Understanding the Pennsylvania Consumer Advisory
The Pennsylvania Consumer Notice refers to certain mandatory disclosures and information that a real estate agent must provide to a consumer under the law. This notice is part of the “Agency Disclosure” legislation that went into effect in 1999.
The notice is designed to help consumers understand in advance and in writing what service options are available to him or her, and specifically who is involved in a real estate transaction.
Favoring Consumers
The Pennsylvania Consumer Notice is a legal document intended to support, inform, and protect a consumer before he or she conducts a real estate transaction with an agent. As a consumer, whether you engage with a real estate agent to help you sell or buy a home, or attend an open house, you should expect the real estate agent to ask you to sign the release form. Pennsylvania Consumer Notice.
You do not have to worry about signing this form because it is required by law, and the real estate agent is simply fulfilling a legal duty by asking you to sign the form. In the event that your initial contact with a real estate agent is by phone, the real estate agent will read the required portions of the notice orally to you over the phone. He or she will have the notice physically and effectively signed by you at the next opportunity.
Relationship Types *
The Pennsylvania Consumer Notice does not constitute a contract, a fact that is clearly stated on the form. Signing this notice does not bind you to any relationship with a real estate licensee. The notice simply tells you about the real estate services the real estate agent owes you. The notice also lists five different types of relationships you may have with a real estate licensee:
Buying agency relationship
Under this relationship, the licensee, by entering into a contract, works exclusively for the buyer or the lessee.
Seller Agency Relationship
Under this relationship, the licensee, by entering into a contract, works exclusively for the seller or the lessor.
Double agency relationship
Under this relationship, the agent, when entering into a contract, works with both the buyer or lessee and the seller or lessor in the same transaction, with the prior written consent of all parties involved.
Relationship to Designated Agency
Under this relationship, the employing agent, with your consent, may designate another licensee of your company to act as the exclusive agent of the buyer or lessee, and an additional licensee in the same way for the seller or lessor.
Transaction Licensee Relationship
Under this relationship, a seller or broker provides communication services, or document preparation services, or performs other actions for which a license is required without being the attorney or agent of the buyer or lessee, or the seller or lessor. .
Understanding the consumer notice may seem like a daunting task at first for many consumers, but it is only a legal formality and is only one of several forms that must be completed to comply with Pennsylvania real estate law. .
Most other states have similar legal requirements to ensure that consumers clearly understand their relationship with a real estate professional.