If you’re buying, selling, or renting property this year, the biggest shift in real estate law is the one that hits before you ever walk through a front door: since August 17, 2024, buyers must sign a written agreement with their agent — spelling out exactly what that agent will be paid — before touring a home. Alongside that, federal reporting rules for LLCs that hold property have been rolled back, flood insurance pricing has been rebuilt from the ground up, and rental fee practices are under federal review. These are the new real estate laws that most directly change what you sign, what you pay, and what you have to disclose.
Buyer-Agent Commissions After the NAR Settlement
The National Association of Realtors settlement took effect on August 17, 2024, and it ended a long-standing practice: sellers can no longer advertise a commission for the buyer’s agent on a Multiple Listing Service.1National Association of REALTORS®. NAR Provides Final Reminder of August 17 Practice Change Implementation For decades, the MLS listing bundled both agents’ fees into the seller’s side, and that cost was built into the sale price. That default is gone.
Sellers can still help cover a buyer’s agent fee outside the MLS, and they can advertise general buyer concessions, like help with closing costs, on the MLS itself.2National Association of REALTORS®. What the NAR Settlement Means for Home Buyers and Sellers What changed is the automatic bundling. Compensation is now a direct negotiation rather than a cost quietly passed through the price.
One boundary worth noting: these rules apply to residential transactions. Commercial real estate and vacant land deals are not covered by the settlement.3National Association of REALTORS®. Written Buyer Agreements Not Required for Commercial Transactions
What Must Be in a Buyer Agreement Now
Before you tour a home with an agent — in person or through a live virtual showing — you need a signed written agreement with that agent.2National Association of REALTORS®. What the NAR Settlement Means for Home Buyers and Sellers You don’t need one to talk with an agent at an open house or ask about their services. The trigger is active touring together.
The agreement must contain three specific elements:
- A clear compensation amount, stated as a dollar figure, flat fee, percentage, or hourly rate. Open-ended language like “whatever the seller offers” is not permitted.
- A cap on total compensation. The agent cannot collect more from any source than the amount you agreed to.
- A conspicuous statement that broker fees and commissions are fully negotiable and not set by law.
Treat this like any other contract. Ask what services come at which fee levels, and compare offers from more than one agent before you sign.
How You Can Pay Your Agent
The written agreement sets what your agent earns. It doesn’t lock you into paying that amount out of pocket. A few paths exist:
- Direct payment at closing. You bring the agreed fee as part of your closing costs, separate from the purchase price.
- Seller concession. You negotiate with the seller to cover your agent’s compensation inside the purchase agreement. Sellers can still do this; it simply isn’t advertised on the MLS.
- Rolled into the purchase price. You offer a higher price with a concession built in. Instead of $400,000, you might offer $412,000 with a $12,000 seller concession that covers your agent. The practical effect is that you finance the commission through your mortgage and pay interest on it for the life of the loan.
Each option trades cash now against cost later. Paying directly keeps the price and loan amount lower but takes more cash at closing. Rolling the fee in is easier today and more expensive over time. In a tight market, sellers may push back on concessions, which can leave the fee on your side of the table or force a smaller search budget.
Beneficial Ownership Reporting Was Reversed for U.S. LLCs
If you hold rental or investment property through an LLC or corporation, the Corporate Transparency Act probably put reporting deadlines on your calendar. The statute, at 31 U.S.C. § 5336, originally required most entities to report their beneficial owners — anyone with substantial control or at least a 25 percent ownership interest — to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5336 – Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements
That changed. As of March 26, 2025, FinCEN issued an interim final rule exempting all entities created in the United States from these reporting requirements.5Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. FinCEN Removes Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements for US Companies and US Persons If your LLC or corporation was formed under U.S. law, you no longer file ownership reports. U.S. persons are also exempt as beneficial owners of foreign entities.
The reporting requirement now applies only to entities formed under foreign law that have registered to do business in a U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction. Foreign entities registered before March 26, 2025, had to file by April 25, 2025. Foreign entities registering on or after that date have 30 calendar days from the effective date of their registration.6Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting If you paid a service to file a report before the exemption took effect, no action is needed; the filing is simply moot.
Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Still Applies Everywhere
One federal disclosure rule has not changed and applies uniformly. Under 42 U.S.C. § 4852d, anyone selling or leasing housing built before 1978 must take three steps before the buyer or tenant is bound to a contract.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4852d – Disclosure of Information
- Give the buyer or renter the EPA-approved pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.
- Disclose any known lead-based paint or lead hazards, along with available inspection reports or records.
- Give buyers a 10-day window to hire an inspector and test for lead paint, unless both parties agree in writing to a different timeframe.
The implementing regulations require specific disclosure and warning language inside the sales or lease contract itself.8eCFR. 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A – Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint and/or Lead-Based Paint Hazards The law doesn’t force sellers to search for lead paint they don’t know about. It requires honesty about what they do know, and concealing a known hazard exposes a seller to federal liability and buyer lawsuits after the sale.
Flood Disclosure and the New Insurance Pricing
No federal law requires property sellers to disclose flood risk or prior flood damage.9FEMA. Flood Risk Disclosure Best Practices This is a state matter, and the rules vary widely. Roughly two-thirds of states now require sellers to disclose flood risk in some form, and the number of states requiring landlords to disclose flood risk to renters has nearly tripled since 2017.
In states that require it, sellers typically must report whether the property sits in a FEMA-designated flood zone, whether it has a history of flood damage, whether it has received federal disaster assistance, and whether active flood insurance claims exist. Several states have recently closed loopholes that let sellers pay a small fee to skip the disclosure form. Even where the law is strong, sellers can only report what they know, so ask directly about flood history and check FEMA flood maps yourself.
Risk Rating 2.0 and What Buyers Should Ask
FEMA rebuilt the way it prices National Flood Insurance Program policies through Risk Rating 2.0. The old system, dating to the 1970s, relied almost entirely on whether a property fell inside or outside a flood zone on a static map. The new approach factors in flood frequency, multiple flood types (river overflow, storm surge, coastal erosion, and heavy rainfall), distance from water, elevation, rebuild cost, and the home’s value.10FEMA. NFIP’s Pricing Approach
Two homes on the same street can now carry very different premiums. Some policyholders have seen decreases. Many homeowners in high-risk areas are seeing premiums climb. Federal law caps most annual increases at 18 percent, so the adjustment arrives gradually rather than all at once.10FEMA. NFIP’s Pricing Approach If you’re buying, ask for the property’s current flood insurance premium and ask the insurer what the projected premiums look like over the next several years. Today’s number may not be where the premium is heading.
Rental Fees, Notice Periods, and a Pending FTC Rule
The Federal Trade Commission opened a formal inquiry in March 2026 into hidden and misleading fees in rental housing.11Federal Trade Commission. FTC Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Rulemaking Regarding Unfair or Deceptive Rental Housing Fee Practices It is an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, the earliest stage of the process, so the agency is still gathering comment on whether a rule is needed. No federal rule is in effect yet.
The focus is on charges that inflate rent beyond the advertised price: mandatory fees for trash pickup, technology packages, administrative overhead, and similar costs that only appear after a renter commits. The FTC is also looking at fee practices across the full lease lifecycle, from application through move-out.12Federal Register. Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Rental Housing Fee Practices
States and cities haven’t waited. A growing number of jurisdictions now cap application fees to the actual cost of screening, and some require landlords to itemize mandatory charges in the lease advertisement. Notice periods for rent increases have also expanded. Several jurisdictions now require 60 to 90 days of advance written notice before a significant increase, particularly for tenants who have been in a unit for a year or more. Local rules vary a lot, and penalties for short notice can include voiding the increase entirely, so landlords should check their city and state requirements before issuing a notice.
Assistance Animals and Documentation
Under the Fair Housing Act, landlords must make reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities who need an assistance animal, including emotional support animals, even in buildings with no-pet policies. The accommodation requirement is not new. What has become more specific is HUD’s guidance on documentation.
A landlord may request a letter from a licensed healthcare provider confirming that the tenant has a disability affecting a major life activity and that the animal provides a therapeutic benefit related to that disability. The provider must have personal knowledge of the tenant’s condition — a real clinical relationship, not a brief online form.13U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Fact Sheet on HUD Assistance Animals Notice
Online services that sell ESA certificates, registrations, or ID cards to anyone who pays are not legitimate documentation in HUD’s view. A landlord who insists only on those documents risks a fair housing complaint, and a tenant who relies only on one may see the accommodation request denied. The cleanest path for both sides is a letter from the tenant’s own healthcare provider, on professional letterhead, confirming the disability and the therapeutic need.