54.1-2133 - Licensees engaged by landlords to lease property.
§ 54.1-2133. Licensees engaged by landlords to lease property.
A. A licensee engaged by a landlord shall:
1. Perform in accordance with the terms of the brokerage relationship;
2. Promote the interests of the landlord by:
a. Conducting marketing activities on behalf of the landlord pursuant to thebrokerage agreement with the landlord. In so doing, the licensee shall seek atenant at the rent and terms agreed in the brokerage relationship or at arent and terms acceptable to the landlord; however, the licensee shall not beobligated to seek additional offers to lease the property while the propertyis subject to a lease or a letter of intent to lease under which the tenanthas not yet taken possession, unless agreed as part of the brokeragerelationship, or unless the lease or the letter of intent to lease soprovides;
b. Assisting the landlord in drafting and negotiating leases and letters ofintent to lease, and presenting in a timely manner all written leasing offersor counteroffers to and from the landlord and tenant pursuant to §54.1-2101.1, even when the property is already subject to a lease or a letterof intent to lease; and
c. Providing reasonable assistance to the landlord to finalize the leaseagreement.
3. Maintain confidentiality of all personal and financial informationreceived from the client during the brokerage relationship and any otherinformation that the client requests during the brokerage relationship bemaintained confidential, unless otherwise provided by law or the landlordconsents in writing to the release of such information;
4. Exercise ordinary care;
5. Account in a timely manner for all money and property received by thelicensee in which the landlord has or may have an interest;
6. Disclose to the landlord material facts related to the property orconcerning the transaction of which the licensee has actual knowledge; and
7. Comply with all requirements of this article, fair housing statutes andregulations, and all other applicable statutes and regulations which are notin conflict with this article.
B. Licensees shall treat all prospective tenants honestly and shall notknowingly give them false information. A licensee engaged by a landlord shalldisclose to prospective tenants all material adverse facts pertaining to thephysical condition of the property which are actually known by the licensee.As used in this section, the term "physical condition of the property"shall refer to the physical condition of the land and any improvementsthereon, and shall not refer to: (i) matters outside the boundaries of theland or relating to adjacent or other properties in proximity thereto, (ii)matters relating to governmental land use regulations, and (iii) mattersrelating to highways or public streets. Such disclosure shall be made inwriting. A licensee shall not be liable to a tenant for providing falseinformation to the tenant if the false information was provided to thelicensee by the landlord or was obtained from a governmental entity or from aperson licensed, certified, or registered to provide professional services inthe Commonwealth, upon which the licensee relies, and the licensee did not(i) have actual knowledge that the information was false or (ii) act inreckless disregard of the truth. No cause of action shall arise against anylicensee for revealing information as required by this article or applicablelaw. Nothing in this subsection shall limit the right of a prospective tenantto inspect the physical condition of the property.
C. A licensee engaged by a landlord in a real estate transaction may, unlessprohibited by law or the brokerage relationship, provide assistance to atenant, or potential tenant, by performing ministerial acts. Performing suchministerial acts that are not inconsistent with subsection A shall not beconstrued to violate the licensee's brokerage relationship with the landlordunless expressly prohibited by the terms of the brokerage relationship, norshall performing such ministerial acts be construed to form a brokeragerelationship with such tenant or potential tenant.
D. A licensee engaged by a landlord does not breach any duty or obligationowed to the landlord by showing alternative properties to prospectivetenants, whether as clients or customers, or by representing other landlordswho have other properties for lease.
E. Licensees shall disclose brokerage relationships pursuant to theprovisions of this article.
(1995, cc. 741, 813; 2006, c. 627; 2008, c. 741.)