A new Texas law requires brokers to sign written buyer-representation agreements before showing any residential property—a compliance step many firms haven't prepared for.
Most Texas real estate brokers don't yet realize that a provision buried in SB1968 will fundamentally change how they conduct business starting January 1, 2026. The rule is straightforward, but the compliance lift is real—and the penalty for missing it is serious.
Effective January 1, 2026, every licensed broker or sales agent in Texas must execute a written buyer-representation agreement before showing any residential property or submitting an offer on behalf of a buyer. This applies to all brokerage firms, regardless of size.
The written agreement must specify:
This is not optional, and it is not a handshake deal. The agreement must be in writing and executed before you show the first property.
The enforcement mechanism is the teeth. The Texas Real Estate Commission can suspend or revoke a broker's license for failing to comply. For a professional services firm, that's not a fine—that's a shutdown.
The rule also closes a gap in prior practice. Before SB1968, some brokers operated in a gray zone where buyer representation was implied but not formally documented. That era is over. Documentation is now mandatory, and it must happen before you show property number one.
This affects your intake process, your forms library, your training, and your file management. If you work with buyers—whether you're a large firm or a solo agent—you need to have this agreement in place and a system to execute it consistently.
The rule takes effect January 1, 2026 (Section 19 of SB1968). Any conduct occurring before that date is governed by prior law (Section 18). That gives you a window to prepare, but it's not infinite. The provision is codified in Section 10 of the bill, which adds Section 1101.563 to the Texas Occupations Code.
If you're showing properties or submitting offers on January 1, 2026, you must have a written buyer agreement already signed. There is no grace period.
Review your current buyer intake forms. If you don't have a written buyer-representation agreement that covers all five required elements, you need one. Train your team on the new requirement. Build it into your workflow so that no property is shown and no offer is submitted without a signed agreement in your file.
This is a compliance mandate, not a best practice suggestion. The TREC has the authority to enforce it through license action.
Source: SB1968, Sections 10, 18, and 19; Texas Occupations Code Section 1101.563.