Dual Agency Informed Consent Form — Ohio 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 Ohio Edition: the template and its drafting notes are adapted for Ohio practice under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4735, Ohio's real estate license law, which requires brokerages to deliver a Consumer Guide to Agency Relationships and the Ohio Real Estate Commission's prescribed Agency Disclosure Statement before an offer is presented (ORC 4735.56–4735.58). Ohio permits dual agency with informed written consent and also recognizes "split agency," in which two licensees of one brokerage each represent one party while the brokerage and its management-level licensees act as dual agents (ORC 4735.70–4735.74) — so this edition's agency document remains a Dual Agency Disclosure & Informed Consent drafted as a supplement to the statutory statement, with Ohio's split-agency alternative built in. Seller disclosure follows the mandatory Ohio Residential Property Disclosure Form under ORC 5302.30, including the purchaser's three-business-day rescission right for late delivery; electronic execution relies on the Ohio Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, ORC Chapter 1306; and compensation provisions reflect ORC 4735.21 (payment only through the brokerage) and Ohio's commercial-only broker lien law. The regulator is the Ohio Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing. Ohio-specific drafting notes accompany the template for review before use.