Maryland Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

In a disciplinary case under Business Occupations and Professions § 17-322, instead of or in addition to a reprimand, suspension, or revocation, the Commission may impose a monetary penalty of up to:

• a.$1,000 for each violation
• b.$10,000 for each violation
• c.$5,000 for each violation✓
• d.$25,000 for each violation

Section 17-322(c)(1) says the Commission may impose 'a penalty not exceeding $5,000 for each violation,' and (c)(2) tells it to weigh the seriousness of the violation, the harm caused, the licensee's good faith, and any history of previous violations in setting the figure. The per-violation wording matters: a licensee who commits several violations in one transaction can be fined for each. The $25,000 number is real but belongs elsewhere — § 17-613(c) uses a rising scale, and $25,000 is the ceiling there for a third or subsequent violation, not for a first one under § 17-322. The $10,000 and $1,000 figures appear nowhere in the disciplinary provisions of Title 17.

Before the Commission takes final disciplinary action, § 17-324 requires that notice of the hearing reach the licensee:

• a.At least 10 days before, in person or by certified mail✓
• b.At least 30 days before, by ordinary first-class mail
• c.At least 60 days before, by advertisement in a newspaper
• d.At any time before, by telephone call or electronic mail

Section 17-324(d)(1) sets both the interval and the method: at least 10 days before the hearing the notice must be 'served personally on the individual' or 'sent by certified mail to the last known business address of the individual.' Certified mail is what makes the service provable, which is why ordinary first-class mail will not do, and why a telephone call or an e-mail — leaving no record that the licensee was reached — is not service at all. The 10-day figure is short by design; the Commission is a licensing body running an administrative hearing, not a court, so 30 or 60 days is longer than the statute asks. Section 17-324(d)(2) adds a parallel notice to every broker with whom an associate broker or salesperson is affiliated.

The Commission orders the Guaranty Fund to pay a claim caused by a licensee's misrepresentation. Under § 17-412, that licensee's license is:

• a.Suspended at once, until the Fund is repaid in full with interest✓
• b.Revoked permanently, with no route back to a Maryland license
• c.Transferred to another broker, who assumes the repayment debt
• d.Unaffected, because the Fund absorbs the loss for the licensee

Section 17-412(a) is automatic and immediate: on ordering payment, the Commission 'immediately and without further proceedings shall suspend the license of the licensee.' Subsection (b) then blocks reinstatement until the licensee repays the amount paid out plus the interest due under § 17-411(a)(2), and applies for reinstatement. So the Fund advances the money to the injured member of the public and then looks to the licensee for it — treating the license as unaffected inverts that. It is a suspension, not a revocation, precisely because repayment reopens the door; nothing here is permanent. And a license is personal to the licensee, so moving to another broker changes who supervises the licensee and nothing about the debt. Section 17-412(c) adds that repaying the Fund does not undo any separate disciplinary sanction.

A Maryland buyer discovers that a salesperson stole her deposit. To recover from the Real Estate Guaranty Fund she must:

• a.Obtain a final judgment against the licensee in circuit court
• b.Show that the responsible licensee carries no E&O insurance
• c.File a claim with the Commission within 3 years of discovery✓
• d.Wait until the Commission has revoked the licensee's license

Maryland's Guaranty Fund is administrative, not a collection remedy of last resort after litigation. Section 17-404(d) requires only that 'a claim under this subtitle shall be submitted to the Commission within 3 years after the claimant discovers or, by the exercise of ordinary diligence, should have discovered the loss or damage.' The claim is made in writing and under oath (§ 17-406), the Commission reviews it and either proposes an award, sets a hearing, or dismisses it (§ 17-407), and § 17-410(a) has the Commission order payment when the claimant proves a valid claim at the hearing — with the burden of proof on the claimant and a ceiling of $50,000 per claim. No court judgment is required anywhere in the subtitle, which is why the judgment answer is the trap. Discipline runs on its own track: § 17-409 joins the two proceedings, but an award does not wait on a revocation. Whether the licensee carries errors and omissions coverage is irrelevant to eligibility.

A Commission representative asks to examine a broker's transaction records. Under § 17-507, the broker must:

• a.Produce only records named in a sworn written complaint
• b.Insist on a circuit court subpoena before producing them
• c.Mail the records to the Commission's office in 30 days
• d.Allow entry in business hours and pay for any copies✓

Section 17-507(d)(1) says that on reasonable notice a licensee 'shall allow a representative of the Commission to enter the licensee's place of business during business hours to inspect a record required to be kept,' and (d)(2) puts the cost of any paper copy the Commission requests on the licensee. Subsection (d)(3) goes further for money: the licensee 'shall display to the Commission on demand all records, books, and accounts of any money held in trust' — on demand, with no notice at all. The Commission does hold subpoena power under § 17-209(a)(2)(iii), but the records-inspection right does not depend on using it, so demanding a subpoena first is a refusal. Nor is the duty satisfied by mailing a package later, and it is not limited to whatever a complaint happens to name. Failing to display trust records on demand is itself a ground for summary suspension under § 17-328(a)(2).