Real estate broker the licensed real estate agent. There are state laws defining the types of relationships that can exist between clients and real estate licensees, and the lawful duties of real estate licensees to represent clients and members of the public. Rules vary substantially as defined by the law from state to state, for example, on subjects that include what legal language is necessary to transfer real property, agency relationships, inspections, disclosures, continuing education, and other subjects. In the United Kingdom, an estate agent is a person or business entity whose business is to market real estate on behalf of clients. There
Estate agent for Estate Agents Scheme", which obtained OFT approval for the "Code of Practice for Residential Sales" in and, as of November 2006 claims to have 2,532 member agencies. There is a legal requirement to belong to either organisation to trade as an estate agent. Agents can be fined if they are not a member of a redress scheme. The redress scheme was brought in alongside and to govern agents in reference to the HIP (Home Information Pack). A handful of national residential estate agents chains exist, with the majority being locally or regionally specialised companies. Several multi-national commercial agencies exist,