Alaska Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

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.