What’s Going on With My Buyer’s Offer? There’s a Form for That!

You spend a couple of hours working through drafting an offer for your buyer’s dream home. You submit it to the listing agent, and then … silence.  

Was the offer shown to the seller? You don’t know. 

Has it been rejected by the seller or are they still thinking about it? You don’t know. 

So you start trying to figure out how to figure it out, and you call the PAR Legal Hotline, wondering if there are rules and/or forms to help you. 

And it turns out that there are two different forms available to you: the Broker’s Request for Affirmation (Form BRFA) and the Seller’s Reply to Purchase Offer (Form SRP). Which one(s) you use, and the rules around them, will depend on what information you’re looking for. 

Broker’s Request for Affirmation 

• What’s it for? Determining whether the buyer’s offer was presented to the seller. 
• Is it based on a rule? Yes. In the Code of Ethics, Standard of Practice 1-7 says that “upon the written request of a cooperating broker who submits an offer to the listing broker, the listing broker shall provide, as soon as practical, a written affirmation to the cooperating broker stating that the offer has been submitted to the seller/landlord, or a written notification that the seller/landlord has waived the obligation to have the offer presented.” Standard of Practice 1-8 uses similar language requiring a buyer agent to reply to a written request asking if the seller’s counteroffer was presented. 
• Who fills out the form? Form BRFA can be presented by either agent and would be signed by the agent on the other side of the transaction (e.g., buyer agent submits/listing agent returns; listing agent submits/buyer agent returns). 
• Is the agent required to fill out and return the form? Yes(ish). The standards of practice state that the Realtor® who receives a “written reques” (in this case, the form) must provide a “written” response. There is nothing that requires any specific format for the response, so they could choose to use some other method of providing a written response, but a written response is required.  
• What if the form isn’t returned? Because this is taken from the Code of Ethics, failure to provide a written response, in whatever format, could be a violation of the Code of Ethics, even if it turns out the offer was actually presented. 
• Any other notes? The most common follow-up question is about whether there are specific timelines on the form. There are not. It can be submitted at any time during the transaction, and there’s no specific timeline for the response, other than just being reasonable. If this is a concern in your market, or for specific transactions, it may be best to send Form BRFA with your offer to make sure it’s in-hand as early as possible. Also, remember that since this is a requirement of the Realtor® Code of Ethics, the requirement to fill out and return the form only applies to Realtor® members and not those working for non-Realtor® brokerages. 

Seller’s Reply to Purchase Offer 

• What’s it for? Determining whether the buyer’s offer was reviewed and rejected (or accepted, though usually you’d learn that by getting a copy of the counter-signed agreement of sale). 
• Is it based on a rule? No. This form was created by PAR over 30 years ago to fill a need, but it is not based on any legal or ethics rule. 
• Who fills out the form? Form SRP is presented by the buyer, generally with the offer, and would be signed by the seller since it’s reflecting the seller’s decision.  
• Is the seller required to fill out and return the form? No. It’s not a legal requirement, and since the Code of Ethics doesn’t apply to your clients, NAR could not create an ethics rule requiring sellers to do so.  
• What if the form isn’t returned? Since there is no requirement to return the form, there are no repercussions to the seller if they choose not to do so. 
• Any other notes? This is the form that many members think of first because it’s been around so long, but if the primary goal is to ensure that the offer was submitted to the seller, it’s probably more effective to use Form BRFA, since that usually generates a requirement to respond, whereas Form SRP does not. 

The Takeaway

Know what you’re asking for, who has the obligation to provide it and which form is designed to accomplish that purpose. Choosing the right form can help avoid unnecessary confusion and keep the transaction moving forward.