3.1 Kansas Listing Agreements

What a Listing Agreement Does

A listing agreement is an employment contract that creates an agency relationship between a seller (the principal) and a real estate broker (the agent). In Kansas this relationship is governed by the Brokerage Relationships in Real Estate Transactions Act (BRRETA), KSA 58-30,101 et seq. The agreement authorizes the broker to market the property, defines how and when a commission is earned, and triggers the broker's fiduciary-style statutory duties: reasonable skill and care, accounting, confidentiality, and disclosure of adverse material facts.

Exam anchor: On the Kansas salesperson exam (110 questions: 80 national + 30 state, administered by Pearson VUE, 70 scaled passing on EACH section), listing-agreement items test exclusivity type, written-form requirement, and who owns the listing. Know that 'the broker' — never the salesperson — is the party to the contract.

Writing Requirement Under the Statute of Frauds

Kansas KSA 33-106 requires that any agreement to pay a commission for selling real estate be in writing and signed by the party to be charged. An oral listing is unenforceable — the broker cannot sue to collect a commission on a handshake deal. Required terms:

Trap: A listing that says 'until sold' or that auto-renews is a KREC violation. Kansas requires a definite termination date, and BRRETA bars listings that automatically extend without the seller's express written consent.

The Three Exclusivity Structures

Exclusive Right to Sell

The broker earns the commission if the property sells during the term no matter who procures the buyer — even if the seller finds the buyer personally. This is the most protective and most common structure, and the one Kansas brokerages prefer because it eliminates fee disputes.

Exclusive Agency

One broker is appointed, but the seller reserves the right to sell on their own with no commission owed. The broker is paid only if the broker or a cooperating agent procures the buyer. This invites disputes about who 'really' found the buyer.

Open Listing

The seller may give the same authorization to multiple brokers, and only the procuring cause broker is paid. The seller owes nothing if they sell it themselves. Least favorable to brokers; rare in residential practice.

Net Listings

In a net listing the seller sets a net amount and the broker keeps everything above it. Net listings are legal in Kansas but disfavored: the broker profits by pricing high or hiding the true value, breaching the duty of honesty. Best practice is full written disclosure, or avoid them entirely.

Ownership, MLS, and Termination

The listing is the brokerage's asset. If a salesperson changes firms, the listings stay with the original broker; the agent cannot carry them to a new office. Multiple Listing Service (MLS) participation is voluntary, requires the seller's authorization, and is the mechanism brokers use to offer cooperative compensation to buyer agents.

A listing terminates by: (1) expiration of the term, (2) performance — a closed sale, (3) mutual written cancellation, (4) destruction of the property, or (5) death/incapacity of the seller. A protection (safety) period — commonly 90 to 180 days — lets a broker collect a commission after expiration if a buyer the broker introduced later closes, but it is voided once the seller signs with a new brokerage. To rely on it, the broker should deliver the seller a written list of protected prospects before or at expiration.

Required BRRETA Disclosures

Beyond price and term, BRRETA requires the broker to give the seller a written brokerage relationship disclosure describing whether the firm acts as a seller's agent, a transaction broker, or in another capacity. Kansas heavily uses transaction brokerage, a non-agency relationship in which the broker assists both parties impartially without advocating for either. The listing must state the relationship chosen; a designated-agency or dual-agency arrangement requires informed written consent.

Commission Procuring Cause

When a dispute arises over who earned the fee, Kansas applies the procuring cause doctrine: the broker whose efforts set in motion the unbroken chain of events leading to the sale is entitled to the commission. A broker who merely showed the property once, then dropped out while another broker negotiated the deal, generally is not the procuring cause. These disputes between cooperating brokers are typically resolved through REALTOR® association arbitration rather than KREC, since KREC regulates licensing conduct, not fee-splitting between firms.