Alaska Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

A new environmental ordinance leaves a landowner with no economically viable use of a parcel, although the government takes no title to it. The owner's strongest constitutional claim is:

• a.The ordinance is void because zoning cannot restrict use
• b.A regulatory taking entitling the owner to payment✓
• c.Escheat has occurred and the state now owns the parcel
• d.Spot zoning, since only this parcel lost its value

Regulation that goes so far it denies an owner all economically viable use is treated as a regulatory taking, and just compensation is owed even though the government never took title. Arguing that zoning simply cannot restrict use fails, because regulating land is a valid exercise of the police power and owners have no right to the most profitable use. Escheat moves property to the state only when an owner dies with no will and no heirs, which has nothing to do with an ordinance. Spot zoning describes singling out one parcel for a different classification, not a general environmental rule applied to a class of land.

Reviewing a title report, a broker finds an old recorded covenant, written decades ago, that bars resale of the lot to members of a specified race. Its legal effect today is:

• a.It binds the buyer because it was recorded before purchase
• b.It is void, so a court will never enforce it or enjoin it✓
• c.It stays valid until the homeowners association removes it
• d.It is enforceable by the association but not by an owner

A private restriction that discriminates on a protected basis is void and unenforceable under the federal Fair Housing Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, so no court will order compliance or enjoin a violation, and the association has no power the courts would back. Recording rescues nothing, because an illegal restriction gains no force from sitting in the public record. No association vote is required to strip it of effect, although many states let an owner have the language formally struck. Valid CC&Rs, by contrast, are enforced privately by injunction brought by an owner or the association. A broker must never repeat or give effect to such language.

A grantor signs and notarizes a deed naming a nephew as grantee, locks it in a safe deposit box, and tells no one. The grantor later dies. What is the deed's effect?

• a.Title passed when the grantor signed the deed
• b.Title passed because the deed was acknowledged
• c.No title passed, because delivery never occurred✓
• d.Title passes when the estate later records it

A deed operates only when the grantor delivers it with the present intent to pass title and the grantee accepts, and both must happen while the grantor is alive. Signing accomplishes nothing while the instrument stays under the grantor's control in a box no one knows about. Acknowledgment before a notary serves recording, not validity, so notarizing it changes nothing here. An estate representative cannot supply the delivery the grantor failed to make, and recording an undelivered deed does not revive it. The nephew takes only through the will or the intestacy statute, which is why closings hand over the executed deed rather than merely signing it.

A deed is signed by a competent grantor and handed to a grantee who accepts it, but the grantor's signature was never notarized. As between those two parties, the deed is:

• a.Void, since notarizing is a validity requirement
• b.Valid, though it cannot be recorded as it stands✓
• c.Valid only if the grantee later pays a recording fee
• d.Voidable at the option of the grantor's creditors

Acknowledgment is a recording requirement, not an element of a valid deed. Delivered and accepted, the deed transfers title between grantor and grantee even with no notary, but the recorder will reject it, leaving the grantee exposed to later purchasers and lienholders who record first. Calling it void confuses the two ideas: validity turns on a competent grantor, an identifiable grantee, words of conveyance, an adequate legal description, the grantor's signature, and delivery and acceptance. Paying a fee cannot cure a missing acknowledgment, because the recorder cannot accept the instrument at all. Creditors of the grantor gain no power to undo a completed conveyance.

In a deed, which clause opens with the words 'to have and to hold' and defines the extent of the estate the grantee is receiving?

• a.The granting clause containing the words of conveyance
• b.The habendum clause, following the granting clause✓
• c.The acknowledgment taken before a notary public officer
• d.The legal description identifying the land conveyed

The habendum clause follows the granting clause, begins with the traditional phrase 'to have and to hold,' and spells out the estate conveyed, for example a fee simple absolute or a life estate. The granting clause holds the words of conveyance that actually transfer the interest and names the grantee. The acknowledgment is the notary's certificate that the signature is genuine, which the recorder requires but the transfer does not. The legal description identifies the land by metes and bounds, lot and block, or government survey, and it fixes what is conveyed rather than how much of an estate. Reading both clauses tells a broker exactly what the buyer is getting.

A relocation company that has owned a home for three months conveys it, warranting title only against defects that arose during its own ownership. The deed it delivers is a:

• a.Bargain and sale deed implying ownership without covenants
• b.General warranty deed covering the entire chain of title
• c.Quitclaim deed conveying only the interest actually held
• d.Special (limited) warranty deed covering the grantor's period✓

Warranting only against defects created or suffered while the grantor held title describes the special or limited warranty deed, the customary instrument for corporate, relocation, and fiduciary sellers who cannot vouch for what earlier owners did. A general warranty deed reaches back through the whole history of the property and offers the broadest protection, which is more than this seller is giving. A quitclaim carries no warranties at all and passes only whatever interest the signer happens to hold. A bargain and sale deed implies that the grantor owns the property but adds few or no covenants. A buyer taking narrower covenants should lean on an owner's title policy.

A title search shows that a seller's former spouse may still hold a possible interest in the property. What is the usual instrument used to release that interest and clear the record?

• a.A quitclaim deed from the former spouse✓
• b.A general warranty deed from the former spouse
• c.A trustee's deed issued after a foreclosure
• d.A correction deed fixing the legal description

A quitclaim releases whatever interest the signer may hold, with no warranties attached, which makes it the standard tool for removing a cloud such as a possible marital interest, a stale easement claim, or a name discrepancy. Demanding a general warranty deed asks the former spouse to guarantee title he or she may never have owned, and it is normally refused. A trustee's deed is what the trustee under a deed of trust issues to the purchaser at a foreclosure sale. A correction deed reforms a mistake in an earlier deed between the same parties and cannot release an outsider's claim.

A court-appointed personal representative sells a decedent's home during probate, and the buyer's broker asks what instrument will convey title. The answer is:

• a.A trustee's deed given after a nonjudicial foreclosure
• b.A sheriff's deed issued following a judicial sale
• c.A general warranty deed with full title covenants
• d.An executor's or personal representative's deed✓

Estate property is conveyed by an executor's deed when a will names the executor, or by a personal representative's or administrator's deed when the court makes the appointment; these deeds recite the court authority and give only limited covenants. A trustee's deed comes from the trustee under a deed of trust after a nonjudicial foreclosure sale. A sheriff's deed, called a referee's deed in some states, follows a judicial sale ordered by a court. A general warranty deed is not used, because a fiduciary will not personally guarantee title against the acts of the decedent or of owners further back in the chain.

After closing under a general warranty deed, a buyer discovers a recorded utility easement that the deed never disclosed. Which covenant did the grantor breach?

• a.Quiet enjoyment, a promise against eviction by better title
• b.Seisin, a promise that the grantor owns the estate conveyed
• c.Against encumbrances, a promise of no undisclosed burdens✓
• d.Further assurance, a promise to sign curative papers

The covenant against encumbrances promises that no liens, easements, or similar burdens exist beyond those the deed discloses, so a recorded easement left unmentioned breaches it at the moment of delivery. Seisin promises the grantor actually owns the estate being conveyed, which is not the trouble when ownership is sound but burdened. Quiet enjoyment shields the grantee from later eviction by someone holding superior title, and an easement holder's use is not an eviction. Further assurance obliges the grantor to sign additional documents needed to perfect title. A general warranty deed carries all of these along with the right to convey and warranty forever.

A neighbor has openly farmed and fenced a strip of an absentee owner's land, excluding others and never asking permission. To take title by adverse possession the neighbor must prove:

• a.Payment of the owner's property taxes for every year
• b.Open, notorious, continuous, hostile, and exclusive possession✓
• c.A written agreement signed by the record title owner
• d.A recorded deed describing the disputed strip of land

Adverse possession requires possession that is open and notorious, continuous, hostile in the sense of being without permission, and exclusive, held for the statutory period set by state law. Some states add payment of taxes or color of title, but those elements are not universal, so a broker should never assume them from another state's rule. A written agreement from the record owner would destroy the claim outright, since permission defeats hostility. Recording a deed creates no possession and cannot manufacture the required years of use. Adverse possession is one form of involuntary alienation, alongside descent, escheat, foreclosure, eminent domain, and accretion.

An owner dies leaving no will, and after a diligent search no heirs can be located. A broker asked to list the property should understand that title:

• a.Passes by devise to the beneficiaries named in a will
• b.Descends to the decedent's nearest surviving creditors
• c.Vests permanently in the administrator the court appoints
• d.Escheats to the state, an involuntary transfer of title✓

Escheat is the state's claim to property when an owner dies intestate and no heirs can be found, and it is a classic involuntary transfer rather than a voluntary one by deed or will. Devise is a gift of real property by will, so it cannot operate where there is no will and no named beneficiary. Descent carries property to heirs under the intestacy statute, but creditors are paid as claimants out of the estate and never inherit the land itself. An administrator has authority to manage and convey estate property during probate, not to own it permanently. Each state sets its own escheat procedure and waiting period.

A search reveals an old mortgage of record that was paid off but never released, and the lender no longer exists. Which step clears that cloud so title is marketable?

• a.Ordering an abstract of title with an attorney's opinion
• b.Buying an owner's title policy that insures over it
• c.Filing a quiet title action asking a court to clear it✓
• d.Recording a correction deed signed by the current seller

A quiet title action asks a court to determine ownership and extinguish a stale or unreleasable claim, which is the practical cure when the mortgagee has vanished and no release can be obtained. An abstract of title with an attorney's opinion summarizes and evaluates the recorded chain; it reports the cloud rather than removing it, and it offers no indemnity. An owner's policy may insure over a known risk, but insurance pays for loss and leaves the defect on the record for the next buyer to confront. A correction deed fixes a drafting error between the original parties and cannot release a third party's lien.

A seller deeds a parcel to one buyer and later deeds the same parcel to a second buyer, who records first. Which framework decides who owns the land?

• a.A federal recording statute applied in all fifty states
• b.The state's recording act, race, notice, or race-notice✓
• c.The order in which the two deeds were signed and dated
• d.The county recorder's discretion over competing claims

Priority between competing grantees is governed by the recording act of the state where the land lies, and the schemes differ: a pure race state protects whoever records first, a notice state protects a later purchaser who took without notice of the earlier deed, and a race-notice state protects one who took without notice and recorded first. No federal statute governs land recording. Signing dates do not decide the contest, which is precisely why a public recording system exists. Recorders act ministerially and have no power to resolve claims. Because the gap between closing and recording is the danger zone, a broker should press for prompt recording.

A buyer pays for a lender's title policy at closing and asks the broker whether it also protects the buyer's equity in the home. The correct answer is that the policy:

• a.Protects both parties equally up to the full purchase price
• b.Protects the buyer once the mortgage has been fully repaid
• c.Protects the buyer against defects arising after closing
• d.Protects only the lender, declining with the balance✓

A lender's, or mortgagee's, policy insures only the lender's security interest, and its coverage shrinks as the principal is paid down, ending altogether when the loan is satisfied. It never covers the buyer's equity, which is why a separate owner's policy is offered at closing for a one-time premium and lasts as long as the insured holds an interest. Repaying the mortgage does not convert the lender's coverage into the buyer's; it extinguishes it. And no title policy insures defects that first arise after its date. Brokers should explain this plainly before a buyer waives owner's coverage to save money.

Six months after closing, a contractor the buyer hired records a mechanic's lien against the home. The buyer files a claim under the owner's title policy. The insurer will most likely:

• a.Deny, because the defect arose after the policy was issued✓
• b.Pay, because owner's policies cover all future liens
• c.Pay, because the standard exceptions were removed
• d.Deny, because only a lender may file a title claim

Title insurance looks backward: it covers defects that already existed when the policy was issued but were not discovered or excepted, not events that happen later. A lien for work the buyer ordered after closing is a new problem the buyer must resolve directly. Buying extended coverage removes standard exceptions and broadens what is insured as of the policy date, but it does not push coverage forward in time. Owners plainly may claim under their own policies; the lender's policy is the one limited to the lender. Extended coverage typically depends on a current survey, which reveals encroachments and boundary issues a records search alone cannot.

A buyer tours a house and finds an occupant who is not the seller living there under an unrecorded lease. What kind of notice does that occupancy give the buyer?

• a.Actual notice, given by the seller's written disclosure
• b.Constructive notice, given by the public record
• c.No notice at all, since the lease was not recorded
• d.Inquiry notice, requiring the buyer to ask about it✓

Someone in possession who is not the seller puts a buyer on inquiry notice: the buyer is charged with whatever a reasonable investigation of that occupancy would have turned up, including an unrecorded lease or an option to purchase. Actual notice is what a party genuinely knows, typically from a disclosure or a conversation, and no one has told this buyer anything. Constructive notice comes from the public record, which by definition cannot reveal an unrecorded lease. Treating an unrecorded interest as invisible is the classic error, because possession is itself notice. A broker should always ask who occupies a property and on what terms.

The department issues a temporary order under AS 08.88.037 directing an Alaska licensee to stop a practice. If the licensee never requests a hearing, the temporary order becomes final after:

• a.5 days
• b.10 days
• c.15 days✓
• d.30 days

AS 08.88.037(b)(1) provides that a temporary order “becomes final if the person to whom the notice is addressed does not request a hearing within 15 days after receiving the notice.” The other periods sit in the same subsection but answer different questions: if a hearing is requested it must be conducted by a hearing officer within 30 days, and the commission must issue its final order within 10 days after the hearing. Nothing in the section turns on 5 days. The department may act only after notifying all commission members and obtaining the approval of a majority of them.

A claim against the Alaska real estate recovery fund is approved. Regardless of how many people were injured or how many parcels were involved, the award for that one transaction may not exceed:

• a.$5,000
• b.$10,000
• c.$15,000✓
• d.$50,000

AS 08.88.465(a) directs the commission to make an award “in an amount not to exceed $15,000,” and adds that “[n]ot more than $15,000 may be paid for each transaction, regardless of the number of persons injured or the number of parcels of real estate involved in the transaction.” 12 AAC 64.325(d) confirms that interest cannot push the total past $15,000 for a transaction. The $50,000 figure is a different ceiling — the fund's total liability for any one licensee under AS 08.88.475(a) — and $5,000 is the cap on a civil penalty for unlicensed practice under AS 08.88.167(b).

Four consumers hold valid claims arising from the same Alaska licensee's misconduct, and together they exceed the fund's limit for that licensee. Under AS 08.88.475, the commission:

• a.pays the claims in the order filed until the money runs out
• b.divides $50,000 among them in proportion to their claims✓
• c.denies them all because the total exceeds the statutory cap
• d.raises the ceiling so that every valid claim is paid in full

AS 08.88.475(a) caps the fund's “maximum liability” at $50,000 “for any one real estate licensee.” Subsection (b) says what happens when that is not enough: the $50,000 “shall be distributed among the claimants in the ratio that their individual claims bear to the aggregate of valid claims, or in another manner that the commission considers equitable,” and the distribution is made “without regard to the order in which their claims were filed.” First-filed priority does appear in AS 08.88.480, but only for the different case where the fund itself is temporarily short of money, and those later payments carry interest at eight percent a year.

The Alaska real estate recovery fund pays an award caused by a licensee's conduct. Under AS 08.88.071(b), the commission may then:

• a.suspend the license, lifting it on a repayment agreement✓
• b.bill the licensee's errors and omissions carrier for the award
• c.assess treble damages against the licensee for the claimant
• d.revoke the license permanently, with no route back to practice

AS 08.88.071(b) provides that “[w]hen an award is made from the real estate recovery fund under this chapter, the commission may suspend the license of the real estate licensee whose actions formed the basis of the award,” and that the suspension “shall be lifted if the licensee reaches an agreement with the commission on terms and conditions for the repayment to the real estate recovery fund” and satisfies the education requirement of AS 08.88.095; it is reimposed if the licensee breaks the agreement. The remedy is suspension, not permanent revocation, and 12 AAC 64.325(f) requires proof of reimbursement or a reimbursement agreement before reinstatement. Errors and omissions insurance is a private policy that does not stand behind the fund, and awarding damages is a court's function. AS 08.88.495 adds that repaying the fund in full does not undo separate disciplinary proceedings.

A person who has never held a license collects fees for managing rental property in Alaska. Under AS 08.88.167, the civil penalty for each offense may not exceed:

• a.$25,000, or the gain realized plus $25,000, whichever is greater
• b.$10,000, or the gain realized plus $10,000, whichever is greater
• c.$5,000, or the gain realized plus $5,000, whichever is greater✓
• d.$1,000, or the gain realized plus $1,000, whichever is greater

AS 08.88.167(b) reads: “A civil penalty levied under this section may not exceed $5,000, or the amount of gain realized plus $5,000, whichever is greater, for each offense.” In setting the amount the commission must weigh the seriousness of the violation, the economic benefit from it, and the licensee's history. Before entering the order the commission must give the person written notice with a 30-day window to request a hearing on the record, and AS 08.88.167(e) lets the person appeal the penalty to the superior court under AS 44.62.560. The civil penalty is separate from criminal exposure: AS 08.88.401(g) makes unlicensed practice a class A misdemeanor.

The commission's designee schedules a routine inspection of an Alaska broker's transaction records. Under 12 AAC 64.135, the broker is entitled to:

• a.a subpoena from the superior court before any inspection
• b.the presence of the broker's attorney during the inspection
• c.at least 30 days to assemble and copy the records sought
• d.at least 72 hours' notice, with the inspection on a weekday✓

12 AAC 64.135(a) provides that an inspection of a broker's transaction records “must be conducted between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, unless otherwise agreed, and the broker must be given at least 72 hours' advance notice of the inspection.” The broker must then produce the requested records, including earnest money agreements, listing agreements, trust account records, disbursal records and closing statements. A full audit under 12 AAC 64.135(b) is different: the commission may direct that it be held without prior notice, and the most a broker can ask for is a 24-hour delay for grave hardship, during which the auditor seals the records. AS 08.88.351(a)(5) requires the records to be made available on request, so no subpoena is a precondition.

A retired Anchorage resident manages three single-family rental houses for their owners for a monthly fee and does nothing else in real estate. Under AS 08.88.900, this person:

• a.must hold at least a salesperson license to collect the fee
• b.is exempt, as a natural person managing four or fewer units✓
• c.is exempt only while all of the owners live outside Alaska
• d.must hold a broker license because the fee is paid monthly

AS 08.88.900(a)(16) excepts from the chapter “the management of a total of four or fewer residential units by a natural person for other persons,” so managing three houses for their owners falls outside the licensing requirement even though a fee is charged. The exception counts units in total rather than per owner, and it turns on neither where the owners live nor how often the fee is paid. 12 AAC 64.905 warns that the AS 08.88.900 exceptions “are limited to the roles or activities specified” — the same person could not also list one of the houses for sale without a license.

Under AS 08.88.900(a)(2), an attorney in fact acting under a power of attorney that authorizes a specific real estate transaction may act unlicensed no more than:

• a.six times in a calendar year
• b.four times in a calendar year
• c.twice in a calendar year✓
• d.once in a calendar year

AS 08.88.900(a)(2) exempts “an attorney in fact under a power of attorney authorizing the consummation of a specific real estate transaction,” then limits the exemption: “an attorney in fact may not act as such under this paragraph for more than two transactions in a calendar year.” A separate exception in AS 08.88.900(a)(19) covers an attorney-in-fact acting for a relative under a power of attorney for a specific transaction, and that one carries no numerical cap. The list of relatives is spelled out in the paragraph and excludes step relationships other than a stepchild.

An Alaska licensee has held an inactive license for the past 26 months and now wants to practice again. Under AS 08.88.251, the licensee:

• a.may reactivate on paying the fee, since the license did not lapse
• b.must meet the requirements for initial licensure over again✓
• c.may reactivate after any period of inactivity without steps
• d.must wait for the next biennial renewal date to reactivate

AS 08.88.251(c) permits a change from inactive to active status “only if the person has been in inactive status for less than 24 months,” and continues: “[i]f the person has been in inactive status for 24 months or for more than 24 months, the person is required to meet the requirements for initial licensure in order to be licensed under this chapter again.” AS 08.88.241 draws the same 24-month line for a lapsed license. At 26 months the shortcut is gone. An inactive licensee may still receive commissions earned while actively licensed, but may not attempt or offer to do any of the activities listed in AS 08.88.161.

An Alaska salesperson asks to transfer to a new broker. Under 12 AAC 64.075, the terminating broker must send the completed termination form to the commission:

• a.at the end of the licensing period, with the renewal
• b.not later than five days from the date of the request✓
• c.within thirty days after the new employment begins
• d.only after the new employing broker has signed on

12 AAC 64.075(b) requires the terminating broker to complete the broker notice to real estate commission of licensee termination form, give the licensee a copy, and submit it to the commission “not later than five days from the date of the licensee's request for a license transfer.” Under 12 AAC 64.075(c) the licensee may then work in the new broker's office for not more than 30 days while waiting for the amended license certificate. 12 AAC 64.075(e) supplies the sting: a licensee who fails to notify the commission of a transfer or status change within 15 days interrupts the period of active and continuous experience — the very experience a broker applicant must document under AS 08.88.171.

An Alaska associate broker wants to engage a licensed salesperson as a personal assistant. Under AS 08.88.398, that is permitted only if:

• a.the commission approves the arrangement before the hire
• b.both are employed by one broker who approves it in writing✓
• c.the assistant surrenders the salesperson license meanwhile
• d.the assistant is paid by the broker, not by the associate

AS 08.88.398 permits a licensed salesperson or associate broker to act as a licensed assistant to another licensee only if, among other conditions, “the licensed assistant and the salesperson or associate broker are both employed by the same broker” and “the employment of the licensed assistant is approved in writing by the broker.” The employing licensee, not the broker, agrees to pay the assistant's wages and taxes, and the broker agrees to be liable for the assistant's actions. The assistant stays licensed — that is what allows the licensed work — and AS 08.88.401(b)(2) expressly carves those wages out of the rule that a licensee may be paid only by the employing broker.

Alaska's master errors and omissions policy must give each licensee at least what limits under 12 AAC 02.510?

• a.$50,000 per wrongful act and $150,000 annual aggregate
• b.$100,000 per wrongful act and $300,000 annual aggregate✓
• c.$250,000 per wrongful act and $500,000 annual aggregate
• d.$300,000 per wrongful act and $1,000,000 annual aggregate

12 AAC 02.510(a)(1) sets “not less than $100,000 limit of liability for each licensee per covered wrongful act or per covered claim,” and (a)(2) sets “an annual aggregate limit of liability of not less than $300,000 per licensee,” with claims expenses payable in addition to the limit. The $300,000 and $1,000,000 pairing is real but belongs elsewhere: 12 AAC 02.530(2) lets a broker cover every associated licensee under one equivalent policy at those higher figures. AS 08.88.172(a) makes the coverage a condition of licensing, and 12 AAC 64.620 requires the commission to suspend a license when an insurer reports that a premium went unpaid.

Under AS 08.88.615 and 12 AAC 64.118, an Alaska licensee must give a consumer the commission's Consumer Disclosure:

• a.before giving specific assistance, or on contracting to give it✓
• b.at the first telephone call or e-mail the consumer sends in
• c.when the consumer signs an offer to purchase or to lease
• d.at closing, along with the settlement statement and deed

AS 08.88.615(a)(6) makes it a duty owed in every licensee relationship to provide the pamphlet “before the licensee provides specific assistance to the person, or when entering into a contract with the person to provide specific assistance,” and 12 AAC 64.118 identifies the document as the commission's “Alaska Real Estate Commission Consumer Disclosure, dated April 2024.” The trigger is specific assistance, which AS 08.88.695(8) defines narrowly — asking about confidential information, showing property selected for the person's needs, preparing a written offer, or entering a personal services contract — and which expressly excludes hosting an open house, casual conversation about real estate, answering an inquiry from a sign or website, providing information about a property, and setting a first appointment. So a first call or e-mail does not by itself start the clock, and the offer or the closing is far too late.

When a person signs an offer in a transaction an Alaska licensee is handling, AS 08.88.615(a)(8) requires a written statement of whom the licensee represents. It must appear:

• a.on the face of the earnest money check sent with the offer
• b.in a separate paragraph or document titled “Licensee Relationships”✓
• c.in the multiple listing service remarks for the listed property
• d.in the broker's office policy manual kept open to the public

AS 08.88.615(a)(8) requires the licensee, when the person signs an offer, to provide a written statement saying whether the licensee represents the buyer, the seller, the lessee or the lessor, or gives specific assistance to both sides as a neutral licensee. It then dictates where that statement goes: “the statement must be contained in a separate paragraph entitled ‘Licensee Relationships’ in the contract between the buyer and seller or the lessee and lessor, or in a separate document entitled ‘Licensee Relationships.’” This is in addition to the signed relationship disclosure already obtained under AS 08.88.615(a)(7) before specific assistance began. A broker's written policy under AS 08.88.685(a)(5) must describe the relationships the firm offers, but it is not the transaction-level statement.

In Alaska a licensee who gives specific assistance to both the buyer and the seller in one transaction while representing neither is a neutral licensee. That consent must be taken:

• a.on an addendum to the seller's property disclosure statement
• b.on the commission's form titled “Waiver of Right To Be Represented”✓
• c.as a clause inside the purchase agreement signed by both sides
• d.orally, provided the licensee notes the conversation on file

AS 08.88.695(4) defines a neutral licensee as one who “provides specific assistance to both the buyer and the seller, or both the lessor and the lessee, in a real estate transaction” and “does not represent either party.” AS 08.88.610(c) governs the paperwork: the written consent “must be provided on a separate form, may not be contained in another writing, and must be entitled ‘Waiver of Right To Be Represented,’” and 12 AAC 64.119 requires the commission's own form of that name, dated April 2024. Because the form must stand alone, folding the consent into the purchase agreement defeats it, and an oral consent is not consent at all. Where preauthorization was not obtained in advance, AS 08.88.610(b) requires the written consent before the licensee shows the property.

AS 08.88.391 tells an Alaska licensee how a written conflict-of-interest statement must open. Which words must begin it, underlined and in bold?

• a.“Licensee Relationships.”
• b.“Waiver of Right To Be Represented.”
• c.“Notice of Adverse Interest.”
• d.“Disclosure of Conflict of Interest.”✓

AS 08.88.391(a) requires the licensee to disclose the conflict to the persons adversely affected, to confirm it in writing “as soon as possible after the conflict is identified,” to advise the person verbally as well, and to “begin any written statement of the conflict of interest with these words, underlined and written in bold: ‘Disclosure of Conflict of Interest.’” Two of the other captions are genuine Alaska headings for other documents — “Licensee Relationships” is the statement required by AS 08.88.615(a)(8), and “Waiver of Right To Be Represented” is the neutral-licensee consent under AS 08.88.610(c) — which is exactly why the statute names this one instead of leaving the wording to the licensee.

An Alaska licensee fails to disclose a conflict of interest to the party it harms. Under AS 08.88.391(b), the consequence is that:

• a.the commission may discipline, but no private action lies✓
• b.the transaction is void from the moment it was signed
• c.the licensee owes the injured person three times damages
• d.the injured person gains a private cause of action for it

AS 08.88.391(b) is explicit in both directions: “The failure of a licensee to disclose a conflict of interest as required under this section does not give rise to a cause of action by a private person. However, the commission may, under AS 08.88.071, impose a disciplinary sanction for violation of this section.” Nothing in the section voids the transaction. Treble damages do exist in Alaska real estate but under a different statute — AS 34.70 makes a seller who willfully violates the residential transfer disclosure duties liable for up to three times actual damages — and AS 08.88.680(b) limits recovery for breaches of AS 08.88.600 – 08.88.695 to actual damages. AS 08.88.391(c) lists what counts as a conflict, including receiving compensation from someone who is not a party to the contract.

Under 12 AAC 64.940, an Alaska broker must tell the broker's own principal in writing what fee was paid to another broker in a sales transaction. That disclosure is due:

• a.within ten days after the commission check has cleared
• b.only if the principal first asks the broker for it in writing
• c.when the listing contract is signed and again at settlement✓
• d.once only, at the first face-to-face meeting with the client

12 AAC 64.940(a) requires a broker in a real estate sales transaction to “disclose in writing to the broker's principal the dollar amount or percentage of transaction amount of any rebate, compensation, or fee paid to another broker in connection with that transaction,” and subsection (d) fixes two moments for it: “when the listing contract is signed” and “when the settlement statement is signed.” Subsection (b) exempts franchise fees, internal office operating costs and compensation to a licensee inside the broker's own office; subsection (c) excludes rentals and leases; subsection (e) makes the duty continuing, so transferring title does not extinguish it. Failing to disclose as 12 AAC 64.940 requires is separately listed in 12 AAC 64.130(4) as grounds for revocation or suspension.

An Alaska buyer makes a written offer and only afterwards receives the seller's residential real property transfer disclosure statement, hand delivered. Under AS 34.70.020 the buyer may terminate within:

• a.ten days of delivery, or fifteen days if it came by mail
• b.seven days of delivery, or fourteen days if by mail
• c.five days of delivery, or ten days if it came by mail
• d.three days of delivery, or six days if it came by mail✓

AS 34.70.010 requires the seller to deliver a completed written disclosure statement before the buyer makes a written offer. AS 34.70.020 supplies the remedy when that order is reversed: if the statement or a material amendment reaches the buyer after the written offer, the buyer may terminate the offer by written notice to the seller or the seller's licensee “within three days after the disclosure statement or amendment is delivered in person or within six days after the disclosure statement or amendment is delivered by deposit in the mail.” The commission's form 08-4229 (Rev. 05/2024), adopted by reference in 12 AAC 64.930, prints that rule on its face. A negligent violation of AS 34.70.010 – 34.70.200 exposes the violator to the buyer's actual damages; a willful one, to up to three times actual damages plus costs and fees.

A unit in an established Alaska common interest community is being resold. Under AS 34.08.590, the association must furnish the certificate the seller needs:

• a.only once the buyer's lender orders a condominium report
• b.at closing, with the declaration and the recorded bylaws
• c.within 10 days of a written request and a reasonable fee✓
• d.within 30 days after the purchase contract has been signed

AS 34.08.590(a) makes the selling unit owner responsible for furnishing the buyer, before the contract is executed or before conveyance, a copy of the declaration as amended, the bylaws, the association's rules or regulations, and a certificate covering the monthly common expense assessment and any unpaid or special assessment, any other fee payable by unit owners, capital expenditures over $3,000 approved for the current and next two fiscal years, reserves, the most recent balance sheet and income and expense statement, the current operating budget, unsatisfied judgments and pending suits, and insurance for unit owners. AS 34.08.590(b) sets the deadline: “The association, within 10 days after a written request by a unit owner and the payment of a reasonable fee, shall furnish a certificate.” A licensee performing community association management is held to the same 10 days by 12 AAC 64.580(5). Under AS 34.08.590(c) the seller is not liable for the association's delay, but the purchase contract stays voidable until the certificate arrives and for five days afterwards.

An Alaska declarant hands a buyer the public offering statement four days before the buyer signs the purchase contract. Under AS 34.08.580, the buyer may:

• a.cancel at any time up to one year after the conveyance
• b.claim ten percent of the price but may not cancel at all
• c.do nothing, as delivery before signing satisfies the act
• d.cancel within 15 days of receipt, before the conveyance✓

AS 34.08.580(a) requires delivery of the public offering statement before conveyance and no later than the date of the contract, then adds the buyer's escape: “If a purchaser is not given the public offering statement … more than 15 days before execution of a contract for the purchase of a unit, the purchaser, before conveyance, may cancel the contract within 15 days of receipt.” Four days is not more than 15, so the right applies. Cancellation is by hand delivery or prepaid mail, is without penalty, and every payment already made must be refunded promptly. The ten percent figure is real but belongs to AS 34.08.580(c), which applies where the unit has already been conveyed and the statement was never provided at all.

AS 08.88.615 generally imposes no duty on an Alaska licensee to disclose events that occurred on a property. One event is carved out: a known murder or suicide must be disclosed to a buyer if it happened within:

• a.six months before the first showing
• b.one year before the first showing✓
• c.three years before the first showing
• d.five years before the first showing

AS 08.88.615(b)(2) says the duty to disclose material information about physical condition may not be read to imply a duty to disclose “events that have occurred on the real estate that might affect whether a person wants to buy or lease the real estate.” AS 08.88.615(c) then makes one exception: before a buyer makes or accepts an offer, the licensee “shall disclose to the buyer that a murder or suicide occurred on the real property” if it “occurred within one year before the date that the licensee first showed the real estate to the buyer” and the licensee is aware of it. Outside that one-year window the general carve-out governs again. AS 08.88.630 separately relieves the licensee of any duty to inspect the property independently or to verify what a party has said.

An Alaska salesperson advertises a rental duplex the salesperson personally owns. Under 12 AAC 64.130, the advertisement must include:

• a.the salesperson's own license number and its expiration date
• b.the phrase “for sale by owner” in place of a firm name
• c.nothing extra, as a licensee's own property is exempt
• d.the broker's business name as registered with the department✓

12 AAC 64.130(8) makes it grounds for revocation or suspension to advertise “to buy, sell, rent, lease or exchange any real estate without including in the advertisement the broker's business name registered with the department,” and then closes the obvious loophole: “this paragraph applies to all real estate advertised to the public including that owned by the licensee.” 12 AAC 64.112 is what gives that name meaning — the broker registers the name the firm advertises and does business under, and it must be separate and distinct from every other active broker's registered name. A different rule, 12 AAC 64.550(e), requires a licensee who owns rental property to tell tenants and prospective tenants in writing that the owner is licensed.

Before an Alaska licensee may advertise a property for sale, lease or rent, 12 AAC 64.130 requires the licensee to have obtained:

• a.written confirmation that the title carries no liens
• b.the written authority of the owner or the owner's agent✓
• c.a market analysis signed by a state-certified appraiser
• d.a completed residential property transfer disclosure

12 AAC 64.130(6) lists as grounds for revocation or suspension “advertising a property for sale, lease, or rent without first obtaining the written authority of the owner or the owner's authorized agent to sell, lease, or rent the property.” AS 08.88.341 points the same way by requiring every listing or management contract to be in writing and signed by the client or the client's authorized representative. A market analysis, a transfer disclosure statement and a title search all belong to other stages of a transaction, and none of them substitutes for the owner's written authority to market the property.

An Alaska salesperson takes an earnest money check from a buyer on a Friday evening. Under AS 08.88.331, the salesperson must:

• a.hold it until the seller has accepted or rejected the buyer's offer
• b.endorse it over to the title company the buyer chose for closing
• c.turn it over to the employing broker or the broker's agent at once✓
• d.put it in the salesperson's account and remit it within five days

AS 08.88.331 lets an active salesperson or associate broker perform licensed activities “only through the real estate broker who employs or contracts with the licensee,” and adds that “[a]ll money or other proceeds collected in trust and related to a real estate transaction shall immediately be turned over to the broker or the broker's authorized representative.” The five-day clock in 12 AAC 64.200 is the broker's deadline for getting money into the trust account, not a license for the salesperson to hold it. AS 08.88.071(a)(3)(H) makes an employed licensee's failure to turn money over immediately a stand-alone ground for discipline.

Under AS 08.88.401, an Alaska salesperson may accept a commission for licensed activity from:

• a.the title company, as a disbursement from the proceeds
• b.the employing broker only, apart from assistant wages✓
• c.the employing broker or the cooperating broker in the deal
• d.any party to the transaction who agrees in writing to pay

AS 08.88.401(b)(2) provides that an associate broker or salesperson “may accept a fee or commission for performance of an act for which a license is required by this chapter only from the licensee's employing broker,” with one carve-out: the wages of a person engaged as a licensed assistant under AS 08.88.398 may be paid by that assistant's employer. 12 AAC 64.250(1) reinforces the rule from the other side by forbidding a broker to pay a salesperson's commission directly from the trust account, and 12 AAC 64.240(e) allows payment to a licensee's own legal entity only where that entity is owned by the licensee. A commission remains payable after the licensee leaves: 12 AAC 64.960 lets a broker pay a former associate broker or salesperson for services performed while actively licensed.

AS 08.88.341 governs Alaska listings and management contracts. Which statement matches the section?

• a.An exclusive listing needs a definite expiration date, extended in writing✓
• b.An oral listing binds the client once a written offer is accepted
• c.A management contract may renew automatically absent objection
• d.An open listing must be filed with the commission before marketing

AS 08.88.341 requires that “[a]ll real estate listings or management contracts must be in writing and must be signed by the broker or associated licensee of the broker and by the client or an authorized representative of the client,” and then that “[a]ll real estate exclusive listings or management contracts must have a definite expiration date that may be renewed or extended only by a written agreement signed by the client or the client's authorized representative.” That rules out an oral listing and an automatic renewal alike. Nothing in AS 08.88 requires a listing to be filed with the commission; what gets registered is the office and the business name, under AS 08.88.291 and 12 AAC 64.112.

Notwithstanding Alaska's law on the practice of law, AS 08.88.405 lets a licensee prepare which documents in the course of licensed work?

• a.Deeds of trust and title opinions for the parties to the deal
• b.Nothing at all; an Alaska attorney must draft every document
• c.Only the forms the commission has adopted by reference
• d.Real property contracts, earnest money agreements and leases✓

AS 08.88.405 provides that “[n]otwithstanding AS 08.08, a person licensed as a real estate broker, associate real estate broker, or real estate salesperson under this chapter may prepare real property contracts, earnest money agreements, leases, and other documents related to real property if the documents are prepared by the person in the course of the person's work” as a licensee. The authority is tied to the licensee's own transactions rather than to general drafting, and it does not extend to giving a title opinion. Only a few forms are adopted by reference — the transfer disclosure statements in 12 AAC 64.930, the Consumer Disclosure in 12 AAC 64.118 and the Waiver of Right To Be Represented in 12 AAC 64.119 — and AS 08.88.403 separately lets a broker pay an attorney or associate broker to review a transaction before it closes.

Under 12 AAC 64.200, money a licensee receives in an Alaska real estate transaction must reach the appropriate trust account within:

• a.fifteen days following receipt
• b.ten days following receipt
• c.five days following receipt✓
• d.three days following receipt

12 AAC 64.200 requires that “[a]ll money deposited with the broker or person employed by or affiliated with the broker as trustee in real estate transactions must be deposited in or mailed to the appropriate trust account within five days following receipt,” with relief only where “geographical location, weather conditions, or transportation facilities make such depositing impossible or unreasonable” — a practical concession to rural Alaska rather than a general extension. The fifteen-day figure belongs elsewhere: 12 AAC 64.240(b) gives the broker 15 days after closing to withdraw the broker's own commission from the trust account.

A buyer offers a promissory note instead of cash as earnest money on an Alaska property. Under 12 AAC 64.130, a licensee may accept it only if:

• a.the owner is told before accepting and the receipt says so✓
• b.a federally insured Alaska bank first endorses the note
• c.the seller's broker deposits an equal sum of its own funds
• d.the note is converted to cash before the offer is presented

12 AAC 64.130(12) makes it grounds for revocation or suspension to accept “as earnest money anything other than cash unless the offered non-cash substitute is communicated to the owner before accepting the offer to purchase, and the acceptance of the non-cash substitute is identified as a non-cash substitute on the earnest money receipt.” 12 AAC 64.271 adds that when a seller approves a non-cash deposit, “control over the item deposited must be surrendered to the broker,” who must then tell the principal parties what measures were taken to safeguard it. Depositing the broker's own money instead would be commingling, which 12 AAC 64.250(4) forbids outside the small service-charge allowance.

A person practices real estate in Alaska on an expired license. Beyond any civil penalty, AS 08.88.401 makes that conduct:

• a.a class A misdemeanor✓
• b.a class B misdemeanor
• c.a class C felony
• d.a violation only, with no criminal exposure

AS 08.88.401(f)(4) forbids knowingly using or attempting to use “an expired, suspended, revoked, or nonexistent license,” and AS 08.88.401(g) supplies the grade: “A person who violates this section or AS 08.88.161 is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.” That sits on top of, not instead of, the civil penalty the commission may levy under AS 08.88.167, which the statute itself frames as “[i]n addition to penalties prescribed by any other provision of law.” A separate misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year or a $1,000 fine, applies under AS 08.88.485 to filing a commission document containing a willful material misstatement of fact.

Alaska's definition of a personal services contract in AS 08.88.695 and 12 AAC 64.990 covers:

• a.only the exclusive right-to-sell listing a seller has signed
• b.any oral understanding between a licensee and a buyer
• c.the purchase and sale agreement the parties sign
• d.listings, broker fee agreements and management contracts✓

AS 08.88.695(5) defines “personal services contract” to include “a listing, a fee agreement between brokers and sellers, buyers, lessors, or lessees, a management contract with property owners, or any other agreement by which a broker agrees to perform a duty with respect to real estate for an agreed upon fee or commission,” and 12 AAC 64.990(d) repeats the definition for AS 08.88 generally. The category is therefore about the agreement between a broker and a client, not the contract between buyer and seller, and it is not confined to one kind of listing. Entering a personal services contract is itself “specific assistance” under AS 08.88.695(8)(A)(iv), which is what triggers the pamphlet and disclosure duties in AS 08.88.615.

Under AS 08.88.361, an Alaska broker's commission is earned when:

• a.a ready, willing and able buyer first makes an offer on the property
• b.the deed is recorded in the appropriate Alaska recording district
• c.the closing agent disburses the seller's net proceeds after closing
• d.the broker fulfills the terms of a written personal services contract✓

AS 08.88.361 is a single sentence: “A commission is earned when the real estate broker fulfills the terms of a written personal services contract.” Alaska therefore ties the commission to the contract the broker signed rather than to a common-law “ready, willing and able buyer” test, to recording, or to disbursement. What that contract requires is a question of its own terms, which is one reason AS 08.88.341 insists it be written and signed and, if exclusive, carry a definite expiration date. Paying a commission does not by itself create a relationship: AS 08.88.655(b) says the payment of compensation to a broker “may not be construed to establish a relationship between the broker and the party who pays.”

12 AAC 64.550 sets the minimum contents of an Alaska property management contract. Which set of terms does it require?

• a.The owner's mortgage balance, lender, escrow number and parcel
• b.The broker's trust account number, bank and monthly reconciliation
• c.Responsibilities, authority granted, period of the agreement, fee✓
• d.Rent roll, tenant names, deposit totals and utility account numbers

12 AAC 64.550(b) forbids a licensee to conduct property management activity for another person “without a prior written property management contract,” and then names the floor: the contract must include “the specific responsibilities of the property manager,” “the authority and powers given by the property owner to the property manager,” “the period of the agreement,” and “the management fee.” Because a management contract is also a personal services contract, AS 08.88.341 requires it to be signed by both sides and, if exclusive, to carry a definite expiration date. The other lists are ordinary business records; none of them is what the regulation makes mandatory contract content.