“The seller told me – so it must be true.” Don’t bet on it. At least not without checking first.
President Reagan wasn’t the only one to say, “Trust; but verify.” Under California law, a real estate broker has an obligation to independently verify information passed on to a client OR, advise a client of the fact that information being passed on by the broker has not been independently verified by the broker (when it hasn’t been) and to also advise the principal to independently verify the information if it is material. If the agent doesn’t make that advisory statement and the information passed on is proven false, even if the agent didn’t know it at the time, the agent has liability to the principal for any damage the principal suffers.
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