Connecticut Laws Governing the Activities of Licensees
Area II is the largest block on the Connecticut state portion, 12 of 45 items. The bulletin lists eight subtopics: the broker/salesperson relationship, duties to parties, the handling of deposits and other monies, misrepresentation, disclosure of material and nonmaterial facts, advertising, commissions and compensation, and unlicensed personal assistants.
The Broker/Salesperson Relationship
Sec. 20-312a is the sentence to remember: in an action by a third party against a salesperson affiliated as an independent contractor, the broker is liable to the same extent as if the salesperson were an employee. The independent-contractor label changes the tax and employment relationship, not the broker's exposure. Sec. 20-320(b) adds that compliance with the chapter relieves nobody of responsibility for the conduct of their agents, employees or officers. Sec. 20-320(a)(4) makes it a disciplinary ground for a licensee to represent, or attempt to represent, a broker other than that licensee's own affiliated or supervising licensee without the express knowledge and consent of that supervising licensee.
Duties, Deposits and Misrepresentation
Conn. Agencies Regs. Sec. 20-328-2a(a) bars a licensee from providing professional services about a property in which the licensee has a present or contemplated interest unless the interest is specifically disclosed to all affected parties, and subsection (g) bars placing any sign on a property without the owner's or lessor's written consent. Sec. 20-320(a)(7) requires immediate delivery of a copy of any instrument to each party who executes it. On money: Sec. 20-324k(a) requires a separate escrow or trust account, distinct from the broker's own, in a bank doing business in this state; subsection (c) requires deposit within three banking days of the date all necessary parties sign; subsection (e) makes a willful violation punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, six months' imprisonment, or both. Sec. 20-324 punishes willful misrepresentation on a license application by a fine of up to $500, up to six months' imprisonment, or both — a different figure from the $1,000 criminal fine in Sec. 20-325 for unlicensed practice and from the $5,000 administrative fine in Sec. 20-312(d).
Material Facts, Advertising and Compensation
Sec. 20-311(21) defines a nonmaterial fact concerning real property to include that an occupant is or has been infected with a reportable disease, or that the property was at any time suspected to have been the site of a death or felony. Two safe harbours sit beside it: Sec. 20-327f (written notice of the availability of hazardous waste facility lists) and Sec. 20-327g (written notice that a list of properties used for hunting or shooting sports may be at the town clerk's office) each fully satisfy the duty to disclose even if the list is missing or wrong, and neither imposes a duty to compile it. In advertising, Sec. 20-312c(d) requires an associate broker to name the supervising licensee at a prominent location in every advertisement, and Sec. 20-312(e)(1) controls team names. On compensation, Sec. 20-325b requires the boldface notice that the amount or rate of broker compensation is not fixed by law and may be negotiable, and Conn. Agencies Regs. Sec. 20-328-6a(c) prohibits net listings. Sec. 20-320a bars any referral fee for sending a buyer to an attorney, a mortgage broker or a lender.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Connecticut Real Estate Commission (DCP)
- Exam vendor
- PSI
- Passing score
- 75%
- Scored questions
- 120
- Time limit
- 180 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Connecticut?
The Connecticut Real Estate Commission, within the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), licenses brokers and salespersons. The Commission contracts with PSI to deliver its exams.
What experience do I need before the Connecticut broker exam?
C.G.S. § 20-314(d) requires three years actively engaged as a licensed Connecticut salesperson under a supervising licensee, at least 1,500 hours in the business, and at least four closed transactions in those three years, plus 120 classroom hours: 60 in Real Estate Principles and Practices, 15 in Legal Compliance, 15 in Real Estate Brokerage Principles and Practices and two 15-hour electives. DCP waives the electives for an applicant with 20 transactions in the previous five years.
How is the Connecticut broker exam structured?
PSI bulletin 1007 gives the broker exam as 75 general questions in 120 minutes plus 45 Connecticut state questions in 60 minutes — 120 questions in 3 hours — and says "In order to pass the Broker examinations, you must receive a score of at least 75%." The 70% printed in the same bulletin is the salesperson standard, not the broker one.
Sources: https://portal.ct.gov/dcp/license-services-division/all-license-applications/real-estate-brokers, https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/1007
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