District of Columbia Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

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.

Which of these does the District's residential real property disclosure statement expressly require the seller to address?

• a.Whether the seller has ever filed an insurance claim on the roof
• b.Whether the property has ever been rented to a voucher holder
• c.Whether the property's lead water service line has been replaced✓
• d.Whether the property sits within a designated flood hazard area

D.C. Official Code § 42-1305(1)(A) requires the approved statement to cover the water and sewer systems including the results of any lead tests on the water supply, lead-bearing plumbing and the lead service line serving the property, "[w]hether the portion of the lead water service line on private property, and the portion of the lead water service line on public property ... has been replaced, and if so, the date of the replacement," and whether the property appears on the DC Water website as having lead water service lines. The rest of the enumerated list in § 42-1305(1) is physical: insulation, structural systems, plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning, infestation history, appliances, alarm and intercom systems, garage door openers, and fixtures. Whether a past tenant used a voucher is not on the list, and asking it would run into the source-of-income protection in § 2-1402.21(a). Neither past insurance claims nor flood zone designation appears in the section.