Colorado real estate agents must now obtain a client’s consent to share certain confidential information, even within their brokerages, after a major update focused on consumer transparency went into effect on January 1.
Last month the Colorado Real Estate Commission has rejected two proposed changes to the rules affecting disclosure of conflicts of interest and informed consent.
However, the commission later opted to remove the language from the state-approved forms and will require brokers to obtain separate consent to share certain information, an early indication that consumer disclosures and transparency will remain in the spotlight heading into the new year.
The commission considered two proposed rule changes by the end of 2025 before finally releasing an updated form Thursday.
The Colorado Association of Realtors (CAR) said the rule changes would have “significantly reformed long-standing interpretations of designated brokerage and broker supervision.”
One proposal would have required brokers to disclose a conflict of interest to their clients “any time both sides of a transaction were supervised by the same broker serving/supervising – reversing decades of Commission interpretation.”
CAR said it opposed the proposed change because of this break with established real estate agency law; it blurred the line between actual and potential conflict, and risked confusing consumers. The committee rejected the proposal.
A second proposal would require “written informed consent.”
CAR said the proposal was ambiguous and there was no committee-approved form to obtain such consent. That proposed rule change was also rejected. But the committee moved forward with a format change that still requires specific customer approval.
The commission has noted that it plans to enforce a requirement that designated brokers obtain “informed consent” from their principals before sharing their information with third parties.
Confidential information for sellers may include whether they are willing to accept the demand below for a property, motivating factors for listing a home, and whether the seller has agreed to alternative financing. For buyers, this can include whether a customer is willing to pay more than demand, motivating factors and more.
“As a result, beginning January 1, 2026, Colorado brokers will be required to take additional steps to obtain a client’s informed consent before sharing a client’s confidential information with supervising brokers,” wrote John Mayan attorney at Frascona, Joiner, Goodman and Greenstein.
Specifically, paragraph 5.3 has been removed from the listing contract form. That section authorized brokers to share confidential information with other parties, including the broker’s supervising broker.
The format change highlights an ongoing focus from regulators and broker organizations working to balance customer transparency with long-standing industry standards. For example, aAnother policy issue that has surfaced in recent months concerned whether brokers would be required to disclose more sources of referral fees and revenue to their clients.
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