Connecticut Bill Targets Private Real Estate Listings

Lawmakers in Connecticut have joined other state legislators in seeking to establish a process to ensure public marketing of certain real estate listings. 

Connecticut legislators introduced Senate Bill 340 last week, sponsored by the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, which is a bipartisan committee composed of both state senators and representatives. A public hearing on the bill was held on Tuesday. 

Under the bill, any real estate agent representing a seller or a landlord involving the seller or landlord’s residential property containing one to four units must “publicly advertise or market the seller’s or landlord’s property for sale or lease, unless the seller or landlord completes and signs the Seller/Landlord Opt-Out of Real Estate Public Marketing form.”

According to the bill, public marketing includes publication of the listing through any medium that is “reasonably accessible to the general public and real estate licensees, that provides open and nondiscriminatory access to property information.” Additionally, the bill states that if a property is marketed through a private or limited access channel, concurrent marketing through a public channel must also occur. The bill says this will “promote transparency and ensure open and nondiscriminatory access to property information for all prospective buyers or tenants. 

The bill also includes a proposed version of the seller-opt out form. Through the form, the seller or landlord must acknowledge that by not publicly marketing their listing, prospective buyers may not be aware that the property is for sale and that the limited exposure may limit the number of offers they receive or lower the sales price on the property. The form also states that “excluding or limiting the ability for prospective buyers to tour the property may not be in the Seller’s best financial interest.” 

Hawaii bill

A similar bill in Hawaii also faced a hearing on Tuesday. Known as Hawaii Senate Bill 2806, the bill was introduced in late January and amended in mid-February. The bill is sponsored by four democratic state senators: Donovan Cruz, Michelle Kidani, Rachele Frenandez Lamosao and Chris Lee. 

If the bill is signed into law, no real estate broker in Hawaii would be allowed to list or offer the sale or lease of a residential property to a limited or exclusive group of buyers, brokers or agents, unless the property is also marketed to the general public at the same time. However, the bill does provide a carve out, allowing agents and sellers to use private marketing techniques when they are “reasonably necessary to protect the health or safety or the owner or occupant.” 

These two bills join similar ones introduced in both Washington and Illinois in recent months. All four of these bills could potentially hamper any possible uptick in private listing network usage by real estate brokers. 

The lawmakers sponsoring these bills, as well as Connecticut Realtors and Hawaii Association of Realtors, did not immediately return HousingWire’s request for comment.