Disclose the relationship before anyone makes an offer
A party cannot weigh what a licensee says without knowing whom the licensee works for, so Georgia sets an outside deadline. Rule 520-1-.06(4) requires disclosure in a timely manner, but in any event not later than the time that any party first makes an offer to purchase, sell, lease or exchange real property.
First substantive contact is best practice, not the rule's limit. The closing statement is far too late and violates 43-40-25(b)(30). There is no three-day-after-binding-agreement window.
Georgia has no mandatory seller disclosure form
Georgia rule: unlike states that mandate a statutory form, Georgia follows caveat emptor with a duty to disclose known latent material defects not discoverable by reasonable inspection. No statute requires a written seller's property disclosure statement; the GAR Seller's Property Disclosure Statement is customary, not statutory.
There is no twelve-month window limiting disclosure to recently discovered defects, and the duty is not the listing broker's alone — the seller has an independent obligation regarding latent defects and passive concealment.
Deaths on the property
O.C.G.A. 44-1-16 creates no cause of action for failing to disclose a homicide, felony, suicide or other death on the property. But when asked, the owner or licensee must answer truthfully to the best of that person's individual knowledge, unless answering would violate fair housing law.
So refusing to answer is not permitted, volunteering to every prospect before showing is not required, and the seller's written permission is not a precondition — a seller cannot instruct the licensee to conceal the truth.
Unlicensed assistants stay ministerial
Rule 520-1-.07 limits unlicensed support personnel to ministerial duties requiring no discretion: answering phones, scheduling appointments, assembling documents for the licensee.
Cross that line and it is unlicensed activity. Cold-calling expired listings is solicitation of brokerage business. Hosting an open house and answering buyers' questions about the property means showing property and giving real estate advice. Negotiating the commission rate with a prospective seller is negotiating compensation. All three require a license.