The 2017 version of the buyer agency agreement offered versatility and flexibility in that it could readily be used for buyer agency or tenant representation or both. However, many Wisconsin REALTORS® found they did not often take advantage of the tenant representation provisions, and those provisions confused clients who were only interested in using the agency agreement for buyer agency.
WB-36 transformation
As a result, the 2017 version of the WB-36 Buyer Agency/Tenant Representation Agreement has been revised and is becoming a new, shorter WB-36 Buyer Agency Agreement. This evolution occurs this summer: the new edition of the WB-36 Buyer Agency Agreement has an optional use date of July 1, 2023, and a mandatory use date of September 1, 2023.
What is changing in the WB-36?
The content of the 2023 WB-36 Buyer Agency Agreement is largely the same as the content of its predecessor other than the fact that all references and provisions for tenant representation have been removed. Consequently, the new WB-36 is shorter: only six pages instead of seven. It is no longer necessary to strike “Buyer’s Agent” or “Tenant’s Representative” on the first line of the form. It is all about buyer agency.
The only new material comes near the end of the WB-36, where a new Wire Fraud Warning is placed just before the buyers’ signatures. The rest of the provisions are the same as before and should be familiar to those who have worked with the buyer agency agreement in the past. In other words, the new version is streamlined and simplified and should be easy to use for both licensees and buyers.
- Terminology simplification: Whereas the 2017 version of the WB-36 at times referred to “Client” when it was possible the party being referenced might be either a buyer or a tenant, that term has been removed from the definitions section of the new WB-36 and no longer appears other than in the mandatory language of the Disclosure to Clients section. Other places where the 2017 version speaks of a client now just say “buyer.” For example, the authorization to act as the buyer’s agent at the beginning of the form, and the boxed caution about the need to still pay the buyer’s firm even if the buyer works directly with others, just refer to the buyer — not a “Client” in sight.
- Fewer definitions: Because the references to tenants have been removed from the new WB-36, the section of definitions in the new WB-36 is shorter. Gone are the definitions of client, person acting on behalf of tenant, rental agreement and tenant. Simpler, cleaner and shorter!
Introducing the new WB-39 Tenant Representation Agreement
And what happened to the tenant provisions that were removed from the 2017 version of the WB-36 Buyer Agency/Tenant Representation Agreement? They have a new home in the new WB-39 Tenant Representation Agreement. The new WB-39 Tenant Representation Agreement has an optional use date of July 1, 2023, and a mandatory use date of September 1, 2023.
Think of the new tenant representation agreement as the counterpart to the new WB-36. If you start with the 2017 version of the WB-36, remove all of the provisions and references to buyer agency, move the tenant representation provisions that had been on page 6 of the 2017 agreement and put them on the first page where the buyer agency provisions had been, what you have is the new tenant representation agreement.
The balance of the content of the new WB-39 is largely the same as the content of the 2017 version of the WB-36 except that the buyer agency provisions are gone. As a result, the new WB-39 is shorter: only six pages instead of seven. The WB-39 is all about assisting a client looking for a rental property.
There are changes in terminology and fewer definitions. The only new material comes near the end of the WB-39 with a new Wire Fraud Warning placed just before the tenants’ signatures. In other words, the new version is streamlined and simplified for the ease of use of both licensees and tenants. The rest of the provisions are the same as before and should be familiar to those who have worked with the agreement for tenant representation situations in the past.
Watch for future news announcing when the WB-36 and WB-39 become available in Transactions (zipForm Edition) as well as in the WRA’s subscription-based PDF forms library at www.wra.org/FormsLibrary.
For those who need a nuts-and-bolts refresher as to the workings of the buyer agency agreement and how the tenant representation provisions work, see the June 2017 Legal Update, “Revised WB-36 Buyer Agency/Tenant Representation Agreement,” at www.wra.org/LU1706.
Not to fear, the WB-38 Commercial Buyer Agency/Tenant Representation Agreement remains available and is ideal for the client who focuses on the type and function of the property and is open to either a purchase or a lease. The WB-38 is discussed in the July 2017 Legal Update, “WB-38 Commercial Buyer Agency/Tenant Representation Agreement,” at www.wra.org/LU1707.