Georgia State Laws and Rules
Thirty-one of the 48 items on the Georgia Broker Supplement sit here, under ten lettered headings that run from unfair practices and trust accounts to the Recovery Fund and required licensure. Two bodies of law supply almost all of it: O.C.G.A. Title 43-40 and the GREC Rules in Chapter 520-1, with agency law living separately in BRRETA.
Unfair Practices
O.C.G.A. § 43-40-25(b) lists thirty-six unfair trade practices, and GREC can sanction on any of them. The ones Georgia asks about most: a sign may not go up without the owner's written consent and must come down within ten days after the listing expires (b)(11); a listing must carry a fixed expiration date and a copy must be left with the principal (b)(18); a licensee must disclose in writing the receipt of a fee, rebate or anything of value for referring a service or product to a principal (b)(6); and a licensee may not negotiate directly with an owner known to have an exclusive agreement with another broker unless that agreement says the other broker will not provide negotiation services (b)(14). GREC Rule 520-1-.06(1)(c) adds Georgia's flat ban on net listings — the broker must add the fee to the client's figure and quote a gross price.
Trust Accounts
Under O.C.G.A. § 43-40-20(a) a broker who accepts no trust funds need keep no trust account, but a broker who later receives them must open the designated account within one business day. GREC must be told the institution and the account within one month (Rule 520-1-.08(1)(a)). The broker may not take any part of earnest money as commission until the transaction is consummated or terminated (§ 43-40-20(e)); Rule 520-1-.08(3)(d) spells out when the Commission treats that as met. A written reconciliation comparing total trust liability with the reconciled bank balance is required at least monthly and kept three years (Rule 520-1-.08(6)). Rule 520-1-.08(3)(b) lists the seven grounds for disbursing, and (3)(c) requires immediate written notice to all parties whenever a broker disburses without their express agreement.
Substantive Regulations and Real Estate Practice
Advertising is governed by Rule 520-1-.09: the firm's registered name and a firm telephone number must appear in equal or greater size, prominence and frequency than any affiliated licensee's, and the firm number must reach a broker or manager without going through that licensee. Internet advertising must carry the firm name and number on every viewable web page, and outdated information must be updated or removed within 30 days. Rule 520-1-.10(2) requires the six-digit license number of every firm and licensee participating in a transaction on brokerage engagements and offers. Rule 520-1-.10(4) and § 43-40-25(b)(27) require three-year retention of contracts, closing statements, brokerage engagements and trust records. A licensee dealing as a principal must first tell the broker in writing (Rule 520-1-.11) and must disclose the license in advertising.
Agency in Georgia: BRRETA
Georgia does not apply common-law agency to brokerage. O.C.G.A. § 10-6A-2(a) says so expressly, and § 10-6A-4(a) provides that a broker owes only the duties BRRETA sets out, is not deemed a fiduciary, and must exercise reasonable care. Sections 10-6A-5 through 10-6A-8 give the duties owed to sellers, landlords, buyers and tenants, including disclosure of adverse physical conditions in the immediate neighborhood within one mile that the client's counterparty could not discover. Dual agency requires written consent containing the six statements in § 10-6A-12(a), one of which is that the client need not consent at all; designated agency under § 10-6A-13 is not dual agency. A transaction broker has no client, performs only ministerial acts, and still owes the duties in § 10-6A-14(b). Where confidentiality collides with truthfulness, § 10-6A-9(c) makes the duty not to give customers false information prevail. Senate Bill 90 (2023) added the option to enter into a brokerage engagement and voided any recorded lien purporting to arise from an engagement.
Qualifications, Fees and Required Licensure
A broker candidate must have held a license in active status at least three of the five years immediately preceding application (Rule 520-1-.04(5)(b)) and completed the 60-hour Brokers Prelicense Course (§ 43-40-8(c)(5)), then activate within 12 months of passing. Individual licenses lapse at the end of the licensee's birth month in the fourth calendar year; firm licenses at the end of the month of the fourth anniversary (Rule 520-1-.05(3)). A lapse under two years is cured by fees plus the continuing education that would have been required; two to five years adds the prelicense course; over five years means starting over. On the other side of the line, § 43-40-30(a) makes a single act for compensation enough to be a licensee, § 43-40-31 makes unlicensed practice a misdemeanor, and § 43-40-24 bars any suit for compensation without pleading and proving licensure. House Bill 399 (Act 315, 2025) rewrote the exemptions in § 43-40-29(a), adding a family member of an owner as defined by Commission rule and an officer of a limited liability company.
Fair Housing, the Recovery Fund and the Complaint Process
GREC Rule 520-1-.13 forbids representations that a neighborhood's composition is changing or that a protected class will lower property values, raise crime or cause a decline in the quality of the area's schools. The Georgia Fair Housing Act, O.C.G.A. § 8-3-200 et seq., is administered by the administrator of the Commission on Equal Opportunity; a complaint must be filed within one year (§ 8-3-208(a)), and its private-owner exemption disappears the moment a licensee's services are used. The real estate education, research, and recovery fund pays actual damages up to $25,000 per transaction and $75,000 in the aggregate for one licensee, and payment automatically revokes that licensee's license until the fund is repaid with interest (§ 43-40-22). GREC may investigate only conduct within the past three years, subject to listed exceptions (§ 43-40-27(a)); it may issue a citation fining up to $1,000 per violation and $5,000 per citation (§ 43-40-25.2(b)(2)); and it answers a notarized request for a declaratory ruling within 60 days unless it seeks the Attorney General's opinion (Rule 520-1-.01(6)). The Commission itself is six members appointed by the Governor for five-year terms, five licensees and one consumer member, with four a quorum (§ 43-40-2).
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Georgia Real Estate Commission (GREC)
- Exam vendor
- PSI
- Prelicensing education
- 60-hour GREC-approved Brokers Prelicense Course (or a qualifying college/law-school or out-of-state equivalent)
Who regulates real estate brokers in Georgia?
The Georgia Real Estate Commission (GREC) licenses brokers, associate brokers, salespersons, and community association managers under O.C.G.A. Title 43-40. GREC contracts with PSI to deliver the licensing exams statewide.
What experience do I need before the Georgia broker exam?
Under O.C.G.A. § 43-40-8(c) and GREC Rule 520-1-.04(5)(b), a broker applicant must be at least 21, be a high school graduate or equivalent, and have held a license in active status for at least three of the five years immediately preceding the application. The education requirement can be met by the 60-hour Brokers Prelicense Course, by qualifying college or law-school coursework, or by 60 hours of approved prelicense coursework from another state or Canadian province.
How is the Georgia broker exam structured?
PSI bulletin 4672 gives the broker examination a 75-item national portion plus a 48-item Georgia Broker Supplement: State Laws and Rules (31 items), Management (12 items), and Closing and Calculations (5 items). The national broker portion is scenario-based — items carry more than four options and each option is weighted zero, one, or two points, so you pick the BEST answer rather than the only right one. The bulletin publishes no time limit and no numeric passing score for the broker exam; GREC Rule 520-1-.04(3)(a) says the passing score is set psychometrically and published before the exam is given.
Sources: https://grec.state.ga.us, https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/4672, https://rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/520-1
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