2023 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations › Chapter 452 - Real estate practice. › 452.135 - Disclosure of duties.

452.135
Disclosure of duties.
(1)
(a)
No firm, and no licensee associated with a firm, may negotiate on behalf of a party who is not the firm's client unless the firm, or a licensee associated with the firm, provides to the party a copy of the following written disclosure statement:
DISCLOSURE TO CUSTOMERS
You are a customer of the brokerage firm (hereinafter firm). The firm is either an agent of another party in the transaction or a subagent of another firm that is the agent of another party in the transaction. A broker or a salesperson acting on behalf of the firm may provide brokerage services to you. Whenever the firm is providing brokerage services to you, the firm and its brokers and salespersons (hereinafter agents) owe you, the customer, the following duties:
The duty to provide brokerage services to you fairly and honestly.
The duty to exercise reasonable skill and care in providing brokerage services to you.
The duty to provide you with accurate information about market conditions within a reasonable time if you request it, unless disclosure of the information is prohibited by law.
The duty to disclose to you in writing certain material adverse facts about a property, unless disclosure of the information is prohibited by law.
The duty to protect your confidentiality. Unless the law requires it, the firm and its agents will not disclose your confidential information or the confidential information of other parties.
The duty to safeguard trust funds and other property held by the firm or its agents.
The duty, when negotiating, to present contract proposals in an objective and unbiased manner and disclose the advantages and disadvantages of the proposals.
Please review this information carefully. An agent of the firm can answer your questions about brokerage services, but if you need legal advice, tax advice, or a professional home inspection, contact an attorney, tax advisor, or home inspector.
This disclosure is required by section 452.135 of the Wisconsin statutes and is for information only. It is a plain-language summary of the duties to a customer under section 452.133 (1) of the Wisconsin statutes.
(b)
If a firm is providing brokerage services as a subagent to a principal firm, the subagent, or a licensee associated with the subagent, shall provide a copy of the written disclosure statement under par. (a) to any person who is not the principal firm's client and who receives brokerage services from the subagent within the scope of the agreement between the subagent and the principal firm.
(2)
(a)
Except as provided in par. (b), a firm shall provide to a client a copy of the following written disclosure statement not later than the time the firm enters into an agency agreement with the client:
DISCLOSURE TO CLIENTS
Under Wisconsin law, a brokerage firm (hereinafter firm) and its brokers and salespersons (hereinafter agents) owe certain duties to all parties to a transaction:
The duty to provide brokerage services to you fairly and honestly.
The duty to exercise reasonable skill and care in providing brokerage services to you.
The duty to provide you with accurate information about market conditions within a reasonable time if you request it, unless disclosure of the information is prohibited by law.
The duty to disclose to you in writing certain material adverse facts about a property, unless disclosure of the information is prohibited by law.
The duty to protect your confidentiality. Unless the law requires it, the firm and its agents will not disclose your confidential information or the confidential information of other parties.
The duty to safeguard trust funds and other property the firm or its agents holds.
The duty, when negotiating, to present contract proposals in an objective and unbiased manner and disclose the advantages and disadvantages of the proposals.
Because you have entered into an agency agreement with a firm, you are the firm's client. A firm owes additional duties to you as a client of the firm:
The firm or one of its agents will provide, at your request, information and advice on real estate matters that affect your transaction, unless you release the firm from this duty. The firm or one of its agents must provide you with all material facts affecting the transaction, not just adverse facts.
The firm and its agents will fulfill the firm's obligations under the agency agreement and fulfill your lawful requests that are within the scope of the agency agreement.
The firm and its agents will negotiate for you, unless you release them from this duty.
The firm and its agents will not place their interests ahead of your interests. The firm and its agents will not, unless required by law, give information or advice to other parties who are not the firm's clients, if giving the information or advice is contrary to your interests.
If you become involved in a transaction in which another party is also the firm's client (a “multiple representation relationship"), different duties may apply.
MULTIPLE REPRESENTATION RELATIONSHIPS AND DESIGNATED AGENCY
A multiple representation relationship exists if a firm has an agency agreement with more than one client who is a party in the same transaction. If you and the firm's other clients in the transaction consent, the firm may provide services through designated agency, which is one type of multiple representation relationship.
Designated agency means that different agents with the firm will negotiate on behalf of you and the other client or clients in the transaction, and the firm's duties to you as a client will remain the same. Each agent will provide information, opinions, and advice to the client for whom the agent is negotiating, to assist the client in the negotiations. Each client will be able to receive information, opinions, and advice that will assist the client, even if the information, opinions, or advice gives the client advantages in the negotiations over the firm's other clients. An agent will not reveal any of your confidential information to another party unless required to do so by law.
If a designated agency relationship is not authorized by you or other clients in the transaction, you may still authorize or reject a different type of multiple representation relationship in which the firm may provide brokerage services to more than one client in a transaction but neither the firm nor any of its agents may assist any client with information, opinions, and advice which may favor the interests of one client over any other client. Under this neutral approach, the same agent may represent more than one client in a transaction.
If you do not consent to a multiple representation relationship the firm will not be allowed to provide brokerage services to more than one client in the transaction.
CHECK ONLY ONE OF THE THREE BELOW:
________The same firm may represent me and the other party as long as the same agent is not representing us both. (multiple representation relationship with designated agency)
________The same firm may represent me and the other party, but the firm must remain neutral regardless if one or more different agents are involved. (multiple representation relationship without designated agency)
________The same firm cannot represent both me and the other party in the same transaction. (I reject multiple representation relationships)
NOTE: All clients who are parties to this agency agreement consent to the selection checked above. You may modify this selection by written notice to the firm at any time. Your firm is required to disclose to you in your agency agreement the commission or fees that you may owe to your firm. If you have any questions about the commission or fees that you may owe based upon the type of agency relationship you select with your firm, you should ask your firm before signing the agency agreement.
SUBAGENCY
Your firm may, with your authorization in the agency agreement, engage other firms (subagent firms) to assist your firm by providing brokerage services for your benefit. A subagent firm and the agents with the subagent firm will not put their own interests ahead of your interests. A subagent firm will not, unless required by law, provide advice or opinions to other parties if doing so is contrary to your interests.
Please review this information carefully. An agent can answer your questions about brokerage services, but if you need legal advice, tax advice, or a professional home inspection, contact an attorney, tax advisor, or home inspector.
This disclosure is required by section 452.135 of the Wisconsin statutes and is for information only. It is a plain-language summary of the duties owed to you under section 452.133 (2) of the Wisconsin statutes.
(b)
If a client enters into an agency agreement with a firm to receive brokerage services related to real estate primarily intended for use as a residential property containing one to 4 dwelling units, and the written disclosure statement under par. (a) is not incorporated into the agency agreement, the firm shall request the client's signed acknowledgment that the client has received a copy of the written disclosure statement.
History:  1993 a. 127; 2005 a. 87; 2007 a. 97; 2015 a. 258; 2017 a. 365 s. 111.
The `New' Chapter 452: Defining Real Estate Broker Practice. Leibsle. Wis. Law. June 2006.