Broker Operations and Responsibilities
Area V is the largest on the exam at 18%. It covers supervision, office management, trust funds and trust accounts, record keeping, business organization, business practices, advertising and compensation.
Supervision
Regulation 10.4(a)(1) makes the principal broker generally responsible for all business the firm conducts and for the real estate activities of everyone licensed under or associated with the broker. Supervisory responsibility may be delegated to an executive broker by filing a designation form signed by both, effective when filed — but Regulation 10.4(a)(3) says delegation 'does not absolve the principal broker of general responsibility'. Regulation 10.4(b) imposes a duty to instruct licensees in practice and ethics and to keep them abreast of changes in the law; Regulation 10.4(c) judges discharge of that duty by frequency and manner of contact, type and frequency of educational activity, and method and frequency of monitoring. Regulation 10.4(e) bars a broker gainfully employed in a non-real-estate field from employing any licensee. Regulation 10.1(a) requires immediate written notice to the Commission when an affiliated licensee deals independently, and Regulation 10.11 requires written disclosure of self dealing before the contract is entered into.
Trust Funds and Trust Accounts
Regulation 10.8(a) defines trust funds as money not belonging to the principal broker received in connection with real estate activity — clients' money, earnest money, rents, advance fees, deposits. Regulation 10.7(a)(1) requires a licensee to deliver such money to the principal broker immediately. Regulation 10.8(g)(1) gives three days from execution of the contract by both parties to deposit it, deliver it to an escrow agent, or handle it under the parties' written agreement, with weekend and holiday extension. The account must be non-interest bearing, carry 'trust' or 'escrow' in its name, and sit in a federally insured institution (Regulation 10.8(c)); commingling is prohibited except for a required minimum balance and up to six months of service charges (Regulation 10.8(d)). Statements must be reconciled in writing at least monthly and the reconciliations kept three years. Regulation 10.9(c) lists the seven circumstances that discharge the duty to account, including interpleader and a written agreement signed by all interested parties.
Record Keeping and Business Organization
Regulation 10.7(b)(1) requires a separate file per transaction holding signed copies of the listing contract, agency contract, offers, offer and acceptance contracts and closing statements; (b)(2) requires complete records of property managed for others; (b)(3) sets a three-year floor, open to Commission inspection, with electronic storage permitted. Regulation 10.7(c) makes the last principal broker remaining with a closed firm responsible for its records. Regulation 7.1 puts the duty to clear a proposed firm name on the principal broker. Regulation 7.3 requires a permanently attached sign at the place of business bearing the firm name and words such as 'real estate', with photographs furnished to the Commission and all licenses displayed. Section 17-42-309(b)(2) bars a duplicate license for a branch office with assigned licensees unless an executive broker has been designated to supervise there.
Business Practices, Advertising and Compensation
Regulation 8.5(a) makes absolute fidelity to the client primary but not a license to deal dishonestly with anyone else. Regulation 10.4(d)(2) requires written closing instructions to any third-party closer the parties select and review of the client's closing statement. Regulation 10.5(a) bars advertising any property, including the licensee's own, or displaying a sign, without naming the firm the licensee is licensed with; 10.5(b) bars doing business under any other name. On money, Regulation 8.3(b) is categorical: a licensee may accept compensation in connection with a real estate transaction from no one except the principal broker under whom the licensee is licensed, and § 17-42-107(b) confines any suit for it to an action against that broker.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Arkansas Real Estate Commission (AREC)
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 60 classroom hours within the prior 36 months, 45 of them the Commission-developed Broker Pre-License Course
- Passing score
- 70 (scaled)
- Scored questions
- 120
Who regulates real estate brokers in Arkansas?
The Arkansas Real Estate Commission (AREC) licenses principal brokers, executive brokers, associate brokers, and salespersons under the Arkansas Real Estate License Law, Ark. Code Ann. § 17-42-101 et seq., and the Commission Regulations. AREC contracts with Pearson VUE to deliver the licensing exams at test centers across Arkansas and at select military installations.
What education and experience do I need before the Arkansas broker exam?
AREC Regulation 4.1(a)(2) requires not less than 60 classroom hours completed within the 36 months immediately preceding the application, of which at least 45 must be in a course developed by the Commission — the Broker Pre-License Course, not merely a Commission-approved course. Ark. Code Ann. § 17-42-303(b)(1) adds the experience: an active, bona fide apprenticeship holding a valid salesperson license from AREC, or a salesperson or broker license from another state, for not less than 24 months within the previous 48-month period. Section 17-42-303(b)(2) allows the Commission to waive that experience for an applicant who has held an active broker license for at least 18 months or has 24 months of acceptable real-estate-related experience.
How is the Arkansas broker exam structured?
Unlike most states, Arkansas gives brokers a single UNIFIED examination rather than a national portion plus a state portion. Pearson VUE handbook #090400 (rev. June 2026): "The Arkansas Unified Real Estate Broker examination covers both general knowledge concepts, as well as Arkansas-specific content. The examination consists of 120 scored items and ten pretest (unscored) items." Because it is one-part comprehensive it cannot be divided into portions for reexamination — fail it and you retake the whole thing. The content outline effective December 1, 2025 publishes ten areas as percentages: Commission duties 4%, licensure 10%, other Arkansas statutes 6%, federal law 10%, broker operations 18%, agency 12%, property characteristics 10%, valuation 5%, contracts and financing 15%, property management 10%.
What score do I need, and how long do I get?
The Commission set a passing SCALED score of 70. That is not 70% correct: the handbook states the scaled score reported "is neither the number of questions answered correctly nor the percentage of questions answered correctly." Numeric scores are reported only to candidates who fail. The handbook publishes no per-exam time limit — its Quick Reference says only that you will have "two to four hours" to complete your exam, a range covering all five Arkansas real estate and property management exams. The exam fee is $75, paid to Pearson VUE at reservation.
Sources: https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/090400.pdf, https://arec.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/AR-Real-Estate-License-Law-April-2026.pdf, https://arec.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024-Commission-Regulations-04092025-LKA.pdf, https://arec.arkansas.gov/licensing/exam-information/
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