The new forms are the next logical step in agency relationship. Designed to be used any time a buyer is represented in a transaction, the new forms also establish a realistic framework for consumers' expectations during the homebuying process.
Different states have different laws governing agency between buyers and licensees.
Some have facilitators, some have a requirement that there is no agency unless there is a written agreement and a few still operate on the old subagency concept in which both agents represent the seller. Subagency is obsolete in California, where buyers have had their own agents for more than a decade. This is in response to confusion surrounding the issue as well as an expressed need to make sure that buyers and their agents are working from the same set of assumptions. The scope of the agency relationship will no longer be dependent on either the agent's or buyer's memory. There will also be added certainty about the time frames within which legal actions can be brought.