Agency Disclosure and Dual Agency in New Hampshire
New Hampshire requires licensees to explain the available agency relationships to consumers using a Commission brochure and to obtain informed consent before acting as a dual agent. This chapter covers disclosure timing and the rules a supervising broker must enforce across a firm.
The Agency Relationship Brochure
New Hampshire licensees must provide consumers with the Commission's brochure describing agency relationships and must make the disclosure at the first regular business meeting, before the consumer discloses confidential information. The disclosure explains seller agency, buyer agency, disclosed dual agency, and non-agency roles so the consumer can choose how to be represented. Providing the brochure is informational and does not by itself create an agency relationship.
Disclosed Dual Agency
New Hampshire permits disclosed dual agency, in which a firm represents both the seller and the buyer in one transaction, only with the informed written consent of both parties. A dual agent must not reveal one party's confidential negotiating information, such as the highest price a buyer will pay, to the other. The principal broker is responsible for ensuring affiliated licensees follow the firm's dual-agency policy and document consent.
Broker Oversight of Agency Compliance
Because agency errors expose the firm to liability, the supervising broker must train affiliated licensees on when and how to make the disclosure and how to manage in-house transactions where designated agency may be used. Consistent, documented disclosure protects both the consumer and the brokerage from later claims that representation was misrepresented or that confidential information was misused.