Question 1

When do you hand a visitor the brokerage disclosure?

Accepted Answer

Wyoming is one of the few states that names the open house in the statute itself. Under W.S. 33-28-306(a) an open house showing, a preliminary conversation and a request for factual information are not discussions or arrangements incidental to a sale, so greeting people at the door and answering questions about the house does not by itself trigger the written disclosure. The moment the conversation moves past that into a discussion incidental to buying or selling, you have to give that person the written disclosure of the agency, intermediary and customer relationships first, and it carries a signature line for the buyer or seller to acknowledge receipt. Keep signed copies on the sign-in table, because subsection (c) also requires a licensee who has established an agency, subagency or intermediary relationship to give notice of that relationship to any other party to the transaction at the earliest reasonable opportunity. If a buyer or seller refuses to sign, the same section lets you document the refusal with your own signed acknowledgement and continue.

Question 2

Can you call a visitor after the open house?

Accepted Answer

Wyoming has no real estate specific follow-up rule, so the general telephone solicitation article in the Consumer Protection chapter is what governs the call. W.S. 40-12-302 bars an unsolicited sales call before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. local time where the person is, bars calling a number that has been on the national do-not-call list for more than sixty days, bars blocking your caller ID, and requires you to open the call with your name, your company, a number and address where you can be reached, and the fact that you are calling to sell. The definitions next door in W.S. 40-12-301 narrow what counts as unsolicited, excluding a call made in response to an express request of the person called and a call to someone you already have an established business relationship with, which is exactly what a sign-in sheet can record. So capture on the form whether the visitor actually asked you to follow up, and keep that record with the lead. Texts and automated dialing carry federal requirements on top of this section.

Question 3

Do you need a written buyer agreement before showing someone through?

Accepted Answer

Not to walk a visitor through the open house. Wyoming's statutory default is that everyone in the transaction is a customer until a written agreement says otherwise: W.S. 33-28-302(p) says a customer relationship exists unless single agency or an intermediary relationship is established through a written agreement, and subsection (b) says a licensee may act as an agent only pursuant to a written agreement with the seller or buyer. So hosting the door and showing an unrepresented visitor around does not make you their agent, and subsection (p) also says a licensee shall not owe any duty of confidentiality to a customer. The written agreement is what you need before you begin representing them, and under W.S. 33-28-306(b) no representation agreement is executed or valid until they have signed the relationship disclosure first, unless you document their refusal to sign as that section allows.

Question 4

What do you owe a visitor whose details you keep?

Accepted Answer

Wyoming has no open house specific privacy statute, so a sign-in list is governed by the general data rules in the Consumer Protection chapter. W.S. 40-12-502 puts the duty on any individual or commercial entity doing business in Wyoming that owns computerized data holding personal identifying information about a Wyoming resident: once you become aware of a breach you have to investigate in good faith, reasonably and promptly, and notify the affected residents as soon as possible if misuse has happened or is reasonably likely. W.S. 40-12-501 defines that information as a person's first name or first initial and last name combined with one or more of the data elements listed in W.S. 6-3-901(b)(iii) through (xiv). A telephone number sits outside that range, and an email address counts only when paired with a password or security answer that opens an online account, so a list of names, phone numbers and emails on its own usually sits outside the notice duty, which is a good reason not to collect more than you need at the door. Keep the list behind a login rather than on a passed-around clipboard, and remember that under W.S. 33-28-302 you owe a customer no duty of confidentiality, so what a visitor volunteers at an open house is not protected the way a client's information is.

Open house rules for Wyoming agents

When do you hand a visitor the brokerage disclosure?

Can you call a visitor after the open house?

Do you need a written buyer agreement before showing someone through?

What do you owe a visitor whose details you keep?

How this page is put together

Open house rules where you also work

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