Question 1

Do you have to hand every open house visitor an agency disclosure in Connecticut?

Accepted Answer

No, as long as you post it. Connecticut has a regulation written specifically for open houses that lets you cover walk-through visitors with a sign, poster, pamphlet or similar means that conspicuously discloses your agency relationship. That posting only holds while nobody talks specifics. If a personal meeting is held about a visitor's own real estate needs, the written disclosure required by section 20-325d has to be given at the beginning of that meeting rather than later.

Question 2

Can you call or text an open house visitor afterwards in Connecticut?

Accepted Answer

Only with their signed written permission. Section 42-288a bars a telemarketer from making a telephonic sales call to a consumer without prior express written consent, and the chapter defines a telephonic sales call to include text and media messaging, so a follow-up text is covered the same as a voice call. Prior express written consent is defined in CGS 42-284 as a written agreement that names the number, spells out how you will contact them, and bears the consumer's signature, so build that opt-in into the sign-in form instead of treating a phone number as permission. Calls are also limited to between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. local time, and once a visitor asks off your list you must stop calling, remove them, and not sell or pass their details to anyone else.

Question 3

Do you need a signed buyer agreement before working with an open house visitor in Connecticut?

Accepted Answer

Not to host them. A visitor can attend your open house and speak with you there with nothing signed. What triggers the requirement is touring: before you show that same person a home, in person or on a live virtual tour, they have to sign a written agreement with you first. Connecticut law has required written buyer-broker agreements since 1996, so the paperwork itself is not new here. Treat the open house as the conversation you get before anything is signed.

Question 4

What do you owe a visitor whose contact details you collected?

Accepted Answer

Treat the sign-in list as regulated data from the moment it exists. Connecticut requires anyone in possession of personal information about another person to safeguard it from misuse by third parties and to destroy, erase or make it unreadable before disposal. In practice that points away from a paper clipboard the next visitor can read straight down, and away from binning an old lead list intact at the end of the season. Show one visitor at a time, keep the list behind a login, and delete old lists rather than throwing them out readable. A violation is an unfair trade practice, and the Department of Consumer Protection may impose a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars per violation.

Open house rules for Connecticut agents

Do you have to hand every open house visitor an agency disclosure in Connecticut?

Can you call or text an open house visitor afterwards in Connecticut?

Do you need a signed buyer agreement before working with an open house visitor in Connecticut?

What do you owe a visitor whose contact details you collected?

How this page is put together

Open house rules where you also work

Your disclosure text, on the screen, at every open house