Agency Relationships in South Carolina
South Carolina requires early disclosure of brokerage relationships and recognizes designated agency within a firm. This chapter explains the disclosure and the recognized relationships, including dual and designated agency.
Brokerage Relationships Disclosure
South Carolina licensees must disclose the available brokerage relationships at the first practical opportunity, before eliciting or receiving confidential information from a consumer. The disclosure explains seller agency, buyer agency, designated agency, and dual agency so the consumer can decide how to proceed. Early disclosure protects consumers by clarifying who, if anyone, represents them.
Single Agency Roles
A seller's agent represents the seller and owes fiduciary duties of loyalty, confidentiality, obedience, disclosure, accounting, and reasonable care to that client; a buyer's agent owes the same duties to the buyer. In every relationship the licensee must deal honestly with the other party and disclose known material adverse facts about the property.
Dual and Designated Agency
Dual agency, where one licensee represents both buyer and seller, is allowed only with the written consent of both parties, and the licensee may not disclose one party's confidential information to the other. South Carolina also recognizes designated agency, in which the broker-in-charge assigns separate affiliated agents to represent the buyer and the seller within the same firm, allowing each client to receive advocacy.