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Alaska No Longer Has Any Real Estate Agents

There are no real estate agents in Alaska. The Alaska State Legislature passed a law a couple years ago that eliminates real estate agents. This was done partly to take care of the problem of dual agents, but the legislature just decided get rid all real estate agents while they were at it.

That doesn't mean we can't earn a living, we still represent buyers and sellers and we are still paid for our services. But we are no longer agents. The term agent carries legal baggage that was often unintended in relationships between buyers, sellers, and real estate agents.

We are now only real estate licensees that have specific duties in our relationships with buyers and sellers. As the real estate commission's consumer pamphlet spells out, there are four possible relationships a licensee can have with a consumer.

1. We can provide specific assistance. We would not be representing the party, just assisting them in their real estate transaction.
2. We can provide representation. This entails a higher level of duty on the part of the licensee toward the consumer.
3. We can be a designated representative. This is when one licensee may represent the seller in a transaction and another licensee represents the buyer, but both are part of the same office.
4. We can be a neutral licensee. We can help both a buyer and a seller in a transaction without representing either one.

All four of these situations require different duties on the part of the real estate licensee but all of them require at least the minimum of duties. This minimum is the same as that owed under specific assistance. These duties are:

1. Exercise reasonable skill and care.
2. Deal honestly and fairly
3. Present all written communications in a timely manner
4. Disclose all material information regarding the physical condition of a property
5. Account for all money and property received.

The other duties are outlined in the consumer pamphlet which all consumers should read.

I will deal with the other three levels of representation in future articles.

Feel free to comment with questions or clarifications.

Posted by Marty Van Diest, Your Alaskan Realtor on 05/03/2007 02:48 PM

Comments (5)

This post has been included in Alaska Information

5 Comments on Alaska No Longer Has Any Real Estate Agents

MAY

2007

Wow, that was short, concise, to the point, and very informative. Thanks.

MAY

2007

Wow .... too. Did it take effect on May 1? Now you've got to change all your marketing materials, huh?

It's actually been law for awhile now. We are still trying to get used to it. We aren't supposed to refer to ourselves as real estate agents. It becomes difficult dealing with buyers, sellers, and companies from out of state. They call us agents and sometimes we ignore it, other times we correct them.

As you likely know. Agency has a long history in common law. But as far as I know, there really is no history on dual agents except in real estate. That is the primary thing this law was correcting, but it went far beyond this.

I once worked with a paranoid acting fellow who was looking for a very secluded retreat in Alaska. He said he was employed by the foreign service of a small island country (I'm not naming it here on purpose). He looked long and hard at the dual agency disclosure and then muttered under his breath, "in my line of work, dual agents don't last very long".