Legislation enacted during the 89th Texas Legislative Session has introduced significant changes to The Real Estate License Act (TRELA), which will affect how real estate professionals in Texas interact with buyers and tenants starting January 1, 2026. The updates require written agreements for buyer representation and create new rules for non-representation status during property showings.
Two new sections have been added to TRELA: Section 1101.562 allows license holders to show properties—including residential, farm and ranch, and commercial—to buyers or tenants without representing them, provided certain requirements are met. Under this section, license holders cannot provide opinions or advice about the property or transaction, nor perform other brokerage services for the buyer or tenant. They must also disclose if they represent the owner; if not, they must provide the Information About Brokerage Services (IABS) form to the buyer or tenant. The IABS form is being updated as of January 1, 2026, to reflect these new requirements.
Section 1101.563 now requires that a written agreement be established before any brokerage activities are performed for prospective buyers of residential property. This requirement does not apply to commercial purchasers or tenants—residential or commercial. A license holder must enter into a written agreement with a prospective residential buyer before showing any property or presenting an offer on their behalf.
Written agreements can take two forms: non-representation “showing-only” agreements that satisfy both sections 1101.562 and 1101.563, or representation agreements that meet the criteria of section 1101.563 alone. These agreements must specify the services provided by the license holder, include a termination date (no more than 14 days for non-representation agreements), state whether the agreement is exclusive or non-exclusive (with all non-representation agreements being non-exclusive), clarify if the license holder represents the buyer, outline compensation details including how it is determined, and clearly disclose that broker compensation is negotiable and not set by law.
The intent behind these changes is “to help protect consumers by requiring use of written agreements that clearly outline the obligations the license holder and prospective buyer owe to each other.”
For open houses, there are different requirements depending on whether an agent hosting is part of the listing broker’s office:
– If an agent from within the listing brokerage hosts an open house, no IABS form needs to be provided nor does a written agreement need to be entered into with prospective buyers; however, disclosure of representation must still occur.
– If an agent outside of the listing brokerage hosts an open house without representing the seller, they must provide both an IABS form and enter into a written agreement as required by section 1101.563(c) before showing any property—even if visitors already have representation elsewhere.
“If a buyer refuses to sign the agreement,” according to TRELA guidelines in effect January 2026, “then the agent cannot show the property,” meaning consumers who do not sign cannot view open houses hosted under these circumstances.
Brokers may establish their own policies regarding whether agents may host open houses for another brokerage.
Additionally, two references to subagency have been removed from TRELA as part of these legislative updates; while subagency remains legally recognized in general terms in Texas real estate law, its practical occurrence has been limited by this change.
