketing their services or just talking to a buyer.

So if I'm working with a buyer, I'm actually providing brokerage services to that buyer. I'm not promoting myself to the buyer or trying to, sell my services to the buyer or just having casual conversation with the buyer. I am actually providing the broker services. That is what working with means. Providing brokerage services, they give us some examples.

It's they, they specify in their frequently asked question that working with tends to mean, things such as identifying potential properties, arranging for the buyer to tour a property, performing or facilitating negotiations on behalf of that buyer, or presenting offers to the buyer. Those are things that would be considered working with that buyer. On the other hand, you have, you know, kind of simply marketing your services or perhaps just talking with the buyer.

That’s stuff like at an open house, you are talking to a buyer who, who may be unrepresented, may have wandered to the open house, may be interested in the property, but you're simply having, casual conversation with that buyer or providing them access to the home without providing brokerage services with that buyer. So if you are simply providing that type of casual conversation, you are not required to give them a written buyer broker agreement.

So, so that's working with. But the other part of that is, you know, what does it mean to tour a property. Because tour is not a, term again, defined in Florida statutes. So what does tour mean? Well, touring kind of means showing it's what we think of as showing. And so it means that the buyer and the agent enter the home, enter the property for the purpose of seeing the property.

It could also, though, mean a situation where the agent, the, the sales associate, or somebody designated to do so by the broker, provides a live virtual tour to a buyer who is not physically present at the home. So that's a key part of the NAR Frequently Asked Question published on this issue. That's something you all ask us frequently, but what if they're not there?

What if it is a virtual tour, sight unseen type of transaction? If the buyer is not physically present, but the agent is there to provide a live virtual tour, then that is considered touring. Under the frequently asked questions of the National Association of Realtors®. And a home they define as a residential property consisting of not less than one nor more than four, residential dwelling units.

That's a common definition. So, not less than one or more than four residential dwelling units. Brings us to the next logical question. One we receive, we receive often, residential. Juana, so, does that mean that the settlement does not apply to commercial transactions? Well, that is true. The settlement contemplates residential sales. It does not speak to commercial transactions, nor does it speak to, rentals.

But I can tell you that you should check with your multiple listing service. And the reason I say that is because the multiple listing services are, you know, going to develop their own unique, specific rules. And some of them, as I am told, have decided that because they are implementing software and systems in place to remove offers of compensation system wide, they are also removing those offers of compensation as it relates to commercial transactions or rentals.

If they already had those property types in their multiple listing service. So while not required to do so for commercial and leasing, they may very well be removing those offers of comp for those types of properties. So you definitely want to check with your multiple listing service to see whether or not that will, impact commercial and leasing offers of compensation.

Now let's talk a little bit about open houses. I mentioned it earlier. We get a lot of questions about open houses. And what I found is that we really need to like, speak about it in very, you know, practical terms because, the settlement talks again in very broad terms about open houses, but let's talk about it in the most practical of ways as it relates to chapter 475, especially being a transaction broker state.

Yes, I said the word transaction broker. So most of you who are tired of listening just sit up, and turned in your seat a little bit, because you got excited that I said transaction broker. So yes, we're going to talk just a little bit about agency here. So the question I guess you want to what happens if an MLS participant host an open house or provides access to property on behalf of the seller only?

So I am the multiple, I'm the listing broker and I am going to to staff an open house for my seller. And in comes the unrepresented buyer. Will that buyer be required to enter into a written buyer representation agreement with me before they can tour the house during the open house? The answer to that question is no. They are not required upon entry to, to enter into a representation agreement with you simply to tour the property.

And I want to say that again, simply to tour the property. Remember that definition of working with right, providing broker services as opposed to simply having casual conversation. And this is important because for those of you who are struggling with agency law and transaction broker law in Florida, listen, the settlement is not designed to amend chapter 475 as it relates to agency responsibilities.

It is not, but it certainly does make what has historically been a little bit of a difficult area to grasp all the more challenging. So let me read to you. I really want to read to you a section of chapter 475. We always read the actual notices for transaction brokers, single agent and no representation. But in subsection five this is the applicability and the exclusion section of transaction brokers, single agent and no brokerage disclosure. Right. And here's what it says. The real this is subsection 5b2. The real estate licensee disclosure requirements of this section do not apply to a bona fide open house or model home showing that does not involve eliciting confidential information, the execution of a contractual offer or an agreement for representation or negotiating concern... negotiating price terms or conditions of a potential sale. Doesn't that sound a lot like the working with versus casual conversation language in the working with definition that we just talked about. So believe it or not, there is at least some synergy between the two when it comes to open houses. If you are a listing broker and you are working that open house providing services with your for your seller, you are working with your seller to promote the listing for an open house.

You do not have to ensure that a buyer who walks into the door has a buyer representation agreement with you in order to tour that property. Because there is no confidential information, there is, there's no price, terms negotiation being discussed. There is no there is only casual conversation. However, you have to use your judgment because if, however, you do start to enter into additional conversation with that buyer, if that buyer is unrepresented, you may then start to find yourself in a position where 475.278, the agency disclosure statute, starts to kick in and you may find yourself in need of complying with that statute and you may find yourself in need of compliance with this settlement. It is a factually specific determination. It always has been. This has not changed. The nature of your interaction with the buyer, the nature of your conversation with the buyer is going to determine when and if you have to give a buyer representation agreement to that buyer or an agency disclosure form, under Florida law. Clear as mud, I know. 

So, I'm going to move on from that. I am a listing agent. Do I have a buyer, do I? Oh, we've talked about that. It was. Do I have to have a buyer broker agreement with someone who enters the open house? No, you do not. You do not have to ask for proof. Let's go to. If you are a buyer's agent and you are going to take your buyer to an open house. So that's the it's reverse. Now, you're not the listing broker working with the seller. You are a buyer's agent working with the buyer. Is that a tour and is an agreement required? Yes. You are touring the pro... you are working with your buyer.

You are providing services for that buyer. So yes, prior to touring that property, you would need to have a written buyer representation agreement with that buyer. All right. Let's talk about actual compensation here. So first thing I say is all compensation is negotiable, not just the amount. All aspects of compensation, the term, how it's calculated, who pays it. All of it. When it's paid, everything is negotiable. Okay. That is what the settlement says. That is what we've always done in practice as an industry. Okay? So all of it is negotiable.

Juana, does the settlement mean that I now have to work for free? Absolutely not, absolutely not. No one is forcing you to work for free. Even if a property that the buyer likes is not offering compensation, there are ways to address that. Okay. But the settlement is not taking the position that you have to provide your services for free.

Whether you do or not is up to you. But that's not the premise or the idea behind this settlement. It's simply saying that you can't use the MLS to offer compensation. And so we have to now have discussions about something that was previously offered in the MLS offer of compensation field. This compensation can come from many sources.

It can come from the buyer. You can you can get that compensation from the seller. You can still get that compensation from the court, from the seller, from the listing broker. We call them the seller's broker, now. It can take the form of a percentage, a flat fee, a portion of the listing broker's fee. It can come as a part of the concession that the seller gives to the buyer.

But keep in mind, it can't be. If it's a concession, it can't be conditioned on that. But my point is, compensation is is negotiable. Just not not even just the amount, but all aspects of it. Negotiable. So this is something that I think we are going to have to address. You know, you say its negotiable, Juana, and, and, and I try to to give even the the property pre touring agreement to the buyer and the buyer won't sign it.

What am I going to do. Well my best advice to you is unfortunately you would have to not work with that buyer. and this is uncomfortable because we don't want to not give anyone the ability to, to, to, access the American dream. But if you work with the buyer without satisfying the requirements of the seller, you are going to expose your brokerage to liability under the settlement.

Now, this brings up some kind of rock and hard place issues, right? Because some people say, you know, part of the problem, with this settlement is I have concerns about fair housing. I have some concerns about the fact that we may be denying services to people who can't afford it, may that have a disparate impact on veterans or first time homebuyers and things like that?

Potentially. So. so I want you to be sensitive to those issues. As brokers, I want you to have discussions with your agents about how best to address that. Perhaps when the buyer says, I'm not going to sign that because I don't want, to pay you anything or I can't afford to pay you anything, that might be the type of situation that you need an escalation approach in your office to deal with, so that you can make sure there is documentation or witness as to why it is, perhaps someone is not being given those services. Make sure you have a policy in place to address that type of buyer refusal to sign. Okay, because I want you to start from a risk management perspective, thinking about insulating yourselves from any claims that you're refusing to provide housing services to anyone. Okay. Regardless, that's just something we are not accustomed to doing.

All right. But keep in mind that before you just simply say that I won't work with you, there are things that you can do, and we'll talk about those in this compensation section, such as negotiating with the listing broker or the seller regard... through the listing broker, regarding compensation and perhaps conditioning the offer on behalf of that buyer, on the payment of compensation. All right.

In this buyer broker agreement. I am a member of a team. I run a team, and I think I should put my team's name down as the brokerage or the broker, as opposed to my broker. I would say no. I would say that under all of the agreements that we publish, you want to make sure that you are filling in the information to identify the broker or brokerage properly.

And so you are going to name your brokerage here, not a team. Okay. compensation belongs to the broker under chapter 475. It is the brokerage’s compensation. And so this also raises an excellent point. It's not just the line at the top of the page is also the signature on our forms. This would be an excellent time brokers for you to revisit how you authorize agents to sign these agreements.

You want to respect the independent contractor relationship? Certainly. But you also want to make sure that you have clear clearly, identified who was allowed to sign on your behalf what the terms of the compensation will be so that the agents are clear on what it is they can agree to and what it is they cannot agree to on your behalf.

So make sure that you are clear on that with those within your office, and that you have a sound policy that you can communicate to your agents on on with respect to, being authorized to execute and to complete these, buyer representation agreement forms.

So moving on to the buyer broker agreement. Can the buyer and buyer's, broker agree to a range of compensation? No. Now, remember earlier I said one of the key requirements is that compensation must be objectively ascertainable and not open ended, NAR has specified, in one of the frequently asked questions that a range would not satisfy the requirement that compensation is objectively ascertainable and not open ended.

So they give an example. A written by a broker agreement cannot have commission that states buyer broker compensation shall be whatever amount the seller is offering to the buyer, or between X and Y percent. Both of those would be examples of ranges that are prohibited under this settlement. So no ranges for the compensation. Let's talk about concessions. We have heard a lot about concessions in the last few weeks.

Again, this is one of those areas where you want to consult your multiple listing service rules because MLSs are handling this differently, which is well within their purview. And again, an example of how it is, contrary to what some folks may say, this industry does things differently from MLS to MLS. So the settlement does allow for sellers to continue to pay concessions to buyers.

The one thing that the settlement does prohibit, however, is that the seller and listing broker cannot condition that the payment of the concession be specifically for the purpose of paying buyer broker compensation. So a seller can still say, I'm willing to give X amount of dollars in concession. They can say, I'm willing to give X amount of dollars in concession for replacement of the roof.

What a seller cannot say, however, is I'm willing to give X amount of dollars for concession for the payment of buyer broker services. That would be prohibited by the seller. Excuse me, by this settlement. All right. So concessions, is one route to go for a buyer to request if they would like to use compensation for their buyer broker, but again, just can't be conditioned on that. So... had a few folks get creative and they've said okay, well I can put concessions in the MLS right. Yes you can. If the MLS rules allow it, then you can put concessions. They've said, well then can I put in the agent remarks that I'm willing to offer cooperating commission. No, no. Compensation must come out of all fields in the MLS, not just, the compensation field.  So you cannot put it in remarks either.

One of the things that we are getting a lot of questions about is should the broker tell a potential buyer the amount of broker commission and explain who is paying those commissions? And I want to remind you all that and all of what we're doing here. You know, part of what takes so long to draft these forms is you got to consider the settlement.

You got to consider Chapter 475, but also have to still consider the Code of Ethics. Okay. So yes, you should, in fact, the Code of Ethics, says that Realtors® must provide this information to potential buyers. The settlement also requires that to the extent that this is directly from the settlement, to the extent that such Realtor® or participant will receive compensation from any source, the agreement must specify and conspicuously, conspicuously disclose the amount or rate of compensation it will receive, or how this amount will be determined.

So yes, broker, explain to your potential buyer who is paying you how much, because the maximum amount of that compensation must be disclosed in the buyer broker written agreement. So you said the max, Juana. Well, what if I get a bonus amount that's not stated in that agreement? Well, then you won't be getting that bonus amount. Okay. If the bonus is not a part of that written agreement, the only way you can collect the bonus is by amending that buyer broker agreement.

Okay. If at any point in the transaction, if you receive or are entitled to receive compensation in excess of what is stated in the Buyer Representation Agreement, the written agreement with the buyer, then you can amend that document with the buyer. But brokers, here's another compliance area to be concerned with. Make sure that whatever is settled in terms of your compensation, it should not exceed what is what is stated in that buyer broker agreement.

If you find that you have an agent who is routinely collecting more than is stated in that agreement, then you're going to have a problem. Okay? It it cannot exceed the max from any source in the transaction. Well, Juana, walk me through this now because I have a buyer who says, you know, I don't know if I can afford to pay you.

So there are six properties I like. And can we sort them in a way so that that the buyer can, can see only the properties where compensation is being paid? Now let's spend a minute here because this is important. We often get these questions about ranking and sorter and sorting properties and filtering out listings and making sure we don't steer people, to properties.

Can you rank or sort? Yes. What do I mean by ranking or sorting? That is where you take listings and, and you organize them in a particular order. An example of, of criteria that is used to rank or sort property might be the sales price. Right here. Here's here is the, the, the property's sorted and sales by sales price.  It might be the number of bedrooms because that's a desirable feature for your buyer. It might be location. They're sorted in in proximity to the particular, school that you're interested in. But ranking, based on compensation might cause you some problems. Okay, so NAR was, was very clear. They gave us a, code comprehension document, and they talked about this idea of what do you do when the buyer has a particular criteria for property, and the property they want is offering you either no compensation or compensation that is well below what you want to be paid.

Okay. So they give us some really clear guidance on that. So if that is what happens and you believe that your buyer would love that house, first of all, you have an ethical duty to inform your client about the listing, right? You can't hide it. You tell them about the listing. Got a few options available to you about that listing.

I've mentioned this already. You can. You can still work with them on that listing. Or maybe you refer your buyer to that listing broker for that listing. You do a referral agreement and you have them compensated by the list, but you have them work with the listing broker and you receive referral compensation of the listing if a broker is willing to pay for that, and maybe you work with the buyer on the other listings that they are interested in, but just not that one.

You can ask the buyer to if it's lower than what you're interested in, to only pay the difference in the compensation. If the listing broker or seller is paying one amount, but it's not quite as much as you want as the buyer to simply pay the difference. Again, you can you can have the buyer sign a buyer broker agreement, and you can condition the sale and purchase offer based on the buyer's wishes condition the sale and purchase offer, offer on that amount so you have a variety of options available to you.

But here's what you cannot do under any circumstances. You cannot bury the listing. You have an ethical obligation to provide your buyer with all of the properties that meet their need that you are aware of. You just don't have to work for free. So let's talk a little bit about let's shift a little bit. Let's talk a little bit about the fact that if you can't communicate and offer compensation on your on the Multiple Listing Service, where can you communicate it?

Well, one place that we get questions about a lot is your company website. You can put offers of compensation on your website for your listings only. Okay. You're going to get IDX feeds usually onto your website. And so you may have multiple properties listed there in addition to your own personal listings. Make sure that you are only displaying offers of compensation on your website for your personal listings.  You cannot do so for properties that came through a feed.

The other question I get sometimes is, well, Juana, can I just put a blanket offer of comp on my website? I just want to tell them, I’m buyer broker friendly. And so, I just I'm going to put on there that I'm going to pay compensation to all buyer brokers. And the question I have for you is, how do you know that that is what every seller that you're going to work with in the future wants to do.

The settlement does not specifically prohibit what you're proposing, but I would recommend against what your proposing that you in all instances, will offer compensation to the buyer's broker. I love cooperation, as it relates to all things, you know, including a willingness to negotiate on compensation. But what I'm concerned about is that the, the settlement and, and certainly the spirit of the settlement is that we are negotiating with our customers, our buyers, our sellers, as to their wishes, especially in the essence of a seller.

compensation. So rather than blanket statements that you are going to offer compensation in every single transaction, I would, discourage that and encourage something a little bit more generic, such as please feel free to contact the listing office, for, discussions regarding, you know, compensation. But the, the less definitive blanket offers, will will be problematic.

So try to keep it transaction to transaction if at all possible. Where else can you display compensation? Where else can you, as a buyer's agent, expect to find compensation? Maybe on signage. The other thing I hear frequently from members is that some of the compensation forms that we've developed and others, that they plan to have those forms available at open houses and showings, for distribution, because those forms are only going to entitle you as a buyer's agent to compensation if your buyer closes on the transaction.

So you may find that at showings, open houses, you may find that there are compensation forms they available for you to take back to your buyer as, kind of invitations to negotiate with them. So keep that in mind. One of the things that you may want to point out, especially for the buyer, who is a bit skittish about compensation agreements, the buyer broker agreement and the showing agreement both have language that suggest that if the buyer selects a property where the seller or the buyers, excuse me, the seller or the seller's broker are offering compensation, then the buyer’s agreed upon contractual obligation to pay you is reduced by that amount. So, the buyer has some control over ultimately what it is they may end up having to pay. So when you have buyers like that that may be uncomfortable. Familiarize yourself with those buyer friendly clauses in the transaction that may give them more comfort in signing these agreements, so that they ultimately don't feel at the end that there's, there's, you know, nothing that might help them when it comes to the cost of paying for their, their broker services. So point that out to buyers who may not want to sign the agreement. The last question on the compensation that I'll cover is one that we hear frequently, and that is what happens if the buyer decides to purchase one of my listings. Well, we've, we've wrestled with this a bit because the, the agreement requires that you tell the buyer how it is you're going to be paid.

It even requires that you state a maximum amount of compensation that you're going to collect from all sources in the transaction. So one of the things that we we had to, to seriously contemplate is, well, what happens when you don't even know which property the buyer might select before you tour even the first property? What happens if the buyer selects one of your listings?

The maximum that you're going to get from all sources in the transaction is going to be very different if potentially, if it's your listing versus someone else's. And so you will find that in all of our agreements, there is language that specifies that, the listing broker may ultimately be the buyer's broker that it may be an in-house transaction where the buyer's broker, who also provides listing services, may receive additional compensation from the seller for those services provided to the seller.

We felt it was very important, in the spirit of transparency, to make sure that the buyer was aware of the potential for their brokerage to also collect compensation from the seller for those services rendered. All right. And the last few minutes I have left, let's talk about pending agreements. On August 17th, many, many of you asked me the question, what what do we do when there is a buyer broker agreement or listing agreement that we entered into in June,

Juana, and August 17th comes around. Do we have to amend our agreement to comply with the settlement? What do we do? Well, NAR has been, very clear and some frequently asked questions as it relates to that issue and settlement compliance. And so what we are going to do is to publish an update form, this form will be in the form of a disclosure, not an amendment.

So if you have one of the Florida Realtors® exclusive right of sale listing agreement forms, you would be giving your, customer, a disclosure form. If, if, it is, exclusive. Right. So listing agreement or if it's one of our buyer rep forms, you will be giving them a disclosure form that has language that is designed to disclose to your customer all of the necessary components of this settlement. And so stay tuned for that form. It is one that will be, released in the coming days. And, give that to your customers. I would give it to all of the customers if you do not have a pending sale and purchase contract, but you do have a pending buyer broker agreement showing agreement or some other type of buyer rep agreement or listing agreement, you probably need to update that customer.

So give them that disclosure form. If you are using another form or you are not sure because you have done an amendment or addendum of some sort, then give us a call on the hotline and we'll walk you through what may need to happen. And just a couple of miscellaneous issues. And this is the last point I will raise, and one that is very important.

Is it possible that as a broker, I may end up with a buyer who has registered more than once with my office, who has multiple buyer broker agreements with my office? Because I have a location in Jacksonville and I have a location in Tampa, and I have a location in Miami that is very possible. So how that is going to work is something that you, as a broker, will have to consider.

Ultimately it will depend on how you geographically define your forms. Are y'all dating under the showing agreement? Are you married under the buyer broker agreement? Do you have one showing agreement in Jacksonville and one buyer broker agreement in Tampa? Okay, I, I encourage you as a brokerage to determine how you track or register or, decide on monitoring these agreements, buyer to buyer to ensure that you know, whether or not Juana Watkins has already agreed to some type of compensation agreement with your office. There may not be a conflict because the showing agreement with Juana may be for Osceola County, not Miami Dade. But if if if there is a conflict, then it is going to be up to you as a broker to determine how to resolve that issue.

So, with that, I'm going to close my iPad. I'm going to look at you're going to take off my glasses, and I'm going to tell you, we are real clear on the fact that August 17th is right around the corner. We are going to continue to work tirelessly to get these forms out to you, to bring you more of these webinars, to bring you videos, to bring you more content because we know you need to hear from us.

I thank you for your patience. I thank you for your time today, and I look forward to helping provide more product services and tools to help you pivot in this critical, critical time for our industry. Thank you so much for your time today, and thank you for the honor of serving as your Vice President of Law and Policy and General Counsel.