The Texas buyer representation agreement: what the law requires
From January 1, 2026, Texas law requires a written agreement with a buyer before a license holder shows the buyer a home. This page covers when you need that agreement, what it must state, the agreement for showings only, compensation on the TREC resale contract, the IABS notice, and intermediary status. It also shows the buyer agreement rules of the Dallas and Houston MLSs (NTREIS and HAR). Every fact comes from a Texas statute, a TREC rule, a TREC form, TREC's website, or an MLS rule, and links to its source.
Every fact links to its source. Checked Oct 3, 2026
The written agreement and compensation
From January 1, 2026, when you perform any act of real estate brokerage for a prospective buyer of residential real property, you must enter into a written agreement with the buyer before you show any residential real property or, when no property will be shown, before you present an offer for the buyer. Here, residential real property is a single-family house, a duplex, triplex, or quadraplex, or a condominium or cooperative unit. (Source: Texas Statutes)
The agreement states the services, the termination date, whether it is exclusive or non-exclusive, whether you represent the buyer as the buyer's agent or do not (when the only act is a showing under Section 1101.562), and the amount or rate of the broker's compensation and how it is determined. It discloses in conspicuous language that broker compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable. (Source: Texas Statutes)
A showing-only agreement may not be exclusive and may not end more than 14 days after it is made. Further services need a separate agreement. (Source: Texas Statutes)
On TREC No. 20-19 (Paragraph 12B), brokerage compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable, and each party pays its own broker under its separate written agreement. The parties may check that the seller pays a stated amount or percentage of the Sales Price toward the compensation the buyer owes the buyer's broker, or that the buyer pays toward the seller's broker. A contribution does not change what each party owes under its agreement. (Source: TREC)
TREC's 2026 contract form changes, mandatory from July 1, 2026, include revised broker compensation language in Paragraph 12. (Source: TREC)
The IABS notice
At the first substantive communication with a party about a proposed transaction for specific real property, you give the party a written notice, in at least 10-point font. It describes how a broker can represent a party (including as an intermediary), the broker's duties to a party it represents and to a party it does not represent, and the name, license number, and contact information of the license holder and, if applicable, the supervisor and the broker. (Source: Texas Statutes)
The notice is not required for a residential lease of less than one year when no sale is considered, for a party you know another license holder represents, or for a talk at an open house about that property. When you represent a party, you also disclose that, orally or in writing, at the first contact with another party or that party's license holder. (Source: Texas Statutes)
TREC Rule 531.20 adopts the Information About Brokerage Services notice, TREC No. IABS 1-2, and requires you to give the completed IABS at that first substantive communication. You may give it in person, by first class mail or overnight courier, in the body of an email, or as an email attachment or link with a specific reference to the IABS in the body of the email. The link may not be in a footnote or signature block. (Source: TREC)
Intermediary status and its consent
A broker who agrees to represent both a buyer and a seller in a transaction must agree to act as an intermediary. The duties of an intermediary under this subchapter of the license act replace a license holder's duties under any other law, including common law. (Source: Texas Statutes)
A broker may act as an intermediary only with the written consent of each party, and the consent states the source of any expected compensation. A buyer representation agreement that authorizes intermediary status is enough consent if it states, in conspicuous bold or underlined print, the conduct Section 1101.651(d) prohibits. An intermediary acts fairly and impartially. (Source: Texas Statutes)
When the written consent authorizes it and the broker gives written notice of the appointment to all parties, an intermediary broker may appoint an associated license holder to communicate with and carry out the instructions of one party, and another associated license holder for the other party. An appointed license holder may give opinions and advice in negotiations to the party it is appointed to. (Source: Texas Statutes)
An intermediary, and each appointed license holder, may not tell the buyer that the seller will accept less than the asking price, or tell the seller that the buyer will pay more than the written offer, unless that party instructs otherwise in a separate writing. It may not disclose confidential information, or information a party told it in writing not to disclose, unless the party instructs otherwise in a separate writing, the law or a court order requires it, or the information materially relates to the property's condition. (Source: Texas Statutes)
Dallas and Houston MLS rules on buyer agreements
NTREIS MLS Rule 10.04: unless state or federal law is inconsistent, a participant working with a buyer signs a written agreement with the buyer before touring a home. The agreement conspicuously states the amount or rate of compensation from any source, or how it is set, in a way that is objectively ascertainable and not open-ended. It bars the participant from receiving more than that from any source, and states that broker fees and commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable. (Source: ntreis.net)
HAR MLS Rule 5.0.1: unless state or federal law is inconsistent, a participant working with a buyer signs a written agreement with the buyer before touring a home. It states the compensation amount or rate, or how it is set, in a way that is objectively ascertainable and not open-ended; it bars compensation from any source above that amount; and it states that broker fees are not set by law and are fully negotiable. Not following Rule 5.0.1, or not giving the MLS the buyer agreement within 2 days of a request, is a $500 charge. (Source: content.harstatic.com)
Not on this page
The services, the term, and the compensation of a given buyer agreement: read the agreement itself.
The text of the IABS notice: TREC No. IABS 1-2 sets it.
Who is owed compensation in a dispute between brokers: your broker or an attorney.
The rules of an MLS other than NTREIS or HAR: Reddy has no reviewed rule.
