A fiduciary is another name for your agent, your Realtor, in the same way that your lawyer would also be your fiduciary. The word fiduciary comes from the Latin root for trust (You see that in related words like fidelity-loyalty, or fideism.) If one is truly your agent you have entrusted him, you have confidence in him. And according to real estate law that makes you his or her principle . So, according to the law of agency, if your agent acts on behalf of your authority, he is also supposed to act according to your best interest in the deal wherein he has been retained.

But now, bear in mind, it s the broker of the company (the principle legally empowered directly by state authority), who, strictly speaking, is the fiduciary unto the clients. Even though the clients may never have met this broker, nevertheless he is the one they are entrusting. It s just that the broker and the salesperson with whom you are working have a general agency relationship. He acts as an agent for his broker - he is the interface between the client and the broker.

Industry Standards of Conduct; code of conduct or ethics - Each state has its own canons of professional ethics for real estate licensees. Briefly, a fiduciary relationship entails the following aspects:

• The agent must be obedient to all legal instructions
• This agent should be loyal to the interests of the principle above his own or others. And the agent must never make an offer of the owner s property without his full knowledge and consent, or on such terms as the owner has not already agreed.
• The agent must maintain confidentiality where expected
• The agent must disclose all pertinent facts to his principle. So, it is dishonest when the agent or broker fails to make it clear to all parties of the transaction who it is he represents must never receive remuneration from anyone in connection with the owner s property without the full knowledge of this owner. He should never receive monies from another party to the transaction he is agent for. He must never receive a kickback in connection with the owner s property, and he must never accept money from someone because of contracts he has let out on behalf of this owner, or accept money by reason of the owner s payouts.
• The agent must not commingle funds or steal, but keep a strict accounting. Laws again in most states require that a broker have a fiduciary or trust account where he holds client money in a transit sort of way. The important thing here is that none of his own money be ever entered into this account, or this trust money into his account, but the two must be kept strictly separate. He then must account to his client for all such monies, and handling.
• The agent must exercise a reasonable level of expertise and competence