Real estate agents act for their vendors and have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their vendors. They are responsible for the presentation and documentation for the sale of a property, as well as the collecting of rents and paying expenses related to property management.
On the selling side real estate agents follow trust accounting procedures because they receive the initial deposits from purchases on behalf of the vendor. Funds can only be deducted from the trust account when the vendor agrees and one of the biggest payments from the trust account is the real estate sales commission.
Another area where real estate agents differ from many other businesses is that agents are often paid on a debit credit system. This system involves prepayment to ensure that an agent can earn an income to survive and then deductions from commission payments for any payments already made.
