Brokerage Relationships in Wyoming
Wyoming's brokerage-relationships law is distinctive: a licensee is presumed to work with a consumer as a customer, not an agent, until a written agency agreement is signed. This chapter explains the required disclosure and Wyoming's recognized relationships.
Real Estate Brokerage Disclosure
Wyoming licensees must give a written brokerage disclosure to a consumer at the first reasonable opportunity, before eliciting or receiving confidential information. Under Wyoming law a licensee is presumed to be working with a consumer as a customer, not as that consumer's agent, unless and until a written agency agreement is signed. The disclosure explains this presumption and the relationships a consumer may choose.
Customer Versus Agent
A licensee working with a customer owes honesty, reasonable care and skill, disclosure of known adverse material facts, and accounting for money, but does not owe the fiduciary duties of an agent. When a written agency agreement is signed, the licensee becomes the consumer's agent and additionally owes loyalty, obedience, confidentiality, and full advocacy. Understanding this distinction is central to Wyoming practice.
Dual Agents and Intermediaries
Wyoming recognizes seller agents, buyer agents, dual agents, and intermediaries. A dual agent represents both the buyer and the seller and may act only with the written consent of both parties, without disclosing one party's confidential information to the other. An intermediary assists both parties in a transaction without being the agent of either, providing a neutral option when full representation of both sides is not chosen.