Arizona Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

Which government power is exercised when Arizona takes private land for a public use and pays compensation?

• a.Taxation
• b.The police power
• c.Eminent domain✓
• d.Escheat

Eminent domain is the power to take private property for public use on payment of just compensation, and A.R.S. 12-1111 lists the uses for which it may be exercised in Arizona, including public buildings, roads, canals and utility lines. Police power regulates use without compensating, escheat passes property to the state when an owner dies without heirs or claimants, and taxation raises revenue. Only eminent domain both takes title and pays for it.

Which of these is an exercise of the police power rather than a taking?

• a.A utility easement acquired by court order
• b.A zoning ordinance capping building height✓
• c.A condemnation of a parcel for a new school site
• d.A road widening that removes ten feet of a front yard

The police power lets government regulate the use of land to protect health, safety, morals and general welfare, and zoning is its central application; no compensation is owed for a valid regulation. The other three are acquisitions of property interests by condemnation, which require just compensation. The line between a regulation and a regulatory taking turns on how far the restriction goes.

When do Arizona real property taxes become delinquent under A.R.S. 42-18052?

• a.First half after November 1, second half after May 1✓
• b.The whole amount after December 31 in every case
• c.The first half after October 1 and the second half after March 1
• d.The first half after December 1 and the second half after June 1

A.R.S. 42-18052(A) makes one half of the tax due and payable on October 1 and the other half on the following March 1. Subsection B then provides that the unpaid first half 'is delinquent after November 1 at 5:00 p.m.' and the unpaid second half 'is delinquent after the following May 1 at 5:00 p.m.' Subsection C is the exception: where the whole tax is $100 or less it is all due October 1 and delinquent after December 31.

What interest do delinquent Arizona property taxes bear under A.R.S. 42-18053?

• a.Eighteen percent per year, compounded annually
• b.Twelve percent per year, simple
• c.Ten percent per year, compounded monthly
• d.Sixteen percent per year, simple✓

A.R.S. 42-18053(A) provides that all taxes bear interest from the time of delinquency 'at the rate of sixteen percent per year simple until paid,' counting a fraction of a month as a whole month. Subsection B removes the interest where the delinquency was caused by an error of the county assessor or treasurer, or where the full year's tax is paid on or before December 31 of the tax year.