Colorado § 12-10-404 - Single agent engaged by seller or landlord.

§ 12-10-404. Single agent engaged by seller or landlord.

(1) A broker engaged by a seller or landlord to act as a seller's agent or a landlord's agent is a limited agent with the following duties and obligations:

(a) To perform the terms of the written agreement made with the seller or landlord;

(b) To exercise reasonable skill and care for the seller or landlord;

(c) To promote the interests of the seller or landlord with the utmost good faith, loyalty, and fidelity, including, but not limited to:

(I) Seeking a price and terms that are acceptable to the seller or landlord; except that the broker shall not be obligated to seek additional offers to purchase the property while the property is subject to a contract for sale or to seek additional offers to lease the property while the property is subject to a lease or letter of intent to lease;

(II) Presenting all offers to and from the seller or landlord in a timely manner regardless of whether the property is subject to a contract for sale or a lease or letter of intent to lease;

(III) Disclosing to the seller or landlord adverse material facts actually known by the broker;

(IV) Counseling the seller or landlord as to any material benefits or risks of a transaction that are actually known by the broker;

(V) Advising the seller or landlord to obtain expert advice as to material matters about which the broker knows but the specifics of which are beyond the expertise of the broker;

(VI) Accounting in a timely manner for all money and property received; and

(VII) Informing the seller or landlord that the seller or landlord shall not be vicariously liable for the acts of the seller's or landlord's agent that are not approved, directed, or ratified by the seller or landlord;

(d) To comply with all requirements of this article 10 and any rules promulgated pursuant to this article 10; and

(e) To comply with any applicable federal, state, or local laws, rules, regulations, or ordinances including fair housing and civil rights statutes or regulations.

(2) Except as described in section 12-10-403 (9), a broker acting as a seller's or landlord's agent shall not disclose the following information without the express written consent of the seller or landlord:

(a) That a seller or landlord is willing to accept less than the asking price or lease rate for the property;

(b) What the motivating factors are for the party selling or leasing the property;

(c) That the seller or landlord will agree to financing terms other than those offered;

(d) Any material information about the seller or landlord unless disclosure is required by law or failure to disclose the information would constitute fraud or dishonest dealing; or

(e) Any facts or suspicions regarding circumstances that may psychologically impact or stigmatize any real property pursuant to section 38-35.5-101.

(3) (a) A broker acting as a seller's or landlord's agent owes no duty or obligation to the buyer or tenant; except that a broker shall, subject to the limitations of section 38-35.5-101, concerning psychologically impacted property, disclose to any prospective buyer or tenant all adverse material facts actually known by the broker. The adverse material facts may include but shall not be limited to adverse material facts pertaining to the title and the physical condition of the property, any material defects in the property, and any environmental hazards affecting the property that are required by law to be disclosed.

(b) A seller's or landlord's agent owes no duty to conduct an independent inspection of the property for the benefit of the buyer or tenant and owes no duty to independently verify the accuracy or completeness of any statement made by the seller or landlord or any independent inspector.

(4) A seller's or landlord's agent may show alternative properties not owned by the seller or landlord to prospective buyers or tenants and may list competing properties for sale or lease and not be deemed to have breached any duty or obligation to the seller or landlord.

(5) A designated broker acting as a seller's or landlord's agent may cooperate with other brokers but may not engage or create any subagents.

Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 647, § 1, effective October 1. L. 2026: IP(2) amended, (HB 26-1287), ch. 386, p. 2423, § 22, effective August 12.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 12-61-804 as it existed prior to 2019.

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "Disclosure of Adverse Material Facts and Latent Defects in Real Estate Transactions", see 53 Colo. Law. 40 (July-Aug. 2024).

Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided under former provisions similar to this section.

Broker breached its duty of loyalty by pressuring its principal to sell the property subject to the parties' listing contract and by failing to disclose information material to the contract. Mabry v. Tom Stanger & Co., 33 P.3d 1206 (Colo. App. 2001).

Certificate of review required by § 13-20-602 is not a prerequisite to a lawsuit based on a licensed real estate broker's alleged violation of subsection (3)(a) of this section. Expert testimony would not ordinarily be necessary to prove such a claim. Baumgarten v. Coppage, 15 P.3d 304 (Colo. App. 2000).