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Buyer-Agent Agreements in Tennessee

Tennessee has NOT passed a new state statute codifying buyer-representation-agreement requirements in response to the August 2024 NAR settlement (unlike Texas's SB 1968, California's AB 2992, Oregon's HB 4058, or Alabama's 2025 law). Instead, Tennessee relies on two pre-existing/independent layers: (1) its own long-standing state agency law, Tenn. Code Ann. Sec. 62-13-401 (part of the Tennessee Real Estate Broker License Act of 1973), which already required — decades before the settlement — that no agency (including buyer agency) relationship can be assumed, implied, or created without a signed, written bilateral agency agreement (absent such an agreement the licensee is merely a non-agent 'facilitator'); and (2) the national NAR settlement's MLS Participant Rule, effective August 17, 2024, which requires any MLS Participant working with a buyer to have a written buyer agreement in place before touring homes, with specific, non-open-ended compensation terms. Because TN law already mandated written buyer agency agreements, industry sources (Tennessee REALTORS, Greater Nashville REALTORS) describe the settlement's practice changes as something 'Tennessee already knows' — i.e., not a legal disruption requiring new state legislation. NAR itself has counted Tennessee among the roughly two dozen states with pre-existing statutory written-buyer-agreement requirements (grouped with states like Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, etc.), distinct from states that had no such law and either relied purely on the settlement/MLS rule (e.g., New York) or subsequently passed brand-new statutes (Texas, California, Oregon, Alabama). No 2024, 2025, or 2026 Tennessee General Assembly bill enacting a settlement-specific buyer-agency statute was found; a 2025 bill (SB0909) addressing real estate wholesaling disclosures is unrelated to buyer agency/compensation.

Requirements

Tenn. Code Ann. Sec. 62-13-401 (pre-existing state law, unrelated in origin to the NAR settlement): an agency relationship (including buyer agency) cannot be assumed, implied, or created by word or conduct alone -- it requires a specific, signed, written bilateral agency agreement; without one the licensee is legally only a 'facilitator,' not an agent/advocate for either party.
Tenn. Code Ann. Sec. 62-13-405: licensees must provide written disclosure of their representation status (agent, subagent, designated agent, or facilitator) to unrepresented parties before preparing an offer, and obtain a signed receipt acknowledging the disclosure.
National NAR settlement MLS Participant Rule (effective August 17, 2024, applies in TN via MLS participation, not state statute): any MLS Participant working with a buyer must enter into a written buyer agreement before touring any home (in person or virtually).
The written buyer agreement must contain a specific, conspicuous disclosure of the amount or rate of the buyer broker's compensation, which must be objectively ascertainable (a specific dollar amount, percentage, or hourly rate) and not open-ended or a range.
The agreement must state that compensation is fully negotiable and not set by law or any MLS/association rule, and that MLS Participants may not receive compensation from any source exceeding the amount agreed to with the buyer.
Offers of broker compensation are prohibited from being displayed on the MLS itself (compensation may still be offered/negotiated off-MLS, e.g., via seller concessions or direct agreements).

Facts on this page reflect research current as of 2026-07-05. Programs, rates, and laws change — confirm current figures with the relevant state agency before relying on them.

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