Florida Brokerage Relationships
Florida uses a distinctive brokerage-relationship framework: transaction broker is the default, single agency is available with notice, and dual agency is prohibited. This chapter covers the relationships, their duties, and transitions.
Transaction Broker Default
In a residential transaction, a Florida licensee is presumed to operate as a transaction broker unless a single-agent or no-brokerage-relationship notice is given. A transaction broker provides limited representation to a buyer or seller without being that party's fiduciary. Florida abolished the presumption of subagency and prohibits true dual agency.
Duties of Each Relationship
A transaction broker owes limited duties: dealing honestly and fairly, accounting for all funds, using skill/care/diligence, disclosing known material facts that are not readily observable, and limited confidentiality. A single agent owes the fuller set of fiduciary duties, including loyalty, confidentiality, obedience, and full disclosure. Knowing which duties attach to which relationship is central to the Florida broker exam.
Transitioning Relationships
A single agent may transition to a transaction broker within the same transaction only after obtaining the principal's consent through the statutory Consent to Transition to Transaction Broker notice. This lets a firm continue assisting both sides as transaction brokers without acting as a prohibited dual agent. The consent must be obtained before the transition.