Contract Drafting 101: Back to Basics

Question:

If Agent A has a listing contract with the seller, and Agent B within the same firm writes an offer for the buyer under buyer agency on Agent A`s listing, is line 1-2 of the residential offer "Agent of Buyer and Seller" or "Agent of Buyer" if the firm has both sides?

Answer:

Although the listing contract and the buyer agency agreement belong to the firm and both the seller and buyer are the firm`s clients, the agency option on lines 1-2 of the WB-11 Residential Offer to Purchase will depend on what multiple representation relationship the parties have chosen.

If the parties have both agreed to multiple representation with designated agency, the agent with the buyer agency agreement would be drafting the offer as the buyer`s designated agent. As such, the agent would leave (Agent of Buyer) unstruck and strike the other two parentheticals on line 2 of the WB-11 Residential Offer to Purchase.

If both parties agreed to multiple representation without designated agency, the agents remain neutral between the parties, and the agent drafting the offer would draft the offer as (Agent of Buyer and Seller).

If only one party has agreed to multiple representation without designated agency and the other party agreed to multiple representation with designated agency, the agents default to multiple representation without designated agency and the agents must remain neutral. The offer would be drafted with (Agent of Buyer and Seller) unstruck on line 2, and the agent strikes the other parentheticals on line 1 and line 2 of the WB-11 Residential Offer to Purchase.