What is Dual Agency (Hogging)?

Does Your Real Estate Agent Really Work For You?

If you're shopping for a home without a home to sell first, you might not have a relationship with a real estate agent. You may find yourself touring “open houses” on the weekend, checking the sales ads in the local paper or listings online. When you find a house that looks promising you jot down the number and call the listing agent, right? Nothing could be easier.
The agent is happy to show you the house. You agree to meet and walk through the property. As the agent shows you the property, she asks whether you are working with an agent. You reply that you don't have an agent.

Dual agency and conflict of interest

At this point, the agent may ask you if you are interested in the house and whether you want her to represent you in the transaction, too. Naturally, the real estate agent or broker is motivated by the commission to help you. If she represents the seller and the buyer then she doesn't have to share the commission with another agent or broker. It's a powerful and deceptive temptation to many agents. In the business we call this “Hogging” the transaction. Greed is the motivation.
This sets up a conflict of interest. When the agent wrote up the listing agreement with the seller, the agent agreed to represent the seller as their agent. The term "agency" is heavily freighted and carries many responsibilities toward the seller. The agent has a legal and ethical commitment to the seller to try to get the best possible price for their home among many other professionally mandated obligations. The primary rule of real estate is that the agent must be loyal to the principal—in this case, the seller. It is, after all the seller that is paying the agent’s commission once the house is sold.
In a dual agency transaction, when the agent attempts to act as the agent for both the seller and the buyer, he or she is creating a deal in which there are two principals. The first casualty of this effort is to compromise the loyalty he has to both. Whilst in Minnesota, this is not illegal (if it has been disclosed to seller and buyer) it’s certainly unethical. Like having a lawyer representing the same client for defense and prosecution.
When you’re working with an agent make sure that this person is only representing you and is on your side.

Carbon Monoxide Detectors Required in Minnesota Homes

Carbon monoxide detectors required in Minnesota homes by new law
A grieving family, safety advocates and the alarm industry pushed for the bill, which Gov. Pawlenty signed into law.

(The following has been reprinted with permission from the Star Tribune)

Every home in Minnesota and many apartments will be required to have carbon monoxide detectors near every bedroom under a new law that was backed by safety advocates and that the alarm industry had a key role in getting passed. The gas detectors, which typically cost $20 to $50, are supported by the Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association. Advocates say they could save 100 lives a year in Minnesota and spare many others from serious illness stemming from carbon monoxide, a silent and invisible killer. The new requirement quietly became part of an omnibus public safety bill that Gov. Tim Pawlenty recently signed into law. Eight other states have passed similar laws in recent years. New homes and apartments will need to have detectors within 10 feet of each bedroom beginning in 2007. Owners of existing homes must comply with the same installation requirement by August 2008, and owners of existing apartment buildings by August 2009. But an exception in the law allows owners of new and existing apartment buildings to install detectors near furnaces that are connected to alarms that can be heard throughout the building. Though widely recommended, detectors had not been legally required in Minnesota.

"It's just common sense," said David Griggs of Cannon Falls, whose granddaughter's death two years ago from carbon monoxide poisoning inspired him to push for the law. Griggs' son, Jason, 36, was awakened in the middle of the night when his wife fell unconscious after getting out of bed. He called 911. Waiting for the paramedics, "I started to get really ill, violently ill," he recalled. Improper ventilation of their furnace combined with a downdraft resulted in a carbon monoxide build-up in the Griggs home in Orono. Paramedics saved Griggs, his wife, Melissa, and their 6-month old daughter, but couldn't revive 3¬year-old Hannah. David Griggs began his campaign for detectors near the end of last year's legislative session, and it gained momentum this year. "It was an eye-opening and educational experience for me," Griggs said, adding, "The whole lobbyist thing, and the legislators, it was pretty impressive to see the machinery work."

Safety advocates and the Griggs family were not the only ones supporting passage of the law. The alarm industry, which stands to expand its market because of the requirement, pushed for it. David Griggs said a key supporter was Douglas Franzen, who registered in April as a lobbyist for an association rep¬resenting First Alert, a major manufacturer of carbon monoxide alarms headquartered in Illinois. The bill passed 129-3 in the House and 65-0 in the Sen¬ate in late May. Rep. Denny McNamara, R Hastings, who sponsored a detector bill in the House, said that after he introduced it, Franzen approached him. "He said, 'Denny, we have an interest in the bill because we manufacture those.' He was interested in how the bill would impact their industry." "He was helping us to pass the legislation," McNamara said. David Griggs said Franzen was "very helpful. ... He knew the process there. I just watched, went along for the ride. He knew the people and who to talk to." Franzen could not be reached for comment about his role. A lobbyist for a multifamily-housing association was less enthusiastic about the bill, but supported it after several modifications, including delaying its application to existing apartment buildings until 2009, McNamara said.

Lawsuits are a threat
Another supporter was Marty Scheerer, the Edina fire chief and a member of the legislative committee for the Fire Chiefs Association. "It saves lives," he said of the detection equipment. McNamara's bill initially floundered but resurfaced in a compromise with the Senate. McNamara's brother-in-law died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a northern Minnesota cabin about six years ago. McNamara said the requirement was approved in part be¬cause the devices have become more reliable and less costly. The law does not include financial penalties for failure to comply. But an apartment building lacking a detector could be vulnerable to a lawsuit, just as the owner of a building without a smoke detector might be today. "I wouldn't want to be a building owner that willfully bypassed the law and had an accident happen," McNamara said.