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12 Golden Gate U. L. Rev. 379 (1982)
Dual Agency in Residential Real Estate Brokerage: Conflict of Interest and Interests in Conflict

handle is hein.journals/ggulr12 and id is 393 raw text is: COMMENTS
DUAL AGENCY IN RESIDENTIAL
REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE:
CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND
INTERESTS IN CONFLICT
The most critical issue in today's real estate
transactions is the inherent conflict of interest
created by dual representation by the real estate
broker in the usual real estate transaction. The
problem is endemic in the common transaction
1
I. INTRODUCTION
The nature of the agency relationships between residential
real estate brokers and their clients has always been somewhat
paradoxical, very problematic, and fraught with potential fraud,
malfeasance, and serious conflicts of interest.2 Unsophisticated
vendors and purchasers of residential property rely heavily on
the expertise of real estate brokers in matters of price, terms,
financing, and the condition and habitability of the real property
in question despite the fact that conflicting loyalties and objec-
tives commonly exist between the real estate broker and the bro-
ker's clients.
The broker's role is no longer merely that of a salesperson
1. 1 H. MULLRR & M. STARR, CURRENT LAW O CALIFORNIA REAL EsTAT § 4:18, at 17
(Supp. 1981).
2. Litchfield, Unprofessional Conduct by Real Estate Brokers: Conflict of Interest
and Conflict in the Law, 11 PACIFIC L.J. 821 (1980). Litchfield quotes Justice Cardozo in
Roman v. Lobe, 243 N.Y. 51, 54, 152 N.E. 461, 462, (1926): The real estate broker is
brought by his calling into a relation of trust and confidence. Constant are the opportu-
nities by concealment and collusion to extract illicit gains. We know from our judicial
records that the opportunities have not been lost. See also Comment, A Reexamination
of the Real Estate Broker-Buyer-Seller Relationship, 18 WAYNE L. Rzv. 1343 (1972).

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