Property Ownership and Land Use Controls and Regulations
DRE puts approximately 15 percent of the broker examination here and lists eleven subtopics under it, from classes of property through water rights and special categories of land. California's estates, concurrent ownership forms, encumbrances and land use controls are the vocabulary the rest of the exam is written in.
Estates, concurrent ownership and community property
California recognizes joint tenancy, tenancy in common, community property, and community property with right of survivorship. Joint tenancy requires the four unities and carries a right of survivorship; a tenancy in common does not, and each cotenant's undivided interest passes by will or intestate succession. Community property with right of survivorship, added by Civil Code section 682.1, lets spouses combine the survivorship feature with the community property character of the asset. A married person's separate property is what was owned before marriage or acquired afterwards by gift, devise or descent.
Encumbrances, homestead and easements
An encumbrance is any right or interest in land held by someone other than the owner that reduces its value or restricts its use. Money encumbrances (deeds of trust, judgment liens, property tax liens, mechanics liens) are distinguished from non-money encumbrances (easements, encroachments, private restrictions). California's automatic homestead exemption under Code of Civil Procedure section 704.730 protects a floor amount of equity that is set by statute and adjusted annually for inflation, so a broker should look up the current figure rather than quote one from memory. An easement may be created by grant, reservation, implication, necessity or prescription, and a prescriptive easement requires open, notorious, hostile and continuous use for five years.
Public controls: zoning, the Subdivision Map Act and the Subdivided Lands Law
Cities and counties zone under the police power, and Government Code section 65860 requires zoning ordinances to be consistent with the general plan. The Subdivision Map Act (Government Code section 66410 and following) is the local mapping statute: it governs the tentative and final maps a subdivider must record. The Subdivided Lands Law (Business and Professions Code section 11000 and following) is the DRE consumer-protection statute: it requires a public report before subdivision interests may be sold or leased. The two are separate schemes with separate triggers, and the exam expects a broker to keep them apart.
Environmental hazards and water rights
California layers state hazard-zone regimes on top of federal law. The Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act and the Seismic Hazards Mapping Act produce mapped zones that must be disclosed; Public Resources Code section 4291 imposes defensible-space maintenance on owners in wildland areas, and Government Code section 51182 does the same in a designated fire hazard severity zone. Riparian rights attach to land bordering a watercourse and are not lost by non-use; appropriative rights are acquired by permit or license from the State Water Resources Control Board and can be lost by non-use. Percolating groundwater in California is governed by the correlative rights doctrine, under which overlying owners share a common supply reasonably.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- California Department of Real Estate (DRE)
- Prelicensing education
- 8 statutory college-level real estate courses
- Passing score
- 75%
- Scored questions
- 200
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in California?
The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) licenses and regulates real estate brokers and salespersons. Unlike most states, the DRE develops and administers the broker exam itself at its own electronic exam sites rather than contracting with PSI or Pearson VUE.
What experience do I need before the California broker exam?
Broker applicants must show at least two years of full-time licensed salesperson experience within the prior five years, or an equivalent qualifying background — for example, a four-year college degree with a major or minor in real estate. Experience is documented on the DRE's Broker Experience form.
How is the California broker exam structured?
The California broker examination is a single 200-question multiple-choice test given over 4 hours (one 4-hour session). A score of 75% or higher is required to pass. Applicants must also complete eight statutory college-level real estate courses before qualifying.
Sources: https://www.dre.ca.gov/examinees/brokerexperience.html, https://www.dre.ca.gov/examinees/TakingExam.html
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