Kansas Statutes 58-30,106. Minimum requirements of seller’s or landlord’s agent
Terms Used In Kansas Statutes 58-30,106
- Act: means the real estate brokers' and salespersons' license act. See Kansas Statutes 58-3035
- Agency: means every relationship in which a broker acts for or represents another, by the latter's express written authority, in a real estate transaction. See Kansas Statutes 58-30,102
- Broker: means an individual, other than a salesperson, who advertises or represents that such individual engages in the business of buying, selling, exchanging or leasing real estate or who, for compensation, engages in any of the following activities as an employee of, or on behalf of, the owner, purchaser, lessor or lessee of real estate:
(1) Sells, exchanges, purchases or leases real estate. See Kansas Statutes 58-3035
- Brokerage firm: means the business entity of a broker, whether an association, corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, partnership, proprietorship or professional corporation. See Kansas Statutes 58-30,102
- Client: means a seller, landlord, buyer or tenant who has an agency with a broker. See Kansas Statutes 58-30,102
- Confidential information: means information made confidential by statute, rule, regulation or instructions from the client or personal information about the client which might place the other party at an advantage over the client unless the information is made public or becomes public by the words or conduct of the client to whom the information pertains or from a source other than the licensee. See Kansas Statutes 58-30,102
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Customer: means a seller, landlord, buyer or tenant in a real estate transaction in which a broker is involved but who has not entered into an agency with the broker. See Kansas Statutes 58-30,102
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Licensee: means any person licensed under this act as a broker or salesperson. See Kansas Statutes 58-3035
- Ministerial acts: means those acts that a licensee may perform for a person that are informative in nature and do not rise to the level of active representation on behalf of a person. See Kansas Statutes 58-30,102
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Property: includes personal and real property. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
- Qualified third party: means a federal, state or local governmental agency or any person whom the broker, the affiliated licensee or a party to the real estate transaction reasonably believes has the expertise necessary to meet the industry standards of practice for the type of inspection or investigation that has been conducted by the third party in order to prepare a written report. See Kansas Statutes 58-30,102
- Real estate: means any interest or estate in land, including any leasehold or condominium, whether corporeal, incorporeal, freehold or nonfreehold and whether the real estate is situated in this state or elsewhere, but does not include oil and gas leases, royalties and other mineral interests, and rights of way and easements acquired for the purpose of constructing roadways, pipelines, conduits, wires and facilities related to these types of improvement projects for private and public utilities, municipalities, federal and state governments, or any political subdivision. See Kansas Statutes 58-3035
- Salesperson: means an individual, other than an associate broker, who is employed by a broker or is associated with a broker as an independent contractor and participates in any activity described in subsection (f). See Kansas Statutes 58-3035
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Statutory agent: means a seller's agent, a buyer's agent, a landlord's agent, a tenant's agent or a designated agent in a real estate transaction. See Kansas Statutes 58-30,102
- Transaction broker: means a broker who assists one or more parties with a real estate transaction without being an agent or advocate for the interests of any party to such transaction. See Kansas Statutes 58-30,102
(a) A seller’s agent or a landlord’s agent shall be a statutory agent with the duty and obligation to:
(1) Perform the terms of the written agreement made with the client;
(2) promote the interests of the client with the utmost good faith, loyalty and fidelity, including:
(A) presenting in a timely manner all offers to and from the client, when such offer is received prior to the closing of the sale unless the seller instructs the broker in the agency agreement not to submit offers after an offer has been accepted by the seller;
(B) disclosing to the client all adverse material facts actually known by the licensee about the buyer or tenant; and
(C) advising the client to obtain expert advice as to material matters about which the licensee knows but the specifics of which are beyond the expertise of the licensee;
(3) account in a timely manner for all money and property received;
(4) comply with all requirements of this act and rules and regulations adopted hereunder; and
(5) comply with any applicable federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations and ordinances, including fair housing and civil rights statutes and rules and regulations.
(b) If pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(C), the licensee advised the client to obtain expert advice as to material matters about which the licensee knows but the specifics of which are beyond the expertise of the licensee, no cause of action for any person shall arise against the licensee pertaining to such material matters.
(c) A seller’s or landlord’s agent shall not disclose any confidential information about the client unless disclosure is required by statute or rule and regulation or failure to disclose the information would constitute fraudulent misrepresentation. No cause of action for any person shall arise against a licensee acting as a seller’s or landlord’s agent for making any required or permitted disclosure.
(d) (1) A seller’s or landlord’s agent owes no duty or obligation to a customer, except that a licensee shall disclose to any customer all adverse material facts actually known by the licensee, including, but not limited to:
(A) Any environmental hazards affecting the property which are required by law to be disclosed;
(B) the physical condition of the property;
(C) any material defects in the property;
(D) any material defects in the title to the property; or
(E) any material limitation on the client’s ability to perform under the terms of the contract.
(2) A seller’s or landlord’s agent owes no duty to conduct an independent inspection of the property for the benefit of the customer and owes no duty to independently verify the accuracy or completeness of any statement made by the client or any qualified third party.
(3) Except as provided in subsection (d)(4), a seller’s or landlord’s agent is not required to disclose to a client or customer information relating to the physical condition of the property if a written report regarding the physical condition of the property has been prepared by a qualified third party and provided to the client or customer.
(4) A seller’s or landlord’s agent shall disclose to the client or customer any facts actually known by the licensee that were omitted from or contradict any information included in a written report described in subsection (d)(3).
(5) In performing an investigation or inspection and in making a disclosure in connection with a real estate transaction, a licensee shall exercise the degree of care expected to be exercised by a reasonably prudent person who has the knowledge, skills and training required for licensure as a broker or salesperson.
(e) A seller’s or landlord’s agent may provide assistance to the customer by performing ministerial acts. Performing ministerial acts for the customer shall not be construed as violating the brokerage firm‘s agency with the seller or landlord and shall not be construed as forming an agency with the customer.
(f) A seller’s or landlord’s agent may show alternative properties not owned by the client to prospective buyers or tenants and may list competing properties for sale or lease without breaching any duty or obligation to the client.
(g) A seller or landlord may agree in writing with a seller’s or landlord’s agent that the broker may offer subagency and pay compensation to other brokers.
(h) A seller or landlord may agree in writing with a seller’s or landlord’s agent that the broker may offer to cooperate with a buyer’s or tenant’s agent or to cooperate with and pay compensation to a buyer’s or tenant’s agent.
(i) A seller or landlord may agree in writing with a seller’s or landlord’s agent that the broker may offer to cooperate with a transaction broker or to cooperate with and pay compensation to a transaction broker.
(j) If the seller or landlord has authorized the broker to offer cooperation with other licensees pursuant to subsection (g), (h) or (i) the broker shall not refuse permission to another licensee to show a listed property or refuse to receive and transmit to the seller or landlord a written offer on a listed property from another licensee unless specifically instructed by the seller in writing. The broker shall provide a copy of the written instructions to another licensee upon request.
(k) A seller’s or landlord’s agent shall not be liable for punitive or exemplary damages for the licensee’s failure to perform any of the duties set forth in this section, unless such failure is shown by clear and convincing evidence that the licensee acted toward the plaintiff with willful conduct, wanton conduct, fraud or malice.