Definition: Vicarious liability is the responsibility of one for the acts of another. In the real estate business, this would be the case when a listing or buyer broker is an "agent" of the seller or buyer. The client can be held responsible for the actions of the broker agent if they have knowledge of an improper or negligent act.
In the not-so-common situation of subagency, the buyer's agent is working as a subagent of the sellers listing broker, and owes fiduciary duties to the seller rather than the buyer with whom they're working. In this situation, the seller and their broker could be held liable for the actions of the buyer agent.
