Alaska Real Estate Salesperson Exam — All Questions

Earnest money an Alaska salesperson receives from a buyer must be:

• a.Delivered promptly to the employing broker for deposit in the broker's trust account✓
• b.Deposited into the salesperson's personal account
• c.Paid directly to the seller when the offer is made
• d.Kept by the salesperson until the sale closes

Trust funds, including earnest money, must be handled through the broker's trust account and kept separate from personal and operating money. A salesperson who receives such funds must deliver them promptly to the employing broker. Commingling or converting trust money is a serious violation of Alaska license law.

When an Alaska licensee advertises a listing, the advertising must:

• a.Omit the brokerage to avoid confusion
• b.Be truthful and conducted under the name and supervision of the employing broker✓
• c.Appear only under the salesperson's own name
• d.Be pre-approved by the Real Estate Commission

Advertising must be truthful and must be conducted under the name and supervision of the employing broker rather than the salesperson acting independently. Licensees may not use false or misleading statements to induce a transaction, and the broker is responsible for the advertising of affiliated licensees.

An unlicensed auctioneer wants to auction an Alaska home. That is lawful only if the auctioneer completed an auctioneering program including a real estate sales course and:

• a.The auction proceeds go through a title company
• b.A licensed broker or associate broker supervises and is present during the auction✓
• c.The commission issues a one-day permit
• d.The seller signs a written waiver of licensure

Notwithstanding the licensing requirement, an unlicensed person may conduct a real estate auction only if the person completed an auctioneering program at a school certified by a state agency that included a real estate sales course, and a licensed broker or associate broker supervises and is present during the auction. Cite: AS 08.88.165.

The Alaska residential disclosure statement tells the buyer that determining whether a registered sex offender lives nearby, or whether there is an agricultural operation in the vicinity, is:

• a.The listing licensee's responsibility
• b.The seller's responsibility to investigate
• c.The responsibility of the municipality
• d.The buyer's own responsibility✓

The statute places both of these determinations on the transferee. The commission's form carries the notices and directs the buyer to the Department of Public Safety for sex offender information, and use of the form satisfies the notice duty. Cite: AS 34.70.050; 12 AAC 64.930(a).

An Alaska licensee asks an unlicensed office employee to help with a listing. Which task may the unlicensed person perform?

• a.Hosting an open house at the property
• b.Showing the property to a prospective buyer
• c.Unlocking the property so a licensee can show it, staying during the showing, and relocking✓
• d.Explaining the listing contract to the owner

The rule forbids employing an unlicensed person to host an open house, show a property, or explain or interpret a purchase and sale, listing, or management contract. It expressly permits unlocking a property so it may be viewed or shown by a licensee, remaining during the showing, and relocking it, along with clerical, bookkeeping and maintenance tasks. Cite: 12 AAC 64.095(a) and (b).

An Alaska broker's bank wants to place a hold on funds in the brokerage trust account to cover an overdraft on the firm's operating account. Under the trust account rules:

• a.No bank may withhold trust funds except on a court order✓
• b.The bank may do so if the broker consents to it in writing
• c.The bank may do so up to the amount of the overdraft
• d.The commission must approve the hold in advance

Trust funds are protected from attachment and similar process: no provision may be made for a bank to withhold issue of funds from a trust account except upon a court order. Cite: 12 AAC 64.190.

An Alaska salesperson closes a sale, then lets the license lapse before the commission check is cut. The broker:

• a.May not pay the former salesperson anything
• b.Must send the money to the recovery fund
• c.May pay the commission for services performed while the salesperson was actively licensed✓
• d.May pay only if the salesperson reinstates the license

A broker may pay a former associate broker or salesperson a commission for services performed while that person was actively licensed, whatever the license status is when the commission becomes payable. Cite: 12 AAC 64.960.

An Alaska salesperson is buying a house for herself and wants another brokerage's licensee to represent her. Under the rules she:

• a.May not, because all of her transactions must go through her own broker
• b.May do so; the rule expressly permits it in a personal transaction✓
• c.May do so only if her broker has no agents in that market
• d.May do so only after placing her license on inactive status

AS 08.88.331 requires a salesperson to perform licensed activities only through the employing broker, but the regulation clarifies that the section does not preclude a licensee from using a licensee from another brokerage to represent or give specific assistance in the licensee's own personal real estate transaction. Cite: 12 AAC 64.961.

Alaska requires license certificates to be displayed in the office. The rule adds that the certificates must be displayed:

• a.In the broker's private office
• b.Beside the broker's trust account records in the back office
• c.Only during business hours
• d.Where clients and customers can verify active status✓

The broker's certificate hangs in the principal office, and the certificate of each licensee working there hangs in that office, with branch office licensees' certificates displayed at the branch. All must be displayed where they are available for public clients and customers to verify current active status. Cite: AS 08.88.321.

An Alaska broker owns two corporations and a partnership, each doing licensed real estate business. That is permitted provided each entity is registered with the commission and:

• a.The principal offices all share a single physical address✓
• b.Each keeps its own separate trust account at the same bank
• c.No entity employs more than five licensees
• d.The broker supervises only one of them at a time

A broker may own, operate, or be employed by multiple business organizations engaging in licensed activity provided each is registered with the commission and the principal offices of all of the business organizations share a single physical address. Cite: AS 08.88.305.

In an Alaska purchase contract, a statement identifying which party is paying compensation to the real estate brokers is:

• a.Optional, and usually handled by the title company
• b.Required in the contract by statute✓
• c.Required only when a buyer's broker is involved
• d.Prohibited, as compensation is a private matter

A broker may be compensated by any party or by a third party, and payment does not by itself establish a relationship with the payer. The licensee must disclose which party is anticipated to pay and must include in the contract to sell, buy, or lease a statement indicating which party is paying compensation to the brokers. Cite: AS 08.88.655(b), (c) and (d).

A builder sells a newly finished Alaska house that no one has ever lived in. The residential real property transfer disclosure statement is:

• a.Required, because the buyer is a consumer purchasing a home
• b.Not required, because the property has never been occupied✓
• c.Required only if the buyer asks for it in writing
• d.Required, but may be delivered after closing

The first transfer of an interest in residential real property that has never been occupied is exempt from the seller's duty to complete the disclosure statement, and the commission publishes a separate Exemption for First Sale form for it. Cite: AS 34.70.120; 12 AAC 64.930(a).

An Alaska buyer and seller of a 20-year-old house both want to skip the disclosure statement. They:

• a.May not; the statute makes the disclosure mandatory in every sale
• b.May do so if the buyer initials the purchase agreement
• c.May waive it if the seller and buyer agree in writing✓
• d.May waive it only with the commission's consent

Completion of the disclosure statement may be waived when the parties transferring an interest in residential real property agree in writing, and the commission publishes a Waiver by Agreement form. Signing the waiver does not affect the licensee's or the seller's other disclosure obligations. Cite: AS 34.70.110; 12 AAC 64.930(a).

An Alaska seller deliberately conceals a known foundation problem on the transfer disclosure statement. The buyer's remedy against the seller is:

• a.Rescission of the sale only
• b.A civil penalty of $1,000 payable to the state
• c.Actual damages, capped at the purchase price
• d.Up to three times the actual damages, plus costs and attorney fees allowed by court rule✓

A person who negligently violates or fails to perform a duty under AS 34.70.010 - 34.70.200 is liable for the buyer's actual damages. A willful violation makes the seller liable for up to three times the actual damages, and a court may also award costs and attorney fees to the extent the court rules allow. Cite: AS 34.70.090.