Client

Key Takeaways

• A client is the buyer or seller a broker represents, which adds loyalty and confidentiality on top of the duties every broker owes everyone in the transaction.
• Washington's agency statute calls the represented party a principal, and RCW 18.86.010 defines that person as a buyer or seller who has an agency relationship with a broker.
• A written services agreement between the firm and the buyer or seller is what creates client status under RCW 18.86.020.
• In Washington, the confidentiality owed to a client survives the end of the agency relationship (RCW 18.86.050).

What It Means

A client is the buyer or seller a real estate firm represents. The relationship begins when the firm and that person sign a written services agreement naming a broker to act on their behalf, and from that point the broker works one side of the transaction rather than simply assisting whoever walks in the door.

The practical difference shows up in what the broker owes. In Washington, every broker owes every party in a deal reasonable skill and care, honest and good faith dealing, timely presentation of written offers and notices, disclosure of known material facts, and an accounting for money received. A client gets a second layer on top of that: loyalty, timely disclosure of conflicts of interest, a push to seek expert advice on questions outside the broker's expertise, and confidentiality. That confidentiality outlasts the deal, so a broker cannot repeat what a client said about their real bottom line after closing.

Washington's agency statute calls this person a Principal, while listing paperwork, textbooks, and everyday office talk say client. Both names point at the same represented party inside one Agency Relationship.

How It Works in Washington

In Washington, representation is created on paper. RCW 18.86.020 requires the firm to enter a services agreement with the principal before, or as soon as reasonably practical after, the appointed broker begins rendering brokerage services. That agreement has to state its term, name the broker appointed as agent, say whether the relationship is exclusive or nonexclusive, and record whether the principal consents to limited dual agency. When the principal is a buyer, the default term is 60 days unless the parties choose a longer one.

The duties sit in three places. RCW 18.86.030 lists what a broker owes to a principal and to all parties, and states that those duties may not be waived. RCW 18.86.040 adds the seller's agent duties and RCW 18.86.050 adds the buyer's agent duties, including loyalty and a confidentiality obligation that continues even after the agency relationship ends. One Washington wrinkle catches people out: RCW 18.86.110 says these are statutory duties and not fiduciary duties, and that the chapter supersedes the common law fiduciary duties an agent owed a principal. Our guide to Washington's written services agreements walks through the form itself.

Example

Priya tours an open house in Spokane and asks the broker on duty, Marcus, about the roof and the schools. At that moment she is a Customer. Marcus owes her honesty and the material facts he knows, and nothing beyond that. Two days later Priya signs a buyer services agreement with Marcus's firm for a 60 day term, and she becomes a client.

The change bites right away. Priya tells Marcus she is preapproved to $625,000 but wants to open at $580,000 on a house listed at $599,000. As her agent, Marcus cannot hand the $625,000 figure to the listing broker, because confidentiality now applies. He writes the offer at $580,000, discloses in writing that he represents the buyer, and when the seller counters at $592,000, which is $7,000 under the asking price, he walks Priya through the comparable sales instead of steering her toward the quickest close. Had she stayed a customer, Marcus would still owe her honesty and known material facts, but not loyalty, and her $625,000 ceiling would not have been protected.

Common Mistakes and Exam Traps

• Client and customer are not two words for the same person; the client has signed a services agreement and the customer has not.
• The duties in RCW 18.86.030 are owed to every party, so a broker representing a client still owes the other side honesty and disclosure of known material facts.
• Paying the commission does not make someone a client, because representation comes from the services agreement rather than from who pays the fee.
• Washington brokers owe clients statutory duties, not common law fiduciary duties, so an answer built on the fiduciary label is wrong under RCW 18.86.110.