District of Columbia Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

A new environmental ordinance leaves a landowner with no economically viable use of a parcel, although the government takes no title to it. The owner's strongest constitutional claim is:

• a.The ordinance is void because zoning cannot restrict use
• b.A regulatory taking entitling the owner to payment✓
• c.Escheat has occurred and the state now owns the parcel
• d.Spot zoning, since only this parcel lost its value

Regulation that goes so far it denies an owner all economically viable use is treated as a regulatory taking, and just compensation is owed even though the government never took title. Arguing that zoning simply cannot restrict use fails, because regulating land is a valid exercise of the police power and owners have no right to the most profitable use. Escheat moves property to the state only when an owner dies with no will and no heirs, which has nothing to do with an ordinance. Spot zoning describes singling out one parcel for a different classification, not a general environmental rule applied to a class of land.

Reviewing a title report, a broker finds an old recorded covenant, written decades ago, that bars resale of the lot to members of a specified race. Its legal effect today is:

• a.It binds the buyer because it was recorded before purchase
• b.It is void, so a court will never enforce it or enjoin it✓
• c.It stays valid until the homeowners association removes it
• d.It is enforceable by the association but not by an owner

A private restriction that discriminates on a protected basis is void and unenforceable under the federal Fair Housing Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, so no court will order compliance or enjoin a violation, and the association has no power the courts would back. Recording rescues nothing, because an illegal restriction gains no force from sitting in the public record. No association vote is required to strip it of effect, although many states let an owner have the language formally struck. Valid CC&Rs, by contrast, are enforced privately by injunction brought by an owner or the association. A broker must never repeat or give effect to such language.

A grantor signs and notarizes a deed naming a nephew as grantee, locks it in a safe deposit box, and tells no one. The grantor later dies. What is the deed's effect?

• a.Title passed when the grantor signed the deed
• b.Title passed because the deed was acknowledged
• c.No title passed, because delivery never occurred✓
• d.Title passes when the estate later records it

A deed operates only when the grantor delivers it with the present intent to pass title and the grantee accepts, and both must happen while the grantor is alive. Signing accomplishes nothing while the instrument stays under the grantor's control in a box no one knows about. Acknowledgment before a notary serves recording, not validity, so notarizing it changes nothing here. An estate representative cannot supply the delivery the grantor failed to make, and recording an undelivered deed does not revive it. The nephew takes only through the will or the intestacy statute, which is why closings hand over the executed deed rather than merely signing it.

A deed is signed by a competent grantor and handed to a grantee who accepts it, but the grantor's signature was never notarized. As between those two parties, the deed is:

• a.Void, since notarizing is a validity requirement
• b.Valid, though it cannot be recorded as it stands✓
• c.Valid only if the grantee later pays a recording fee
• d.Voidable at the option of the grantor's creditors

Acknowledgment is a recording requirement, not an element of a valid deed. Delivered and accepted, the deed transfers title between grantor and grantee even with no notary, but the recorder will reject it, leaving the grantee exposed to later purchasers and lienholders who record first. Calling it void confuses the two ideas: validity turns on a competent grantor, an identifiable grantee, words of conveyance, an adequate legal description, the grantor's signature, and delivery and acceptance. Paying a fee cannot cure a missing acknowledgment, because the recorder cannot accept the instrument at all. Creditors of the grantor gain no power to undo a completed conveyance.

In a deed, which clause opens with the words 'to have and to hold' and defines the extent of the estate the grantee is receiving?

• a.The granting clause containing the words of conveyance
• b.The habendum clause, following the granting clause✓
• c.The acknowledgment taken before a notary public officer
• d.The legal description identifying the land conveyed

The habendum clause follows the granting clause, begins with the traditional phrase 'to have and to hold,' and spells out the estate conveyed, for example a fee simple absolute or a life estate. The granting clause holds the words of conveyance that actually transfer the interest and names the grantee. The acknowledgment is the notary's certificate that the signature is genuine, which the recorder requires but the transfer does not. The legal description identifies the land by metes and bounds, lot and block, or government survey, and it fixes what is conveyed rather than how much of an estate. Reading both clauses tells a broker exactly what the buyer is getting.

A relocation company that has owned a home for three months conveys it, warranting title only against defects that arose during its own ownership. The deed it delivers is a:

• a.Bargain and sale deed implying ownership without covenants
• b.General warranty deed covering the entire chain of title
• c.Quitclaim deed conveying only the interest actually held
• d.Special (limited) warranty deed covering the grantor's period✓

Warranting only against defects created or suffered while the grantor held title describes the special or limited warranty deed, the customary instrument for corporate, relocation, and fiduciary sellers who cannot vouch for what earlier owners did. A general warranty deed reaches back through the whole history of the property and offers the broadest protection, which is more than this seller is giving. A quitclaim carries no warranties at all and passes only whatever interest the signer happens to hold. A bargain and sale deed implies that the grantor owns the property but adds few or no covenants. A buyer taking narrower covenants should lean on an owner's title policy.

A title search shows that a seller's former spouse may still hold a possible interest in the property. What is the usual instrument used to release that interest and clear the record?

• a.A quitclaim deed from the former spouse✓
• b.A general warranty deed from the former spouse
• c.A trustee's deed issued after a foreclosure
• d.A correction deed fixing the legal description

A quitclaim releases whatever interest the signer may hold, with no warranties attached, which makes it the standard tool for removing a cloud such as a possible marital interest, a stale easement claim, or a name discrepancy. Demanding a general warranty deed asks the former spouse to guarantee title he or she may never have owned, and it is normally refused. A trustee's deed is what the trustee under a deed of trust issues to the purchaser at a foreclosure sale. A correction deed reforms a mistake in an earlier deed between the same parties and cannot release an outsider's claim.

A court-appointed personal representative sells a decedent's home during probate, and the buyer's broker asks what instrument will convey title. The answer is:

• a.A trustee's deed given after a nonjudicial foreclosure
• b.A sheriff's deed issued following a judicial sale
• c.A general warranty deed with full title covenants
• d.An executor's or personal representative's deed✓

Estate property is conveyed by an executor's deed when a will names the executor, or by a personal representative's or administrator's deed when the court makes the appointment; these deeds recite the court authority and give only limited covenants. A trustee's deed comes from the trustee under a deed of trust after a nonjudicial foreclosure sale. A sheriff's deed, called a referee's deed in some states, follows a judicial sale ordered by a court. A general warranty deed is not used, because a fiduciary will not personally guarantee title against the acts of the decedent or of owners further back in the chain.

After closing under a general warranty deed, a buyer discovers a recorded utility easement that the deed never disclosed. Which covenant did the grantor breach?

• a.Quiet enjoyment, a promise against eviction by better title
• b.Seisin, a promise that the grantor owns the estate conveyed
• c.Against encumbrances, a promise of no undisclosed burdens✓
• d.Further assurance, a promise to sign curative papers

The covenant against encumbrances promises that no liens, easements, or similar burdens exist beyond those the deed discloses, so a recorded easement left unmentioned breaches it at the moment of delivery. Seisin promises the grantor actually owns the estate being conveyed, which is not the trouble when ownership is sound but burdened. Quiet enjoyment shields the grantee from later eviction by someone holding superior title, and an easement holder's use is not an eviction. Further assurance obliges the grantor to sign additional documents needed to perfect title. A general warranty deed carries all of these along with the right to convey and warranty forever.

A neighbor has openly farmed and fenced a strip of an absentee owner's land, excluding others and never asking permission. To take title by adverse possession the neighbor must prove:

• a.Payment of the owner's property taxes for every year
• b.Open, notorious, continuous, hostile, and exclusive possession✓
• c.A written agreement signed by the record title owner
• d.A recorded deed describing the disputed strip of land

Adverse possession requires possession that is open and notorious, continuous, hostile in the sense of being without permission, and exclusive, held for the statutory period set by state law. Some states add payment of taxes or color of title, but those elements are not universal, so a broker should never assume them from another state's rule. A written agreement from the record owner would destroy the claim outright, since permission defeats hostility. Recording a deed creates no possession and cannot manufacture the required years of use. Adverse possession is one form of involuntary alienation, alongside descent, escheat, foreclosure, eminent domain, and accretion.

An owner dies leaving no will, and after a diligent search no heirs can be located. A broker asked to list the property should understand that title:

• a.Passes by devise to the beneficiaries named in a will
• b.Descends to the decedent's nearest surviving creditors
• c.Vests permanently in the administrator the court appoints
• d.Escheats to the state, an involuntary transfer of title✓

Escheat is the state's claim to property when an owner dies intestate and no heirs can be found, and it is a classic involuntary transfer rather than a voluntary one by deed or will. Devise is a gift of real property by will, so it cannot operate where there is no will and no named beneficiary. Descent carries property to heirs under the intestacy statute, but creditors are paid as claimants out of the estate and never inherit the land itself. An administrator has authority to manage and convey estate property during probate, not to own it permanently. Each state sets its own escheat procedure and waiting period.

A search reveals an old mortgage of record that was paid off but never released, and the lender no longer exists. Which step clears that cloud so title is marketable?

• a.Ordering an abstract of title with an attorney's opinion
• b.Buying an owner's title policy that insures over it
• c.Filing a quiet title action asking a court to clear it✓
• d.Recording a correction deed signed by the current seller

A quiet title action asks a court to determine ownership and extinguish a stale or unreleasable claim, which is the practical cure when the mortgagee has vanished and no release can be obtained. An abstract of title with an attorney's opinion summarizes and evaluates the recorded chain; it reports the cloud rather than removing it, and it offers no indemnity. An owner's policy may insure over a known risk, but insurance pays for loss and leaves the defect on the record for the next buyer to confront. A correction deed fixes a drafting error between the original parties and cannot release a third party's lien.

A seller deeds a parcel to one buyer and later deeds the same parcel to a second buyer, who records first. Which framework decides who owns the land?

• a.A federal recording statute applied in all fifty states
• b.The state's recording act, race, notice, or race-notice✓
• c.The order in which the two deeds were signed and dated
• d.The county recorder's discretion over competing claims

Priority between competing grantees is governed by the recording act of the state where the land lies, and the schemes differ: a pure race state protects whoever records first, a notice state protects a later purchaser who took without notice of the earlier deed, and a race-notice state protects one who took without notice and recorded first. No federal statute governs land recording. Signing dates do not decide the contest, which is precisely why a public recording system exists. Recorders act ministerially and have no power to resolve claims. Because the gap between closing and recording is the danger zone, a broker should press for prompt recording.

A buyer pays for a lender's title policy at closing and asks the broker whether it also protects the buyer's equity in the home. The correct answer is that the policy:

• a.Protects both parties equally up to the full purchase price
• b.Protects the buyer once the mortgage has been fully repaid
• c.Protects the buyer against defects arising after closing
• d.Protects only the lender, declining with the balance✓

A lender's, or mortgagee's, policy insures only the lender's security interest, and its coverage shrinks as the principal is paid down, ending altogether when the loan is satisfied. It never covers the buyer's equity, which is why a separate owner's policy is offered at closing for a one-time premium and lasts as long as the insured holds an interest. Repaying the mortgage does not convert the lender's coverage into the buyer's; it extinguishes it. And no title policy insures defects that first arise after its date. Brokers should explain this plainly before a buyer waives owner's coverage to save money.

Six months after closing, a contractor the buyer hired records a mechanic's lien against the home. The buyer files a claim under the owner's title policy. The insurer will most likely:

• a.Deny, because the defect arose after the policy was issued✓
• b.Pay, because owner's policies cover all future liens
• c.Pay, because the standard exceptions were removed
• d.Deny, because only a lender may file a title claim

Title insurance looks backward: it covers defects that already existed when the policy was issued but were not discovered or excepted, not events that happen later. A lien for work the buyer ordered after closing is a new problem the buyer must resolve directly. Buying extended coverage removes standard exceptions and broadens what is insured as of the policy date, but it does not push coverage forward in time. Owners plainly may claim under their own policies; the lender's policy is the one limited to the lender. Extended coverage typically depends on a current survey, which reveals encroachments and boundary issues a records search alone cannot.

A buyer tours a house and finds an occupant who is not the seller living there under an unrecorded lease. What kind of notice does that occupancy give the buyer?

• a.Actual notice, given by the seller's written disclosure
• b.Constructive notice, given by the public record
• c.No notice at all, since the lease was not recorded
• d.Inquiry notice, requiring the buyer to ask about it✓

Someone in possession who is not the seller puts a buyer on inquiry notice: the buyer is charged with whatever a reasonable investigation of that occupancy would have turned up, including an unrecorded lease or an option to purchase. Actual notice is what a party genuinely knows, typically from a disclosure or a conversation, and no one has told this buyer anything. Constructive notice comes from the public record, which by definition cannot reveal an unrecorded lease. Treating an unrecorded interest as invisible is the classic error, because possession is itself notice. A broker should always ask who occupies a property and on what terms.

Which body licenses and disciplines real estate brokers, salespersons, and property managers in the District of Columbia?

• a.The Real Estate Commission, administered through the District's licensing department✓
• b.The Council of the District of Columbia, acting through its housing committee
• c.The National Association of Realtors, through its member board in the District
• d.The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, through a regional office

D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.06(h) establishes a Board of Real Estate and provides that it "shall regulate the practices of real estate brokers, real estate salespersons, and property managers"; Mayor's Order 2009-11 re-designated that board as the Real Estate Commission, and 17 DCMR § 2600.2 places it under the administrative control of the Mayor through the District's consumer and licensing department, today the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. The Council writes the District's statutes but does not take applications, seat examinations, or rule on complaints. The National Association of Realtors is a private trade group whose membership is voluntary and confers no authority to practice. HUD administers federal housing and fair-housing programs; occupational licensing of real estate practitioners is not a federal function.

A DC broker has received a final decision from the Real Estate Commission revoking the broker's license. Where does an appeal from that decision go?

• a.The Superior Court of the District of Columbia
• b.The District of Columbia Court of Appeals✓
• c.The Mayor, on administrative reconsideration
• d.The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.23 states that "[a]ny person aggrieved by a final decision of a board may appeal the decision to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals pursuant to § 2-510" — review of the agency record by the District's highest court, not a fresh trial. The Superior Court is the District's trial court and hears the Commission's subpoena enforcement under § 47-2853.22(f)(3), not appeals from its final decisions. The Mayor issues and revokes the license at the board's direction under § 47-2853.17(c) and has no reconsideration role over the board's adjudication. A federal district court is not in the review path the statute lays out.

After a hearing, the Real Estate Commission finds that a DC licensee committed a disciplinary violation. What is the largest civil fine the statute lets the Commission direct for each violation?

• a.$1,000
• b.$2,500
• c.$5,000✓
• d.$25,000

D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.17(c)(5) lets a board direct the Mayor to "[i]mpose a civil fine not to exceed $5,000 for each violation" — the cap is per violation, so several violations in one matter can be fined separately. The $25,000 figure belongs to a different provision: § 47-2853.27(b) sets it as the maximum criminal fine on a person previously convicted under the subchapter, and § 47-2853.27(a) sets $10,000 for a first conviction. Both criminal figures require a conviction in court, which is not what a Commission disciplinary hearing produces. The $1,000 and $2,500 figures appear nowhere in the licensure statute.

The Mayor summarily suspends a DC broker's license without a hearing after finding that the broker's conduct presents an imminent danger. How long does the broker have to request a hearing?

• a.24 hours after service of the notice
• b.15 days after service of the notice
• c.30 days after service of the notice
• d.72 hours after service of the notice✓

D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.18(c) gives the licensee "the right to request a hearing within 72 hours after service of notice of the summary suspension or restriction," and the board must then hold the hearing within 72 hours of a timely request and decide within 72 hours after it. The whole point of the timetable is speed, because the license has already been taken without any hearing at all. The 15-day figure is the notice period for an ordinary disciplinary hearing under § 47-2853.22(d), not the window to ask for one after a summary suspension. The 24-hour and 30-day figures do not appear in the section.

Several clients hold unpaid final judgments against the same DC licensee arising out of a single transaction. What is the most the Real Estate Guaranty and Education Fund will pay on that transaction?

• a.$10,000, divided among the claimants in proportion to their judgments
• b.$25,000, divided among the claimants in proportion to their judgments
• c.$50,000, divided among the claimants in proportion to their judgments✓
• d.$50,000 for each claimant who obtained a separate final judgment

D.C. Official Code § 42-1707(d) sets "[t]he aggregate of claims by judgment creditors against the Fund based upon an unpaid final judgment arising out of the acts of the licensee in connection with a single transaction" at $50,000 "regardless of the number of claimants," and directs that if the claims exceed that figure the money is paid "in proportion to the amounts of their final judgments." That is why the per-claimant reading is wrong: the cap is on the transaction, not on each claimant. The $10,000 and $25,000 figures are early rungs on the phase-in schedule in § 42-1707(c), which reached $50,000 in the fifth year after March 10, 1983 and has stayed there. A licensee whose account is paid from the Fund is automatically suspended under § 42-1707(g) until the money is repaid with interest.

Which of these people may perform acts that would otherwise require a real estate license in the District without holding one?

• a.A salesperson whose license lapsed while a listing was still active
• b.An unlicensed assistant who negotiates leases for a licensed broker
• c.An attorney at law acting in the ordinary practice of the profession✓
• d.A property manager collecting rents for several unrelated owners

D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.181(1), repeated at 17 DCMR § 2624.3(a), exempts "attorneys-at-law in the ordinary practice of their profession," alongside court-appointed receivers, executors, guardians, and trustees acting in that capacity. The exemption is narrow: 17 DCMR § 2624.2 forbids an exempt person from holding themselves out as a broker, salesperson, or property manager. Negotiating leases is a licensed activity, so an unlicensed assistant who does it is practicing without a license, and 17 DCMR § 2624.3(e) limits the clerical exemption to staff who perform none of the licensed activities. A lapsed license is no license, and an open listing does not extend it. Collecting rents for other owners for compensation is squarely within the broker and property manager scope of practice in § 47-2853.161(1) and § 47-2853.141.

Beyond meeting the requirements for a salesperson license, what must an applicant for a DC real estate broker license show?

• a.135 clock hours of approved coursework and two years of licensed activity✓
• b.60 clock hours of approved coursework and one year of licensed activity
• c.90 clock hours of approved coursework and three years of licensed activity
• d.180 clock hours of approved coursework and five years of licensed activity

17 DCMR § 2601.3 requires broker applicants to furnish evidence of coursework "of a minimum of 135 clock hours" covering nine named subject areas, among them Real Estate Law, Fair Housing Law, Agency Relationships, D.C. Real Estate Licensing Law and Regulations, and the Code of Ethics. On experience, D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.162(2) and 17 DCMR § 2601.7 require the applicant to have been licensed and actively engaged as a broker or salesperson "in the District or elsewhere the 2 years immediately preceding the date on which the application ... is filed," or to have equivalent experience the Commission accepts. The 60-hour figure is the District's salesperson pre-license requirement, not the broker one. The 90-, 180-hour, three-year, and five-year figures appear in neither the statute nor the rules.

In the District's licensing scheme, what is an "associate real estate broker"?

• a.A licensed broker employed by a firm who is not a partner, officer, or principal broker✓
• b.A property manager licensed to supervise one branch office of a firm
• c.A broker licensed in Maryland or Virginia working in the District
• d.A salesperson who has passed the broker examination but not yet applied

D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.182(d) defines the term as "any person licensed under this subchapter as a broker who is employed by a real estate broker, franchise firm, association, business, or corporation, but who is not a partner, an officer or a principal broker within a licensed legal entity." The person holds a full broker license; what distinguishes them is that they work under someone else's brokerage rather than running it. A salesperson who has merely passed the examination holds no broker license at all, and 17 DCMR § 2601.5 gives such a candidate six months to file before reexamination is required. A property manager holds a separate credential under § 47-2853.141. An out-of-jurisdiction broker practicing in the District needs a District license, obtained by reciprocity or endorsement under 17 DCMR § 2611 if eligible.

How much continuing education must a DC broker complete in order to renew the license?

• a.8 hours in each 2-year cycle, all of them general elective courses
• b.15 hours in each 2-year cycle, 9 mandated and 6 general elective✓
• c.12 hours in each 2-year cycle, 6 mandated and 6 general elective
• d.24 hours in each 2-year cycle, 12 mandated and 12 general elective

17 DCMR § 2605.3(a) requires "no fewer than fifteen (15) hours of acceptable continuing education credit during the two-(2-) year period preceding the date the license expires," and § 2605.3(b) splits that as nine hours of Commission-mandated courses and six hours of general electives. The credits count only if the program is Commission-approved under § 2607, and § 2605.2 puts the burden of checking that on the licensee. A first renewal after a license granted by examination is exempt under § 2605.1, which is why newly licensed brokers do not owe the hours in their first cycle. The 8-, 12-, and 24-hour splits are not the District's figures.

A DC broker lets the license expire and takes no action. After how long can the license no longer be reinstated at all?

• a.1 year after expiration; after that the applicant must qualify anew
• b.5 years after expiration; after that the applicant must qualify anew✓
• c.2 years after expiration; after that the applicant must qualify anew
• d.10 years after expiration; after that the applicant must qualify anew

17 DCMR § 2622.6 states that the Commission "shall not reinstate the license of a real estate broker, a real estate salesperson or property manager who fails to apply for reinstatement of a license within five (5) years after the license expires," and adds that anyone ineligible for reinstatement may become licensed only by meeting the requirements for initial licensure; D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.15 says the same thing at statute level. Inside that window there are two earlier steps: 17 DCMR § 2621.5 lets a holder renew within 60 days after expiration on payment of a late fee, and § 2621.6 treats a license not renewed in those 60 days as lapsed on the expiration date, pushing the holder into the reinstatement process. The 1-, 2-, and 10-year figures do not appear in the chapter.

A licensed DC broker wants to close her own firm and work for another brokerage as an associate real estate broker. What does the licensure statute require?

• a.She transfers her existing broker license to the new firm's principal broker
• b.She surrenders her broker license and applies for a salesperson license
• c.She waits until the next renewal cycle to change her licensed status
• d.She notifies the Board of the change in status by certified mail✓

D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.182(c) provides that "[a]ny broker who wishes to change his or her status to that of an associate real estate broker shall notify the Board of Real Estate by certified mail," and § 47-2853.182(b) lets the change be made for any unexpired portion of the licensure term on written request to the Mayor and payment of the required fees. Transferring the license to someone else is expressly forbidden: § 47-2853.182(a) says a license "shall not be transferred to another person." Nothing in the section asks a broker to drop down to a salesperson license; the associate broker in § 47-2853.182(d) still holds a broker license. And the statute ties the change to a written request, not to the renewal calendar.

Under the Commission's advertising rules, an advertisement placed by a DC salesperson must:

• a.Carry the salesperson's own license number in place of the firm's name
• b.Run under the direct supervision of the broker and in the name of the firm✓
• c.Be filed with the Commission for approval before it may be published
• d.Name the seller and the listing price agreed in the listing contract

17 DCMR § 2615.3 provides that "[a]ll advertising shall be under the direct supervision of the principal broker or supervising broker and shall be in the name of the firm," and that the firm's licensed name "shall be displayed clearly and legibly on all advertising." The Code of Ethics reinforces it from the other direction: § 2609.6 bars a salesperson or associate broker from letting their name be used in any advertisement without the affiliated brokerage's name and main telephone number. A license number is not a substitute for the firm's name. Nothing in the chapter sets up pre-publication clearance by the Commission. And the seller's identity and the listing price are terms of the listing, not required advertising content.

A DC brokerage buys a bulk email list and hires an outside vendor to send unsolicited marketing email about its listings. Under the Commission's rules, this is:

• a.Prohibited, and the licensee answers for the vendor's conduct as well✓
• b.Permitted if each message carries a working unsubscribe link
• c.Permitted because the vendor, not the licensee, sends the messages
• d.Prohibited unless the Commission approves the mailing list first

17 DCMR § 2615.6(g) is explicit on both halves: "Licensees shall not use unsolicited commercial e-mail (Spam) to promote licensed activity. Licensees are responsible for the actions of third parties that provide commercial e-mail advertising and marketing services for the benefit of the licensee." Hiring the sending out is therefore not a way around the rule. The same subsection requires an on-line disclosure at the beginning or end of e-mail, newsgroup, and bulletin board messages, so a mere unsubscribe link does not bring a mailing into compliance. And the chapter nowhere provides for the Commission to vet a mailing list in advance.

A DC broker discharges a salesperson. Within how many days must the broker mail the salesperson's license to the Mayor and send the salesperson notice that it has been mailed?

• a.15 calendar days✓
• b.10 calendar days
• c.5 calendar days
• d.30 calendar days

D.C. Official Code § 47-2853.186(b) requires that when a salesperson "is discharged or terminates his or her employment with a licensee, the licensee, within 15 calendar days, shall mail notification to the former employee that his or her license has been mailed to the Mayor," with a copy of that notice accompanying the license. The salesperson carries a matching duty under § 47-2853.186(c) to notify the Mayor in writing within 15 days. Until the salesperson is employed by another licensee and a license is reissued, it is unlawful for that person to perform any licensed act. The same 15-day period runs under § 47-2853.186(a) when a broker's own license is suspended or revoked and the affiliated salespersons must mail in their licences.

A DC broker holds weekly training, reviews every executed contract, and enforces a written office policy manual. Under the Commission's supervision rules, that oversight:

• a.Converts affiliated salespersons into employees of the brokerage
• b.Must be approved by the Commission before it may be required
• c.Relieves the broker of responsibility for the salespersons' acts
• d.Does not by itself create an employer-employee relationship✓

17 DCMR § 2614.5 provides that "[t]he exercise of reasonable and adequate supervision may not be construed as or deemed to create the existence of an employer-employee relationship between the supervisor and the licensed real estate organization and the associate real estate broker or real estate salesperson or to alter the status of an independent contractor." The rule exists precisely so that supervising properly does not cost the firm the independent contractor arrangement. Training, contract review, and written policies are the very evidence § 2614.7 lists as showing supervision is reasonable and adequate, so doing them cannot be what triggers a change of status. Nor does supervising relieve the broker of responsibility: § 47-2853.161(2) holds the broker "accountable for the day-to-day job-related activities of his or her employees." No provision requires Commission approval of a firm's supervisory practices.

A DC broker produces a ready, willing, and able buyer for an owner who never signed a listing. Can the broker recover a commission?

• a.Yes, because the broker performed the service the owner requested
• b.No, unless the sale closes within 90 days of the buyer's offer
• c.Yes, if the broker registered the oral listing with the Commission
• d.No, because the District requires a written listing contract✓

D.C. Official Code § 42-1705 is two sentences long and settles it: "A written listing contract is required in the District for the sale of all real property. A licensee shall not receive payment of a commission in the absence of a written listing agreement." Producing a ready, willing, and able buyer is the common-law test for earning a commission, but the District's statute conditions payment on the writing, so performance alone does not get the broker paid. There is no registry of oral listings at the Commission. And the bar does not turn on how quickly the sale closes; a brokerage agreement with no definite termination date simply ends 90 days after it was entered into under § 42-1703(g)(2), which is a different rule about duration.

A DC licensee wants to take a fee from both the seller and the buyer in the same transaction. Under the Code of Ethics, the licensee may do so:

• a.Only where the transaction involves commercial real property
• b.Only if the two fees are equal and are disclosed after closing
• c.Only with the full knowledge and consent of the other party✓
• d.Only when the property has been on the market over 90 days

17 DCMR § 2609.12 provides that "[a] licensee shall not accept compensation from more than one (1) party to a transaction without the full knowledge and consent of the other party or parties." What the rule requires is informed consent given in advance, so disclosure after closing comes too late to satisfy it, and the amounts being equal does nothing to cure the conflict. The rule is written for licensees generally and is not limited by property type. Time on the market is irrelevant to it. The related disclosure duty in D.C. Official Code § 42-1703(f) points the same way: before entering a brokerage relationship the licensee must tell the prospective client the broker's compensation and whether it will be shared with another broker in the deal.

A DC licensee holds a 10% ownership interest in a property her firm is listing for sale. Under the Code of Ethics, she must:

• a.Transfer the listing to a firm in which she holds no interest
• b.Reduce her commission by the percentage of her ownership interest
• c.Disclose that interest in writing to all parties to the transaction✓
• d.Obtain the Commission's written approval before the listing is signed

17 DCMR § 2609.13 requires a licensee to "disclose in writing to all parties to a real estate transaction any ownership or financial interest in the property that is the subject of the real estate transaction held directly or indirectly by the licensee, an immediate member of the licensee's family, the licensee's firm, or a member of the licensee's firm." The remedy the rule chooses is disclosure, not disqualification, so nothing forces the listing out of the firm. A related rule, § 2609.16, bars giving a price opinion or a competitive market analysis on a property in which the licensee has a present interest without disclosing that interest. Neither a commission reduction nor advance Commission approval appears anywhere in the chapter.

A DC licensee who manages a building for an owner arranges repairs, and the contractor pays the licensee a referral fee out of the invoice. The licensee may keep that fee:

• a.Only if the repair cost stayed inside the approved budget
• b.Only with the owner's knowledge and consent✓
• c.Only where the contractor is separately licensed
• d.Only when the management agreement is silent on fees

17 DCMR § 2609.14 provides that "[a] licensee who manages property on behalf of the owner of the property shall not accept any commission, rebate, profit, or other valuable consideration on expenditures made for an owner without the owner's knowledge and consent." The money is being made on the owner's spending, so it is the owner who must be told and must agree. Staying inside the budget does not disclose anything, and the contractor's own licensure has nothing to do with the licensee's duty. Silence in the management agreement is the opposite of consent, not a substitute for it — the same instinct is behind § 2609.12, which bars taking compensation from more than one party without the other party's full knowledge and consent.

A DC purchase contract has been fully executed. How long must the licensee keep a copy of the agency disclosure notices relating to it?

• a.1 year
• b.5 years
• c.7 years
• d.3 years✓

17 DCMR § 2613.3 provides that "[i]n the event of a fully executed purchase contract, the licensee shall keep a copy of the disclosure notices relative to the contract for three (3) years," and D.C. Official Code § 42-1703(h)(4) says the same, adding that the copies are kept "whether or not such disclosure is acknowledged in writing by the party to whom such disclosure was shown or given." That last clause matters in practice: § 2613.3 tells the licensee to ask the unrepresented party to sign and return the notice, and if the party declines, to note the date of presentation and the reason given. The 1-, 5-, and 7-year figures are not the District's retention period.

Under the Code of Ethics, when must a DC licensee make a copy of a signed sales contract available to a party who has signed it?

• a.Only if that party asks for a copy in writing
• b.Within three business days after settlement
• c.At the time that party signs the agreement✓
• d.Once every party to the agreement has signed

17 DCMR § 2609.7 requires a licensee to make a reasonable effort to ensure that written agreements "set forth the exact agreement of the parties and that the copies of the agreements are made available to each party when the party signs the agreement." The duty runs party by party at the moment of signature, so waiting for the last signature, waiting for settlement, or waiting to be asked all fall short of it. The companion rule at § 2609.8 forbids a licensee to prepare or be party to any written agreement that "falsely recites the purchase price," which is the same concern seen from the other side: what the paper says must be what the parties actually agreed.

A DC broker holding a client's earnest-money deposit must:

• a.Keep it in a separate escrow or trust account and account for it✓
• b.Deposit it into the brokerage's operating account until closing
• c.Keep it as an advance against the firm's commission
• d.Hand it to the buyer's mortgage lender before closing

D.C. Official Code § 42-1704(a)(2) requires trust money to be "[m]aintained by the escrow holder or trustee as a separate account for monies belonging to others," and § 42-1704(a)(3)(A) requires it to stay there until the transaction is consummated or terminated or written instructions direct otherwise, at which point it must be "promptly and fully accounted for"; the same paragraph forbids commingling and any use of the money for another purpose. Treating the deposit as an advance on commission is barred outright by § 42-1704(d), which denies the escrow holder any part of the money as a fee until the transaction has been consummated or terminated. Parking it in the operating account is commingling, because the money stops being separately identifiable as the client's. And handing it to the buyer's lender gives custody to a party with no custodial role and leaves the broker unable to account for funds the broker was trusted to hold.

Absent written instructions to the contrary signed by all parties, how soon must money entrusted in a DC real estate transaction be deposited in an insured account located in the District?

• a.Within 7 days✓
• b.Within 3 days
• c.Within 14 days
• d.Within 30 days

D.C. Official Code § 42-1704(a)(1) requires the money, absent written instructions to the contrary signed by all parties, to be "[d]eposited within 7 days in an account in a financial institution located within the District whose deposits are insured" federally. A separate 14-day clock in § 42-1704(b)(1) requires the escrow holder to notify the Commission of the institution's name and address and the account's name and number, which is a different obligation and a common source of confusion. Two other timing rules sit nearby: an escrow held 90 days or more earns interest from the 91st day under § 42-1704(e), and the financial institution may subtract a service fee of no more than $15 from that interest under § 42-1704(f).

A DC landlord's agent turns an applicant away solely because the rent would be paid with a housing choice voucher. Under District law this is:

• a.Lawful, because a voucher is not a protected characteristic
• b.Lawful, if the agent applies the same rule to every applicant
• c.Unlawful, only where the building has five or more units
• d.Unlawful, because source of income is a protected trait✓

D.C. Official Code § 2-1402.21(a) makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice to refuse or fail to initiate a transaction in real property, or to require different terms for one, based on a list of traits that expressly includes "source of income." A housing subsidy is a source of income, so refusing the applicant for that reason is refused for a protected reason. Applying the rule evenhandedly does not save it, because the rule itself uses a protected trait as the criterion. The section draws no line at five units, and 17 DCMR § 2609.1 separately forbids a licensee to discriminate or assist any party in discriminating on those grounds. The District's list also reaches personal appearance, matriculation, political affiliation, family responsibilities, place of residence or business, sealed eviction record, and homeless status — none of which is a federal Fair Housing Act class.

Under the DC Human Rights Act, a rebuttable presumption of discrimination against a family with children arises where an owner of a two-bedroom apartment enforces an occupancy limit more restrictive than:

• a.Two persons
• b.Five persons✓
• c.Three persons
• d.Four persons

D.C. Official Code § 2-1402.21(c)(2)(B) sets the benchmark for "an apartment with one or more bedrooms" at "2 times the number of bedrooms plus one" — for two bedrooms, five persons. An owner who enforces a stricter limit against a household with children faces a rebuttable presumption that an unlawful discriminatory practice has occurred. The two-person figure in § 2-1402.21(c)(2)(A) is the benchmark for an efficiency apartment, not for a unit with bedrooms. Three and four persons are simply below the formula. The presumption is rebuttable and § 2-1402.21(c)(3) preserves any District or federal maximum-occupancy restriction, so the rule sets a floor for scrutiny rather than a guaranteed outcome.

An owner of a single-family rental house in the District, occupied by a tenant who is neither elderly nor a tenant with a disability, has just received a written offer to purchase. Under TOPA as it now stands, the tenant is generally entitled to:

• a.A full offer of sale and a 120-day negotiating period
• b.A right of first refusal on any third-party contract
• c.Written notice that an offer to purchase was received✓
• d.Ninety days of free occupancy after the sale closes

D.C. Official Code § 42-3404.09(a) states that "[t]he provisions of this subchapter shall not apply to single-family accommodations except as provided in this section," and what the section then provides for an ordinary tenant is notice only: § 42-3404.09(b)(1) requires the owner, "[w]ithin 3 calendar days of receiving or soliciting, in writing, an offer to purchase," to deliver written notice to the tenant that such an offer was received. The full offer-of-sale machinery survives for single-family accommodations only under § 42-3404.09(c), and only for an elderly tenant or a tenant with a disability who signed a rental agreement by March 31, 2018 and took occupancy by April 15, 2018. The 120-day negotiation period belongs to accommodations of five or more units under § 42-3404.11(2). TOPA has never granted free occupancy; the one occupancy right it creates, in § 42-3404.09(c)(6)(A), is twelve months at the existing rent as the sole permitted consideration for an elderly or disabled tenant's assignment of rights.

A registered DC tenant organization receives from the owner a valid third-party sales contract for the building. How long does it have to exercise its right of first refusal?

• a.7 days
• b.15 days✓
• c.45 days
• d.30 days

D.C. Official Code § 42-3404.08 gives a tenant or tenant organization "the right of first refusal during the 15 days after the tenant or tenant organization has received from the owner a valid sales contract to purchase by a third party." If the contract arrives while the negotiation period is still running, the same section starts the 15 days at the end of that period rather than on receipt. The right of first refusal is in addition to the other rights in the subchapter, so it does not replace the offer of sale. The 45-day figure belongs to a different step: § 42-3404.11(1) gives tenants of a five-or-more-unit accommodation 45 days from a valid offer to deliver an application to register a newly formed tenant organization, cut to 30 days where a suitable organization already exists.

A DC licensee who represents the seller has a substantive discussion about the listing with an unrepresented buyer. When must the brokerage-relationship disclosure be made?

• a.In writing, within three business days of the buyer making an offer
• b.In writing, no later than when specific real estate assistance is given✓
• c.In writing, at the settlement table with the other closing documents
• d.Verbally at the first meeting and in writing before the listing expires

17 DCMR § 2613.2 requires the notice to be made "in writing at the earliest practicable time ... but not later than the time when specific real estate assistance is first provided, excluding a non-substantive discussion held during an open house," and D.C. Official Code § 42-1703(h)(1) sets the same outer limit. The trigger in § 2613.1 is having a substantive discussion about a specific property with someone who is not the licensee's client, so the duty attaches long before an offer is written and far earlier than settlement. Because the disclosure exists to tell an unrepresented person who the licensee actually works for, a purely verbal version does not satisfy a rule that requires a written notice in substantially the Board-approved form. Where the parties are a landlord and tenant, § 2613.2 requires the disclosure in the lease application or the lease, whichever comes first.

One DC licensee holds a listing agreement with the seller and a buyer brokerage agreement with the buyer for the same property. The licensee may act as a dual representative:

• a.Only where the two parties use different brokerage firms
• b.Only if the supervising broker also signs the sales contract
• c.Only with the written consent of all clients to the transaction✓
• d.Only after the Commission approves the arrangement in advance

D.C. Official Code § 42-1703(i)(1) provides that "[a] licensee may act as a dual representative only with the written consent of all clients to the transaction," and § 42-1703(i)(2) requires the consent form to be conspicuous — bold, all capitals, underlined, or boxed — with a model form supplied in the statute and in 17 DCMR § 2613.5(b). Two parties working with different firms is not dual representation at all. What 17 DCMR § 2613.5(b) calls designated representation is the neighboring arrangement, where two licensees in the same firm each represent one side and the supervising broker is the dual representative; that too runs on the clients' advance consent, not on a signature at contract. The Commission does not vet individual transactions in advance.

A DC buyer brokerage agreement expires without a purchase and is not renewed. Absent a written agreement otherwise, what does the licensee still owe the former client?

• a.A duty to keep looking for property at no additional charge
• b.A duty to present any later offer the client receives to buy
• c.A duty to refer the client to another licensee in the same firm
• d.A duty to account for funds and keep information confidential✓

D.C. Official Code § 42-1703(g)(3) provides that except as otherwise agreed in writing, "a licensee owes no further duties to a client after termination, expiration, or completion of performance of the brokerage relationship, except to account for all moneys and property relating to the brokerage relationship, and keep confidential all personal and financial information received from the client during the course of the brokerage relationship." Confidentiality and accounting are the two duties that outlive the engagement; the affirmative service duties in § 42-1703(b)(1) — seeking property, presenting offers — end with it, which is why continuing the search or handling later offers is not owed. Nothing obliges a licensee to hand the client on to a colleague. A relationship that fixes no definite termination date does not run forever either: § 42-1703(g)(2) ends it 90 days after it was entered into.

A buyer who has stated in writing an intent to live in a DC two-unit rowhouse signs the purchase agreement, and the seller delivers the residential real property disclosure statement a week later. The buyer may:

• a.Terminate the agreement at any point before the settlement date
• b.Void the sale after settlement if the statement proves inaccurate
• c.Require the seller to pay for an independent home inspection
• d.Terminate the agreement within 5 calendar days of receiving it✓

D.C. Official Code § 42-1302(a)(1) requires the statement to be delivered before or at the time the purchaser executes the purchase agreement, and § 42-1302(c) gives a purchaser who receives it late the right to terminate "by delivering written notice of termination to the transferor not later than 5 calendar days after receipt of the disclosure statement," with deposits promptly returned. The right is not open-ended: § 42-1302(d) waives it once the buyer applies in writing for a mortgage after the required lender warning, or at settlement or occupancy, whichever comes first. Nor does it survive closing — and § 42-1310 adds that a transfer "shall not be invalidated solely because of the failure of any person to comply" with the chapter. The chapter reaches sales of one to four residential dwelling units where the purchaser states a written intent to reside, so this rowhouse is covered; it says nothing about who pays for an inspection.

A buyer plans to replace the front windows of a rowhouse that sits inside a DC historic district. What does the District's historic preservation law require?

• a.A covenant recorded against the property before work may begin
• b.A certificate of occupancy reissued when the work is completed
• c.A waiver from the Zoning Commission for any exterior alteration
• d.A permit that may issue only after review under the preservation law✓

D.C. Official Code § 6-1105(a) provides that "[b]efore the Mayor may issue a permit to alter the exterior or site of an historic landmark or of a building or structure in an historic district, the Mayor shall review the permit application," ordinarily on referral to the Historic Preservation Review Board, and § 6-1105(f) bars issuing the permit unless the Mayor finds that issuing it "is necessary in the public interest or that a failure to issue a permit will result in unreasonable economic hardship to the owner." The control is exercised through the building permit, so no recorded covenant is involved. Historic review is separate from zoning relief and is not a Zoning Commission function. A certificate of occupancy addresses use and habitability after construction, not the design approval that must come first.

A buyer signs a contract for a DC condominium unit being resold by its owner. What must the seller obtain from the unit owners' association and furnish to the buyer?

• a.The condominium instruments and a resale certificate✓
• b.A signed waiver of the buyer's review and inspection rights
• c.The seller's personal income tax returns for the last two years
• d.Only the listing photographs and the unit's floor plan

D.C. Official Code § 42-1904.11(a) requires the selling unit owner to obtain from the unit owners' association and furnish to the purchaser, "on or prior to the 10th business day following the date of execution of the contract of sale by the purchaser," a copy of the condominium instruments and a certificate covering planned capital expenditures, reserves, the association's most recent financial statement and current budget, pending suits and judgments, insurance coverage, and the remaining term of any leasehold. Section 42-1904.11(a-1)(2) then gives the purchaser three business days after receiving those documents to cancel in writing, with any deposit returned without deduction. Listing photographs and a floor plan describe the unit and disclose nothing about the association's finances or restrictions. The seller's personal tax returns form no part of any disclosure obligation, and a waiver of review rights is the reverse of a disclosure — it strips the buyer of the protection the statute creates.

The District's Building Energy Performance Standards first applied on January 1, 2021 to privately owned buildings with at least how much gross floor area?

• a.50,000 square feet✓
• b.25,000 square feet
• c.10,000 square feet
• d.100,000 square feet

D.C. Official Code § 8-1772.21(a)(1) applies the program, "[b]eginning January 1, 2021," to "all privately-owned buildings with at least 50,000 square feet of gross floor area" and to District-owned buildings of at least 10,000 square feet. The threshold steps down over time rather than starting low: § 8-1772.21(a)(2) reaches privately owned buildings of at least 25,000 square feet beginning January 1, 2028, and § 8-1772.21(a)(3) reaches those of at least 10,000 square feet beginning January 1, 2034. Buildings that fall below the standard for their property type get five years to comply under § 8-1772.21(c)(1), extended to six years for the cycle that began in 2021. There is no 100,000-square-foot tier in the statute.