Dual Agency Bill Stalls In Committee

• By: admin
• On: 01/18/2018 15:09:35
• In: Government Affairs
• Comments: 0

Adapted from the BOMA California Weekly Newsletter - January 12, 2018

The bill that would ban dual agency in the State of California that was stalled last year, was revived and heard on Tuesday. As written, AB 1059 (Gonzalez-Fletcher; D-San Diego), would prohibit an agent from acting as a dual agent in a commercial real estate transaction. However, after many hours of working with the Author and the Assembly Judiciary Committee, new language had been written that moved away from the outright ban and sought to create an additional disclosure. The author stated that she decided not to move forward with a ban but did want to see if there are ways to assure that consumers who are involved in a dual agency transaction can be more clearly notified.
 
Even the new language caused some concern, however, as it is hard to find an appropriate “trigger” to provide another disclosure prior to the point that is currently required under the SB 1171, which was passed by the Legislature in 2014.  Because of that, as wells a few other concerns, the committee held the bill in order to allow more time to work on language.  At this point it is unclear if that will be in a new bill or the current vehicle, which is facing significant deadline pressures. 
 
The bill proponents were invited to participate in an ongoing real estate stakeholder group that is working on a measure to streamline and clarify several areas of real estate law, and this process could be another option to address any concerns with dual agency disclosures.
 
A large group of BOMA CAL members with knowledge and experience of all sides of a transaction are working with us in Sacramento to try to come to consensus on language and we thank everyone who has stepped-up to help on this issue. We also are very appreciative of the fact that Assemblymember Gonzalez Fletcher and members of the committee have taken our issues with the proposal under consideration. Below is a link to an article on AB 1059 that appeared in a statewide real estate news source.
 
Click here for a story from CoStar about the hearing.