Agency Relationships and Fiduciary Duties
Agency is created in writing
Nevada does not imply agency from a friendly conversation. An agency relationship arises from a written agreement, so a licensee who shows homes to an unrepresented buyer without a signed buyer-broker agreement is not that buyer's agent. At the first substantive contact the licensee must deliver and explain the state's agency disclosure describing the duties owed by a Nevada licensee, and obtain written acknowledgment. A common exam trap: the buyer "feels represented" or the agent "was paid by the seller," so the buyer assumes agency. Neither fact creates it - and compensation never determines whose agent you are.
The statutory duties
Nevada's statutory duties to a client include reasonable skill and care; honesty and good faith; timely presentation of all offers and counteroffers; disclosure of material facts; accounting for money and property; disclosure of any material relationship or interest the licensee has in the transaction; and confidentiality. Confidentiality survives the transaction in most respects - a former client's bargaining position, motivation, and finances stay private.
Dual agency and conflicts
Acting for both sides requires the informed, written consent of all parties, and even then the dual agent may not advocate for one side over the other. If the licensee has a personal stake - buying the listing, a family relationship, a referral fee - disclose it in writing and let the parties decide.
Worked example: A buyer calls the number on a yard sign. The agent is the seller's agent. She must treat the buyer fairly and honestly, but she cannot help the buyer craft a low offer, cannot keep the buyer's financing limits secret from her seller, and should hand the buyer the agency disclosure at their first substantive conversation.