Here’s the situation; a buyers agent represented buyers that terminated the purchase after discovering black mold in the home. That same buyer’s agent has another interested buyer who would like to make an offer on the same home. Will of the buyer’s agent have to disclose the priors buyers discovery of mold even if it’s because of a prior relationship?
Legally, any information that will assist the buyer or seller and making a decision must be disclosed. As a buyers agent, we have the fiduciary duty to notify our current clients of any issues that we know about the property including information we may have obtained from prior clients.
This can be skewed slightly because most buyers agreements mentioned that the agent will not disclose any confidential information learned through another relationship but this is not about the buyer or the seller specifically but about the property in question. Any information about the discovery of mold or any other problems with the home is not considered confidential. This information is known to both seller and a potential buyer is not confidential to either and must be disclosed.
A buyers agent selling a home that their previous buyer backed out on could be both a positive and negative. The buyer’s agent understands the situation and has already worked with the listing agent and seller. This can give a great advantage to the current buyer because the buyer’s agent has already gone through the negotiation process and understands how to submit an offer and what the sellers are really looking for. On the flipside, if the previous deal fell through, the agent needs to disclose why and if there are any defects or issues with the house itself.
If the previous deal fell through due to a buyer issue, that may or may not be confidential. The current buyer may not know the previous buyer so an agent can simply say that financing fell through on the buyer side. This is not divulging any confidential information but it also alleviates some fears on the current buyer knowing that it’s not the home that causes the issue but the buyer themselves.
For more answers to real estate questions or for buying a home throughout the Eastside including Mercer Island properties, Bellevue homes, or Kirkland condos please contact me at any time.
