Written, complete, dated, copied
The engagement turns a party into a client, so Georgia regulates its form. Rule 520-1-.06(1) requires each exclusive brokerage agreement to fully set forth its terms and have a definite expiration date, and requires the licensee securing it to furnish a true copy to each person signing it.
Not required: recording in the county where the property lies, automatic renewal, or qualifying broker approval within ninety days. Automatic renewal is merely permissible, and only if the renewal terms are clearly set out. The ninety-day idea confuses this with the broker's duty under O.C.G.A. 43-40-18 to review executed documents within 30 days.
No net listings
Rule 520-1-.06(1) prohibits brokers from accepting net brokerage engagements and requires the broker to add the broker's fee, thereby notifying the client of the gross price.
A seller who says "get me $300,000 and keep the rest" is proposing a prohibited arrangement. Disclosing it on the MLS does not cure a prohibition. A signed written waiver fails because a client cannot waive a protection aimed at clients. Capping the excess over $300,000 at the usual commission rate still defines compensation by the excess over a net figure, which is what the rule bans.
A missing expiration date has two consequences
- O.C.G.A. 10-6A-9 terminates the engagement one year after initiation.
- O.C.G.A. 43-40-25(b)(18) makes failing to include a fixed date of expiration in a written listing, and failing to leave a copy with the principal, an unfair trade practice.
The listing is not void from the beginning with no commission ever earned — a regulatory violation is not automatic voidness. There is no six-month default term.
Engagements do not run with the land
Georgia rule: since January 1, 2024, O.C.G.A. 10-6A-10(b) bars an engagement from purporting to create a recordable lien or encumbrance, from running with the land, or from binding future owners. A listing cannot be recorded against title and does not survive a sale to bind the new owner until cancelled.