2.3 Agent Duties in Nebraska

Nebraska statute splits a licensee's obligations into two tiers: the duties owed to clients (the party the licensee represents) and the duties owed to all parties in the transaction. Knowing which duty belongs to which tier is one of the most reliably tested concepts on the state portion.

Duties Owed to the Client

A licensee representing a client owes these statutory duties - the same loyalty-based set you learn for the national portion, codified in Nebraska law:

The confidentiality duty in detail

Confidentiality protects information whose disclosure could weaken the client's position, including:

• The client's motivation to buy or sell (e.g., a divorce or job relocation forcing a quick sale)
• The client's financial position (unless disclosure is authorized)
• Negotiating strategy and the price the client will actually accept or pay
• Any other information the client shares in confidence

When confidential information MAY be disclosed

Confidential information may be revealed only when:

1. Disclosure is required by law (or by a duty owed to the client),
2. The information has become public through other means, or
3. The client authorizes disclosure in writing.

Trap: Confidentiality generally survives the end of the relationship. You cannot later reveal a former client's bottom-line price to a new client.

Duties Owed to ALL Parties

Regardless of whom a licensee represents, Nebraska imposes baseline duties to everyone in the transaction. These prevent a represented agent from cheating the other side.

Timely presentation of offers

All Nebraska licensees must present all written offers in a timely manner - and must continue to present subsequent offers even after one is accepted, unless the seller instructs otherwise in writing. An agent may not bury a competing offer to favor a preferred buyer.

Personal-Interest Disclosure

A licensee must provide timely written disclosure to all parties when acting on behalf of:

• Themselves (buying or selling their own property),
• A member of their immediate family, or
• Any entity in which the licensee has a personal interest.

This applies whether the licensee is a buyer or a seller in the deal. The goal is transparency: the other party must know the licensee is not a disinterested professional.

Compensation Disclosure

A licensee shall not accept compensation from more than one party to a transaction without full written disclosure to all parties. This prevents hidden conflicts where an agent is quietly paid by both sides.

Dual-Agent Limitations Recap

Because a dual agent represents both parties, their duties are narrowed to preserve neutrality:

Exam framing: If a question asks which duty is owed to all parties, the answer is honesty, timely offer presentation, or material-fact disclosure - never loyalty or confidentiality of strategy, which are owed only to the client.

The Two Tiers Side by Side

The pattern to memorize: advocacy-based duties (loyalty, confidentiality, obedience) flow only to the client; fairness-based duties (honesty, offer presentation, material-fact disclosure) flow to everyone. A buyer's agent owes the seller honesty and must present the seller every written offer, but owes the seller no loyalty.

Worked Scenarios

Scenario 1 - confidential motivation. Your seller-client confides they are divorcing and need a fast sale at almost any price. A buyer's agent asks why the seller is selling. You may say the property is for sale; you may not reveal the divorce or the seller's willingness to accept less, because loyalty and confidentiality protect that information. Disclosing it would breach your duty to the client.

Scenario 2 - a known defect. You represent the seller, but you personally saw water staining and learned of a past basement flood. Even though your loyalty runs to the seller, you owe all parties disclosure of known material defects. You must disclose the flooding history to the buyer regardless of what the seller's disclosure form says.

Scenario 3 - a late competing offer. A higher written offer arrives after your seller verbally favored an earlier one but before any acceptance. You must present the new written offer timely; you cannot suppress it to favor your preferred buyer, because timely offer presentation is owed to all parties (and obedience runs to the seller only as to lawful instructions).

Why the Distinction Matters

Misjudging which tier a duty falls into is how agents get disciplined. Revealing a client's bottom line breaches confidentiality; hiding a known defect breaches the universal duty to disclose material facts; burying a competing offer breaches timely presentation. Each is a separate ground for discipline under the License Act. Mastering the two-tier model is therefore both an exam skill and a malpractice shield.

Memory hook: Picture two rings. The inner ring (client) gets everything - loyalty, confidentiality, obedience, plus honesty and fairness. The outer ring (everyone else) gets the fairness floor only - honesty, material-fact disclosure, and timely offer presentation.