Cody Caudill, Jeffrey Doussan, and Nichole Donald — Team Leader, Operating Principal, and Coach/Co-Broker at KW New Orleans — on buyer broker agreements, the Force Majeure addendum, and why the industry’s most uncomfortable paperwork might be its biggest opportunity.
Louisiana now requires a signed buyer broker agreement before an agent shows any residential property — in person or by video — a mandate from the NAR settlement, reinforced by Louisiana state law (La. R.S. 37:1448.4), which requires a written buyer agreement to exist for any residential representation. KW New Orleans leadership argues it is the best commission conversation agents have ever been handed, and pairs it with a second tool: the Force Majeure addendum, which extends closings automatically when storms or other qualifying events intervene.
Why It Matters
Two years after the NAR settlement reshaped buyer representation rules nationwide, some agents are still walking into showings without a signed buyer broker agreement in hand. In Louisiana, that’s not just a best-practice gap — it’s a violation of state law.
At a recent KW New Orleans team meeting, leadership didn’t just review the rules. They reframed them. Cody Caudill, Jeffrey Doussan, and Nichole Donald walked agents through the practical mechanics of buyer broker compliance, tackled live questions from the floor, and made the case for the Force Majeure addendum — a tool that protects both buyers and sellers when life (or hurricane season) derails a closing.
The State of Play
The rules around buyer representation have changed at two levels simultaneously — industry settlement and state statute — and the details matter for every showing, every lead, and every lease conversation.
Everybody’s average commission went up. Our brokerage average commission went from 2.8 to 2.9. Why? Because you were willing to accept two and a half or less, and now you’re locking people in at three.
— Cody Caudill, Team Leader, KW New Orleans
Getting It Signed: The Practical Mechanics
Knowing the rule is step one. Having a frictionless way to execute it — especially with a cold lead you’ve never met — is what separates agents who comply consistently from those who skip it when it feels awkward.
At KW New Orleans, the answer lives inside the Thrive app. Caudill described the process as a single button that generates both the buyer broker agreement and the required agency disclosure, ready to send in under a minute. For agents working with Zillow leads or first-time contacts — people who haven’t had any chance to build rapport — the framing matters just as much as the tool. One agent on the floor described his approach: show up with a single piece of paper, explain it’s a result of the settlement, and ask for 24 hours. No six-month lock-in, no pressure. If the client doesn’t like the experience, they part ways with no drama.
One nuance worth noting: when filling out the agreement, the scope of the property description matters. Agents who specify a single property allow themselves to show that one home under that agreement. Broader agreements create broader coverage. The form itself is flexible — agents should fill it out in a way that actually reflects the engagement.
Commissions are negotiable. This got pushed on us, and we took it as punishment, and we should have taken it like we just created the best evil third party in the world.
— Jeffrey Doussan, Operating Principal, KW New Orleans
When a Client Goes Around You
A real scenario surfaced during the session that every buyer’s agent will eventually face: a client with a signed buyer broker agreement independently contacts the listing agent and gets shown the property anyway.
The answer is more nuanced than it might feel in the moment. The listing agent’s job is to market and show their seller’s property — they can do that even when a buyer has representation elsewhere. What they cannot do is represent that buyer. The buyer broker agreement protects the representing agent’s relationship and compensation; it doesn’t create a legal barrier to the listing agent showing their own listing. The practical guidance from Nichole Donald: the listing agent was within their rights to show the property. The issue, if there is one, lives in the buyer’s obligations under their signed agreement — not in what the listing agent did.
The Force Majeure Addendum
With hurricane season beginning June 1, the second half of the session focused on a contract tool that protects every party at the closing table when circumstances outside anyone’s control intervene.
The Force Majeure addendum — which Doussan was explicit about not calling a “hurricane addendum” — does one thing cleanly: it provides an automatic extension of the closing date when an active event prevents the parties from getting to the table. The word “force majeure” is intentional; the document covers far more than named storms. Doussan recommends 15-day calendar windows in the relevant fields, though agents should calibrate that to the specific deal and client needs.
The workflow is simple for listing agents: attach it to the initial offer package, sign it, and send it back for signature. The addendum is not a replacement for an extension addendum in every situation — Caudill and Donald noted that there are scenarios where a separate extension is still warranted, particularly when a closing is delayed for reasons outside the addendum’s scope. But as a default protection, especially heading into summer, it belongs in every residential deal.
We stopped calling this a hurricane addendum because it covers so much more. Please use this on every single deal.
— Jeffrey Doussan, Operating Principal, KW New Orleans
What This Means for Leases
A question from the floor surfaced a corner case that catches agents off guard: are buyer broker agreements required when working with prospective tenants on lease transactions?
The short answer, per the leadership team: no, the buyer broker agreement requirement is residential purchase-only. But the conversation didn’t end there. As Holly Freas noted, not all offices offer lease commissions anymore — meaning an agent who shows rental properties without any written agreement risks working for free. A representation agreement for lease clients isn’t legally mandated, but it’s still good practice for agents who want their time protected. Doussan added a practical floor: agents can set a minimum compensation threshold in any agreement, so a lease on an $800-per-month apartment doesn’t consume time that isn’t compensated at a level that makes sense.
Common Questions
The Sitzer/Burnett settlement handed Louisiana agents an uncomfortable mandate, and the KW New Orleans leadership team is arguing it should be treated as the opposite. Caudill’s brokerage data shows average commissions rising because agents stopped discounting by default — the agreement forces the conversation, and the conversation changes the outcome. Doussan’s framing is the one worth carrying into every new client meeting: the villain is the lawsuit, the guide is you, and you’re just following the law. Meanwhile, with June 1 approaching, the Force Majeure addendum deserves a permanent spot in every listing agent’s offer package — before the first storm forms, not after. Both tools — buyer broker agreement and force majeure protection — exist to protect clients. Agents who lead with that framing will close more deals and field fewer awkward conversations when conditions shift.
About this series. KW New Orleans hosts regular conversations with the leaders shaping our city — developers, architects, investors, and operators building the New Orleans of tomorrow. These are the conversations that happen in the rooms most people don’t get invited into.
KW New Orleans brings together the sharpest minds in real estate, development, and hospitality. If you’re ready to work alongside people building the city’s future — we’d love to talk.