Agency Relationships, Fiduciary Duties, and Disclosures
Creation and identity
Agency in the District is created by agreement - ideally a written brokerage agreement stating term, scope, and how compensation is earned - and by the conduct of the parties. The core exam skill is identifying who represents whom at each moment. A firm may represent the seller, the buyer, both (dual agency, permissible only with the informed written consent of all parties), or neither. Where the firm acts as a dual agent, it cannot advocate for one side against the other, cannot pass one party's confidential negotiating instructions to the other, and must keep both clients informed.
The duties
The fiduciary duties travel together: loyalty, obedience to lawful instructions, disclosure, confidentiality, reasonable care and skill, and accounting for money and documents. Confidentiality outlives the transaction - a licensee who later works with the other side may not trade on what was learned earlier. Disclosure duties focus on material facts: known defects, anything that would cause a reasonable buyer to change position, and the statutory seller disclosure statement. District law and the DC Human Rights Act also limit what may be volunteered about occupants; do not disclose protected characteristics or a resident's HIV status.
Traps: assuming dual agency is fine because "everyone agreed verbally"; assuming the buyer's agent owes loyalty to the seller because the seller pays a cooperating fee; and forgetting that a licensee's opinion of value never substitutes for the client's decision.
Rule of thumb: whenever the representation changes, get it in writing, signed and dated, before substantive advice or negotiation.