Question 1

Do you need a signed agency disclosure from every open house visitor?

Accepted Answer

North Dakota answers this directly, and the answer is no. The rule that governs one-to-four family homes says a licensee does not have to get written notice to each prospective buyer who walks into an open house, on the condition that the agency relationship is conspicuously disclosed by a sign, a poster, distributed listing literature, or a property description form. So the compliance step is a physical thing you set out before the first visitor arrives: a sign or a line on the flyer saying you represent the seller. The exemption is only for the walk-through. The same section still requires a written disclosure, offered for signature, to an unrepresented visitor before you discuss their personal financial information or start negotiating, so the moment the conversation turns to what they can afford or what they would offer, the sign has stopped being enough and you hand them the form.

Question 2

Can you call or text a visitor after the open house?

Accepted Answer

North Dakota's telephone solicitation law defines a solicitation to include text messages, not just voice calls, and covers communication encouraging the purchase of property. Two exemptions are the ones that matter at a sign-in table: the visitor's prior express written request or consent, and an established personal or business relationship. That makes the consent checkbox on your sign-in form the thing that does the work, so word it as permission to call and text, and keep the record of it. If you are relying on consent rather than an existing relationship, the rest of the chapter still applies: no calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at the subscriber's location, no solicitation to a number that has been on the attorney general's do-not-call list or the national registry for at least 31 days, and you have to state your true first and last name, your phone number, your city and state, and the name of the business you are calling for at the beginning of the call. One trap worth knowing: the exemption for a caller who will finish the sale at a later face-to-face meeting is written to exclude text messages, so it will not cover a follow-up text.

Question 3

Does an open house visitor have to sign a buyer agreement first?

Accepted Answer

Not to look at the house. North Dakota has required a signed buyer's broker agreement on one-to-four family homes since 1994, well before the NAR settlement, and the trigger is written as performing any act as a buyer's representative, not as meeting someone. Hosting an open house for your seller and showing a visitor through it is you acting for the seller, and the agency sign in the entryway is what covers you there. The line is the moment you agree to work for that visitor: writing their offer, or taking them out to see other homes. Get the agreement signed before that, and note the code requires it in writing with a definite expiration date, the amount of compensation, and a clear statement of the services and of what entitles you to be paid.

Question 4

What are you on the hook for once you have their details?

Accepted Answer

The North Dakota rule that reaches a sign-in list is the breach notice law, and what it costs you depends entirely on which fields you ask for. It only bites on an individual's name combined with one of a listed set of data elements, and that list runs past the usual social security number, driver's license and financial account number to include date of birth and mother's maiden name. A sign-in sheet holding a name, phone number and email sits outside that definition, which is a good reason to keep the form to those fields and skip the birthday. If you do collect a listed element and the data is breached, you have to notify every affected North Dakota resident without unreasonable delay, and notify the attorney general as well once a breach exceeds 250 individuals.

Open house rules for North Dakota agents

Do you need a signed agency disclosure from every open house visitor?

Can you call or text a visitor after the open house?

Does an open house visitor have to sign a buyer agreement first?

What are you on the hook for once you have their details?

How this page is put together

Open house rules where you also work

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