Consent for Dual Agency & Intra-Company Agent Designation — Maryland Edition Template

Dual agency — one brokerage (or one agent) representing both buyer and seller in the same transaction — is the most heavily regulated conflict of interest in residential real estate. A handful of states ban it outright; the rest permit it only with the informed written consent of both parties, obtained after meaningful disclosure of what the parties are giving up. Get the consent wrong and the consequences stack fast: license discipline, commission forfeiture, and rescission or damages claims grounded in breach of fiduciary duty. Courts have long treated undisclosed dual agency as a fiduciary breach that can void the broker's right to any commission.

This 4-page Informed Consent form does the disclosure properly rather than minimally. It explains in plain language what agency representation normally includes (undivided loyalty, full disclosure, advocacy on price and terms); exactly which duties are limited in dual agency (the agent cannot advocate for either side on price, cannot disclose one party's willingness to pay more or accept less, cannot share confidential negotiating positions); what duties remain intact (honesty, disclosure of material property facts, accounting, confidentiality); and the designated agency alternative where the brokerage appoints separate agents for each party, where state law permits. Both buyer and seller sign separate acknowledgment and consent blocks, with transaction-specific identification and timing language confirming consent was obtained before or at the point dual agency arose.

The 50-state notes summarize the landscape: consent-based regimes (e.g., New York's RPL § 443 disclosure form with dual agency consent), designated agency states, transaction-brokerage states that replace agency entirely, and the states where dual agency is prohibited. This template supplements — and in states with mandatory statutory forms, accompanies — the state-prescribed disclosure. Not a substitute for your state's required form where one exists.

About this Maryland Edition: the template and its drafting notes are adapted for Maryland practice under the Maryland Real Estate Brokers Act, Md. Code, Bus. Occ. & Prof. Title 17, administered by the Maryland Real Estate Commission. Maryland permits dual agency only as broker-level dual agency with intra-company agents designated for buyer and seller, so the consent document in this edition is drafted as a Dual Agency / Intra-Company Agent Consent and pairs with the Commission's "Understanding Whom Real Estate Agents Represent" disclosure. The Seller Property Condition Disclosure is a supplemental instrument that references (and does not replace) the statutory Disclosure/Disclaimer statement required by Md. Code, Real Prop. § 10-702, and adds Maryland items such as private water and septic, pre-1978 rental lead registration, Chesapeake Bay Critical Area, and condominium/HOA resale disclosures. Electronic signatures are addressed under the Maryland Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, Md. Code, Com. Law Title 21. Not legal advice; have a Maryland-licensed attorney review before use.