Fiduciary duties an agent owes the principal

Put the principal's interests first

An agent's principal is the client the agent represents. California's agency disclosure law describes the fiduciary obligation as utmost care, integrity, honesty, and loyalty. A seller's agent owes that obligation to the seller; a buyer's agent owes it to the buyer. Payment of the commission does not by itself determine representation.

Turn duties into conduct

Remember loyalty, lawful obedience, disclosure, confidentiality, accounting, and reasonable care. Loyalty means placing the principal's interests ahead of the agent's personal gain, revealing conflicts, and avoiding secret profits. Lawful obedience means following the principal's authorized, lawful instructions rather than substituting the agent's preferred deal. Disclosure means communicating material information so the principal can make informed decisions, including information about offers and conflicts.

Confidentiality protects private bargaining information and does not simply disappear when the agency ends. Accounting means safeguarding and accurately tracking money and property entrusted to the agent. Care means competent, diligent performance: monitor deadlines, communicate accurately, and obtain qualified help when a matter exceeds the agent's expertise. These duties overlap; concealing a personal interest can violate both loyalty and disclosure.

Loyalty has lawful limits

California agents also owe both buyer and seller reasonable skill and care, honest and fair dealing, good faith, and disclosure of known material property facts that are not known to or within the diligent attention and observation of the parties. A seller's instruction to conceal a known hidden structural defect cannot excuse nondisclosure. Distinguish that defect from a seller's private willingness to accept less: a bargaining confidence is not the same as a material property defect.

Dual agency and shared responsibility

California permits dual agency with both parties' knowledge and consent. The dual agent owes fiduciary duties to both principals and cannot disclose either party's confidential financial position, motivation, or bargaining position to the other without that party's express permission. Consent to dual agency is not permission to disclose private price limits.

In California, a salesperson's duty to a party is equivalent to the responsible broker's duty to that party. Neither working through a salesperson nor delivering agency paperwork eliminates fiduciary responsibility. Buyers and sellers still need to read their agreements and protect their own interests; legal or tax questions call for a competent professional.