Fiduciary

A fiduciary is a person or entity legally bound to put another party’s interests ahead of their own. Real estate agents and brokers who represent buyers, sellers, landlords, or tenants take on fiduciary duties: loyalty, confidentiality, disclosure, obedience, and reasonable care.

These duties carry legal weight, and breaching them can bring liability. That makes it worth knowing, in any deal, who actually holds a fiduciary obligation, as opposed to a transactional broker who moves a deal along without representing either side.