Who owns an agency’s brokerage contracts?

The answer to this question resides in the parties to the brokerage contract. Within an agency, the brokerage contract is entered into by the selling owner and the agency, which is represented by the broker. The broker is not a party to the contract per se.

In short, brokerage contracts for the sale, purchase or lease of immovables belong to the agencies, and not to the brokers who represent them. Only when a broker is acting on his own account is the contract between the broker and the seller.

Although the brokerage contract is “owned” by the agency, the regulations allow the client, if the broker leaves the agency to act on his own account or for another agency, to choose between “following” the broker, remaining with the agency, or terminating the contract.

For more information on this topic, read the Standard notices page.