§34-27-82. Roles and duties of licensees; written disclosure documents; exceptions; brokerage agreements.

(a) When engaged in any real estate transaction, the licensee may act as a single agent, sub-agent, a limited consensual dual agent, or as a transaction broker.

(b) At the initial contact between a licensee and the consumer and until such time a broker enters into a specific written agreement to establish an agency relationship with one or more of the parties to a transaction, the licensee shall not be considered an agent of that consumer. An agency relationship shall not be assumed, implied, or created without a written bilateral agreement establishing the terms of the agency relationship.

(c) As soon as reasonably possible and before any confidential information is disclosed to any other person by a licensee, the licensee shall provide a written disclosure form to a consumer for signature describing the alternative types of brokerage services, as identified in subsection (a), that are available to clients and customers of real estate brokerage companies. The licensee shall also inform a consumer as to the specific types of brokerage services that are provided by his or her company. A broker shall not be required to offer or engage in any one or in all of the alternative brokerage arrangements specified in subsection (a). The licensee will provide a written form to the consumer for their signature describing the alternative types of brokerage arrangements available. All rental or property management services are excluded from the requirements of this subsection.

(d) A licensee shall not be required to comply with the provisions of subsection (c) when engaged in transactions with any corporation, non-profit corporation, professional corporation, professional association, limited liability company, partnership, any partnership created under the Uniform Partnership Act (commencing at Section 10-8A-101), real estate investment trust, business trust, charitable trust, family trust, or any governmental entity in transactions involving real estate.

(e) After disclosure, the consumer may make an affirmative election of a specific type of brokerage arrangement that is available from the real estate brokerage company. The brokerage agreement shall contain a statement of the terms and conditions of the brokerage services that the broker will provide. In the absence of a signed brokerage agreement between the parties, the transaction brokerage relationship shall remain in effect.

(f) When serving as a transaction broker, the duties of the licensee to all the parties to a real estate transaction are limited to those which are enumerated in Section 34-27-84. A signed brokerage agreement between the parties or, in the absence of a signed brokerage agreement, the continuation of the transaction brokerage relationship, shall constitute informed consent by the consumer as to the services the consumer shall receive from the broker.

(g) Disclosure forms shall be provided to buyers and sellers. All real estate brokerage firms operating within the State of Alabama shall use the same agency disclosure forms. Disclosure forms describing the alternative types of brokerage services identified above shall be written by the Alabama Real Estate Commission.

(h) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the consumer from entering into a written contract with a broker which contains provisions for services not specifically identified in the written disclosure form.

(Acts 1995, No. 95-211, p. 341, §3; Act 98-618, p. 1359, §1.)