Dual agency and multiple offers in Ohio

The rule in Ohio

In Ohio, dual agency is permitted with written consent, but a dual agent may not disclose confidential information, including other offers’ terms.

What it’s called: dual agent.

Citation: ORC 4735.65.

BindingOffers research report "Residential Real Estate: Three 50-State + DC Datasets" (September 2026) (summary and table) · Last reviewed September 21, 2026 · Confidence: medium

The required form

We haven’t confirmed Ohio’s required disclosure form yet. Ask your broker before representing both sides.

The conflict in a multiple-offer situation

When the listing agent also represents one of the buyers, every other buyer will wonder whether that buyer saw something they didn’t. Even with both clients’ consent, a dual agent owes confidentiality to each side and can’t use one buyer’s offer to help another.

Prior-offer disclosure: ORC 4735.65 limits what a dual agent may disclose, including the terms of offers from a represented buyer.

Ohio’s rule on sharing offers still applies to everyone: No bar on a listing agent shopping with seller consent; ORC 4735.65(B)(2) confidentiality of contemporaneous-offer terms applies to a buyer's agent representing multiple of its own buyers. See the Ohio disclosure rule →

Designated agency as the alternative

Ohio allows the brokerage to appoint a separate agent for each client (dual agent). In a multiple-offer situation, that’s the cleaner setup: the buyer’s agent never sees the other offers, and the listing agent never advises the buyer.

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