Here is an excerpt from First Tuesday Magazine:
Expanded agency disclosures in 2015
A big change you won’t want to miss for 2015: the agency disclosure law has expanded to include commercial (nonresidential) purchases and leases with terms longer than one year. [Calif. Civil Code §2709.13]
This means commercial brokers and agents now need to provide the same level of transparency required by their residential counterparts. This comes on the heels of mandatory energy and benchmark disclosures for all commercial sales and leasing transactions on single occupant structures larger than 5,000 interior square feet.
Thus, beginning January 1, 2015, commercial brokers and agents will now hand their clients an Agency Law Disclosure form and have it signed and acknowledged by the client as an attachment to:
- a listing agreement employing the broker to locate a buyer or tenant; and
- any writing that initiates negotiations contemplating a sale or lease transaction. [CC §2079.13; see first tuesday Form 305]
Editor’s note — As before, multi-family apartment sales remain uncovered by the agency disclosure law avoiding the required use of forms and confirmation provisions to disclose agency conflicts.
Related articles:
Agency law for commercial brokers – shedding light on conduct New disclosures under the Nonresidential Building Energy Use Disclosure Program