REBNY’s Buyer Agreement Mandate Is Here For New York City

New year, new REBNY rules.

The Real Estate Board of New York brokers representing buyers of resale and new development properties will be required to have a buyer’s broker agreement in place starting Jan. 13.

REBNY, which opted into the National Association of Realtors settlement under an option for non-Realtor MLSes in June, declined to comment on if it had finalized settlement terms or if the new requirement was a result of those negotiations.

For some agents in the city, the requirement may not change anything. National brokerages that are members of NAR have been required to use buyer agreements for listings on MLSes around the country since Aug. 17.

But even those brokerages are split in terms of what’s been required of them in New York thus far.

Brokerages like Compass and Douglas Elliman that settled separately did not include specific provisions requiring buyer agreements, meaning their agents in the city have not been bound by using them.

Some national companies, like Elegran | Forbes Global Properties, which were part of the NAR settlement, have been requiring buyer agreements from their agents since the August deadline, according to managing director Jared Antin.

Others like Corcoran, which was part of Anywhere Real Estate’s separate settlement, also began requiring buyer agreements ahead of the deadline.

“As far as I’m concerned and for our agents, this is no change for our business,” Antin said.

Despite this, Antin has been one of the more vocal critics of city agents’ unpreparedness for these changes and the lack of support they’ve received from REBNY as compared to NAR.

“The fact that REBNY hasn’t provided an overwhelming level of communication or support to the firms is part of the reason that there is a void of information,” Antin said.

One Compass agent had missed the email in his inbox entirely, while a Keller Williams agent initially didn’t think the email stated the agreements would be required.

Agents that flout the new rules may be subject to fines or expulsion from REBNY, and agents that were previously working with a buyer will still need to obtain a signed agreement by Jan. 13.

The residential powers that be

The changes are the latest in what has been a difficult stretch for real estate trade organizations writ large — a period that has left some agents wondering how costly an expulsion would even be.

The National Association of Realtors’ $418 million antitrust settlement and concomitant practice changes has irked its dues-paying brokerage community, and that frustration has seeped into New York City, which is ruled by REBNY.

At the start of 2024, REBNY decoupled commissions and removed buyer agent commission offers on its residential listing service, aligning itself with the proposed changes of the NAR settlement.

REBNY began suggesting the use of buyer agreements last year and introduced buyer-seller agreement templates, which University of Buffalo professor Tanya Monestier called “poorly drafted” due to its extensive legalese. The trade group hasn’t yet published any sample buyer agreements.

The rollout of the agreements around the city has happened so far in fits and starts, and has depended more on the brokerage, or even the team, than any far-reaching policy.

The preparation for the agreements, which has largely fallen on the shoulders of brokerages, has also been uneven, according to real estate coach and former executive Molly Townsend.

Larger brokerages that have been slow to return to the office have had a harder time reaching agents that may have checked out during the slow market of the past few years. Meanwhile, firms that rely more on lead generation — and therefore, buyer agents — have been more proactive in preparing their teams.

And boutique brokerages, which haven’t had to reckon with any changes until now, are “all over the map,” Townsend said.

Barbara Fox of Fox Residential said her firm has been using them since the summer, but questioned how compliant the city will be starting next week.

“If you have to say, ‘well, I’m really sorry, but I can’t work with you because you won’t sign my agreement’ — I mean, it ain’t gonna happen,”she said. “People aren’t going to do that. They’re supposed to. But I don’t see it happening.”