The Buyer and Seller Advisory are Forms 10.1 and 10.2 in the Oregon REALTORS® Forms Library. These advisories cover a wide array of topics and provide your client with information to shield themselves from unscrupulous parties. By reading the advisories, clients can learn how to protect themselves from pitfalls such as wire fraud and Visual Artist Rights Act lawsuits. They also protect principal brokers and brokers should a dispute arise between client and agent.
For example, a Buyer wants to purchase a property, among other reasons, because the listing says “2,400 square feet.” The client does not look into the square footage and merely assumes that the listing was accurate. After closing, the Buyer measures the property and finds that it is, in fact, 2,200 square feet. In a fit of buyer’s remorse, the Buyer sues everyone they can sue, including their agent. The Buyer’s argument against their agent is, “You should have told me that the square footage in listings are just estimates; I really wanted that extra 200 feet and it’s your fault I don’t have it.” In the dispute, the broker can point to page 4 of the advisory, showing that the client was, in fact, told that square footage on listings are just estimates and are not to be relied upon.
To help manage risk for both clients and agents, Oregon REALTORS® has implemented two approaches to ensure that clients do in fact read the advisories. First, our residential purchase and sale agreement on lines 5-6 states in bold type “Buyer and Seller acknowledge that they have read and understand the Oregon REALTORS® Buyer and Seller Advisories, respectively.” Second, Forms 10.1 and 10.2 have a space for initials on every page of the document.
If you don’t want your client to go through the risk-management process of initialing every page of the advisory, Oregon REALTORS® has version of the advisory available with smaller font and no space for client initials. These smaller versions are available here. These shortened versions still require the client to sign on the last page, and the client will still be required in the purchase and sale agreement to acknowledge that they have read and understand the advisory, but the documents have no place for the client indicate on each page that they have reviewed that particular page. Your brokerage should decide which variant of the advisory you wish to use for your clients after weighing the pros and cons of each. Regardless of which variant of the advisories you use, we recommend building the advisories into your initial client consultation process.