Perhaps your wording is confusing Seller's disclosure with agent fiduciary obligation. Did he disclose something about the property or something about the purchase structure? If it's about property disclosure - you'll likely lose because the law is pretty solid on not hiding anything which affects the material value of the property. Disclosing is cheaper than a lawsuit and real estate law forces agents/sellers to do so whether it's in their best financial interests or not. Besides which, Hawaii is a small state. If your agent knew it at the time of your purchase.....probably 1/2 the agents in the area knew it and there's no point in hiding it.

In Washington State, I think the answer is pretty simple - the agent is obliged to disclose any and all defects s/he is aware of. If the Seller doesn't like it, that's really gosh darn too bad.

Jack's situation is interesting, and involves complex legal questions . He should hire a real estate attorney to get advice on his legal obligations, before he decides whether his agent was in breach of the listing agreement, Realtor Code of Ethics, or Hawaii State Law. When these duties conflict, the agent must follow the law.

The need for sellers to disclose material facts protects sellers as well as buyers and the real estate professionals. If past disclosures were accurate, of course they would need to be incorporated into the seller's disclosures to his buyer. If a seller disagrees, and the seller's agent believes that there is a failure to disclose, that agent should also consult with their Principal Broker and company attorney about how to handle the curent representation of the seller.

Based on what you post, I think the agent should have refused to list the property.
WA law follows CA law, and in WA, if an agent has knowledge of defects not disclosed by the seller, we're obligated to disclose those defects to buyers.
If you wanted to dispute these findings - for example, if you had corrected these problems, then you could have provided documentation for that.
Arbitration, sure as the sun rising in the East, will delay the closing - what are you going to tell the buyers? "We, uh, we're going to court so that we don't have to disclose defects in the property to you?"

Aloha, Jack. I'm sorry your agent provided information to the Buyer against your wishes. If it were public record, that would be one thing, but certainly it would not be a normal standard of practice to release the prior seller's Sellers Real Property Disclosure Statement to the buyer without your consent, unless you were not preparing your own? All the other answers here are correct - it's imperative to disclose everything you know about the property... over 90% of the lawsuits in real estate are brought by buyers against sellers for issues surrounding disclosure and non-disclosure of material facts, and you certainly don't want to be one of those sellers being sued by the buyer, and my guess is that neither does your agent. As far as arbitration goes, it can be a lengthy process, but unless you as the Seller or the Buyer asks to delay closing because of the arbitration, it should not hold up closing, or be part of the escrow process at all. Best of luck to you. Warm aloha, Katie Minkus, R(B). Broker-in-Charge, Big Island Sales. Hawaii Life Real Estate Services, LLC. katie@hawaiilife.com

The other answers are good. Can you elaborate on your question? Was there something wrong with the property that you wanted to keep hidden from the buyer, that you told your agent about? If so, the agent has the duty to inform the buyer (so do you).

Is there something you didn't want disclosed about the property?
Disclosure is the way to go, know what you are buying and let others know. This is the very best in order to avoid potential problems after the fact. It can't be something unknown to you since you saw the provided disclosures when you purchased the property and everything in that disclosure plus new problems should have been in your disclosures as well.
Your wishes should have been to do that.

Hi Jack,

Debbie's right. Anything known by your agent, or you, must be disclosed. It is unfair, unethical, and in some cases, illegal not to do so. The buyer shouldn't get any "surprises." The agent's job is to make the transaction as fair as possible. I don't know what effect requesting arbitration would have on your closing. You would have to call the Board, but I doubt that they could tell you either, since they can't speculate on the outcome.


Aloha,
Frank

Jack - I am confused as to what it is you are disputing.
Was the information he provided incorrect? Were you damaged in some way?

Any known information regarding a property must , or at least, should, be disclosed.
If your agent is now working as your listing agent, and he has valid information about the home , he has a duty to disclose it.......why did you not want the disclosure to be made?

What is it you want to arbitrate ? If the agent used incorrect information, that's one thing.
I don't see how any actions you take against your agent will delay the closing - if you are involved in withholding information, however, that might be something your buyer will want to look into.

Obviously, there is missing information here, so it's difficult to comment any further.

Best wishes..........