In a small market you often meet the listing office before you have an agent of your own. You call about a house, the agent who answers works for the brokerage that listed it, and the offer comes quickly: we can represent you too. This page explains what that offer can mean under Georgia law, neutrally, and what to ask before you say yes or no.
General information, not legal advice. The Georgia brokerage-law text on this page is summarized from a published copy of the code (each fact names its source and the date we checked it). For your own agreement or dispute, ask a Georgia attorney.
Three different answers to the same offer
One brokerage, both clients
Dual agency
One brokerage represents both the buyer and the seller as clients in the same deal, which Georgia allows only with both clients’ informed written consent.
- Both sides consent in writing
- Limits on what can be shared
- Same brokerage
Trade-off: Neither side gets an agent who is only theirs; ask exactly what the agent can and cannot do for you once both sides are clients.
A Georgia broker may act as a dual agent only with the written consent of all clients, and the consent must state, among other things, that the client does not have to agree to dual agency. O.C.G.A. 10-6A-12(a)
Same office, separate agents
Designated agency
The brokerage assigns one agent to you and another to the other side, and each designated agent represents only their own client.
- Your own agent
- Same brokerage
- Assigned in writing
Trade-off: The two agents share an office and a broker; ask how the brokerage keeps each side’s information separate.
A broker may assign different agents in the same firm to represent the buyer and the seller separately as designated agents; when that is done, the firm is not considered a dual agent. O.C.G.A. 10-6A-13(a)-(b)
The agent works for someone else
Customer (unrepresented)
You deal with an agent who represents the other side, so you are a customer, not a client: the agent advocates for their client.
- No agreement with you
- Agent works for the other side
- Ask before you share
Trade-off: Anything you tell the other side’s agent can help their client; keep your top price and your deadlines to yourself.
In Georgia a client is represented by a broker under a brokerage engagement; a customer is not represented, though the broker may perform ministerial acts for them. O.C.G.A. 10-6A-3(6) and (8)
When the listing office offers to work with you, it is proposing one of three things. It may become a dual agent and represent you and the seller at once. It may assign you a different licensee as a designated agent. Or it may treat you as a customer it helps without representing. Each has different rules.
Dual agency: one broker, two clients
What dual agency is and what it needs
- A dual agent is a broker who has a client relationship with both the seller and the buyer (or landlord and tenant) in the same transaction. O.C.G.A. 10-6A-3(10), checked 2026-10-19
- A Georgia broker may act as a dual agent only with the written consent of all clients, and the consent must state, among other things, that the client does not have to agree to dual agency. O.C.G.A. 10-6A-12(a), checked 2026-10-19
Two parts of the consent requirement matter most. The broker must have written consent from every client, so it cannot happen by default. And the consent must state that the broker represents two clients whose interests are or could be different or even adverse, and that you do not have to consent. Read that sentence when it is put in front of you; it is the law describing the trade-off.
Designated agency is not dual agency
Separate agents inside one firm
- A designated agent is a licensee assigned by the broker to represent only one client in a transaction, to the exclusion of the firm's other clients and licensees. O.C.G.A. 10-6A-3(9), checked 2026-10-19
- A broker may assign different agents in the same firm to represent the buyer and the seller separately as designated agents; when that is done, the firm is not considered a dual agent. O.C.G.A. 10-6A-13(a)-(b), checked 2026-10-19
With designated agency the firm assigns one licensee to you and another to the seller, each representing only their own client and excluded from the other side. When a broker does that, the statute says neither the broker, its licensees nor the firm is treated as a dual agent. Do not let anyone describe a designated arrangement as dual agency, or the reverse; ask which one it is.
Every office has a written policy
Every Georgia brokerage must adopt an office policy that either permits or rejects disclosed dual agency, and must disclose that policy. (O.C.G.A. 10-6A-12(f), checked 2026-10-19)
So the first question for any brokerage is simple: does your office policy permit or reject disclosed dual agency? If it rejects it, the firm cannot be your dual agent and will tell you how it handles a buyer who wants one of its listings. If it permits it, ask how the firm decides between dual and designated agency for a given deal.
What to ask when the listing office offers to represent you
- Is your office policy to permit or reject dual agency? Can I see it in writing?
- If I sign with your firm, will you be a dual agent, or will you assign me a designated agent?
- If designated: who is my agent, and who represents the seller?
- If dual: what will you not do for me that a buyer’s agent alone would do, given that the seller is also your client?
- How is your pay set in each option, and is it written in my agreement?
- Can I hire a buyer’s agent from another firm instead? (You can: consent is never required of you.)
Two rules behind those questions
- In Georgia, who pays or promises to pay a broker does not by itself decide whom the broker represents. O.C.G.A. 10-6A-11, checked 2026-10-19
- If a broker who already works with a client or customer enters a new brokerage relationship with them, the broker must timely disclose it to everyone involved in the transaction. O.C.G.A. 10-6A-4(b), checked 2026-10-19
The first fact means a seller paying the firm does not decide whom it represents; the written engagement and consents do. The second means that if a broker already working with you takes on a new relationship with you in the deal, it must disclose that to everyone involved in a timely way.
If you stay a customer
In Georgia a client is represented by a broker under a brokerage engagement; a customer is not represented, though the broker may perform ministerial acts for them. (O.C.G.A. 10-6A-3(6) and (8), checked 2026-10-19)
Staying a customer of the listing office is allowed. Keep in mind whose client the seller is. Share facts the paperwork needs, such as your lender and closing date, and keep your top price, your timeline and your reasons to yourself.
What every broker still owes
Under BRRETA a broker owes only the duties listed in the statute (unless the parties agree otherwise in a signed writing), is not deemed a fiduciary, and must exercise reasonable care. (O.C.G.A. 10-6A-4(a), checked 2026-10-19)
Whatever you choose, the broker owes the statutory duties and reasonable care, not open-ended fiduciary loyalty unless a signed writing says otherwise. That is one more reason to read the engagement itself instead of relying on how the arrangement is described aloud.
Weighing it
Neither choice is automatically right. A single office handling both sides means fewer people in the chain. Separate representation, through a designated agent or another firm, means the person negotiating for you has no other client in the deal. The statute’s own consent language tells you what you give up with dual agency; decide with that sentence in front of you.
For a worked small-town example, read dual agency in a small town. For all six relationships, see Georgia agency relationships.
Questions people ask
Is dual agency legal in Georgia?
Yes, with conditions. A Georgia broker may act as a dual agent only with the written consent of all clients, and the consent must state that the client does not have to agree to dual agency.
Source: O.C.G.A. 10-6A-12(a)
Is designated agency the same as dual agency?
No. A broker may assign different agents in the same firm to represent the buyer and the seller separately as designated agents. When that is done, the firm is not considered a dual agent.
Source: O.C.G.A. 10-6A-13(a)-(b)
How do I know whether a brokerage allows dual agency?
Ask for its office policy. Every Georgia brokerage must adopt an office policy that either permits or rejects disclosed dual agency, and must disclose that policy.
Source: O.C.G.A. 10-6A-12(f)
Next step
Add the office-policy question to your interview scorecard and ask it of every brokerage you talk to, including Gold Peach Realty, which publishes this guide.
Laws, forms and practices change. Every rule on this page links to the office or statute that sets it; confirm with that source, or a Georgia attorney, before you rely on it.
