Alaska Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

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.