Maryland Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

Section 17-322 lets the Commission discipline a licensee who advertises 'free appraisals' unless the licensee:

• a.Holds a current Maryland real estate appraiser license
• b.Limits the offer to owners who then list with the firm
• c.States that the offer expires within thirty days of the ad
• d.Will appraise free for any person, whatever the purpose✓

Section 17-322(b)(9)(iii) makes advertising 'free appraisals' a ground for discipline 'unless the advertiser is prepared to appraise the real estate free of charge for any person, regardless of the purpose for which the person requests the appraisal.' The offer has to be genuinely free and genuinely open, because the abuse it targets is using the word free as bait to get in the door and win a listing — which is exactly what conditioning it on a listing does. Restricting the offer with an expiry date does not cure that, and holding an appraiser license is a different question altogether: it governs who may appraise, not whether an inducement is unfair. The same paragraph catches the two related lures, offering a prize or a free lot and running a lottery or contest to influence a prospective party to a sale, and (b)(8) covers guaranteeing future profits from resale.

A Maryland salesperson tells a buyer that a condominium 'is guaranteed to be worth twenty percent more in two years.' Under § 17-322 that statement is:

• a.Permitted, because it is only a prediction about the market
• b.A ground for discipline, as a guarantee of future profits✓
• c.Permitted, provided the salesperson's broker approves it
• d.A ground for discipline, only if the buyer relies on it

Section 17-322(b)(8) allows the Commission to discipline a licensee who 'guarantees or authorizes or allows another person to guarantee future profits from the resale of real property.' The word guaranteed is what converts an opinion about the market into a promise no licensee can keep, so calling it a prediction does not save it — the statement as made is a guarantee. Nor does the paragraph contain any reliance element: the ground is complete when the guarantee is given, whether or not the buyer acts on it, which is why the Commission can reach the conduct before anyone is out of pocket. A broker cannot authorize it either; the same paragraph reaches a licensee who authorizes or allows another person to guarantee future profits, so approval spreads the liability rather than lifting it. Section 17-322(b)(3) separately covers a knowingly false promise, and (b)(25) covers conduct demonstrating bad faith or improper dealings.

A Maryland broker learns that a house she wants to sell is exclusively listed with a rival firm. Under § 17-322 and the Code of Ethics she may not:

• a.Ask the owner to cancel and relist with her own firm✓
• b.Show that property to a buyer client of her own firm
• c.Cooperate with the listing broker and split a commission
• d.Contact the listing broker to discuss the terms of sale

Section 17-322(b)(12) makes it a ground for discipline to knowingly solicit 'a party to an exclusive listing contract with another licensee to terminate that contract and enter a new contract with the licensee making the solicitation.' COMAR 09.11.02.03A and B run the same way from the other side: the agency of a licensee who holds an exclusive listing shall be respected, and 'negotiations concerning property listed exclusively with one broker shall be carried on solely with the listing broker.' That is why the other three choices are not merely allowed but expected — the Code affirmatively requires cooperation on exclusively listed property when it is in the client's interest, with commissions shared on a previously agreed basis, and going through the listing broker is the prescribed route rather than a violation. Section 17-322(b)(13) extends the principle to soliciting a party to breach a sales contract or lease negotiated by another so as to substitute a new one.

Under the Maryland Code of Ethics, a competitive market analysis prepared by a licensee must carry, conspicuously on its first page, a statement that it:

• a.Was prepared without the current owner's knowledge
• b.Reflects the broker's estimate of the net proceeds
• c.Is not an appraisal of the value of the property✓
• d.May be relied on by the buyer's mortgage lender

COMAR 09.11.02.02F(1) lets a licensee prepare a competitive market analysis for a client, prospective client, or customer, but requires this statement 'printed conspicuously and without change on the first page': COMPETITIVE MARKET ANALYSIS DISCLOSURE — This analysis is not an appraisal. It is intended only for the purpose of assisting buyers or sellers or prospective buyers or sellers in deciding the listing, offering, or sale price of the real property. The disclaimer exists to stop a CMA being read as, or relied on as, an appraisal, which is the work of a separately licensed profession and is what a lender requires — so telling a reader a lender may rely on it is the opposite of the required text. The stated purpose is pricing decisions, not a projection of what the seller will net. Subsection F(2) adds that if the licensee uses a property in which the licensee has an interest as one of the comparables, that interest must be disclosed.

Under the Maryland Code of Ethics, a licensee who belongs to a team must sign real estate documents:

• a.In the team's name, followed by the broker's name
• b.In the broker's name, with the licensee as a witness
• c.In the team's name, if the team leader authorizes it
• d.In the licensee's own name, not the team's name✓

COMAR 09.11.02.01I states that 'all real estate documents shall be signed by a licensee in the licensee's own name, and may not be signed in the name of a group or team.' A team is not a licensee: § 17-543 defines it as two or more affiliated associate brokers or salespersons working together under a collective name, and it holds no license of its own, so a team name on a signature line identifies nobody the Commission can hold to account. That is also why authorization from a team leader cannot cure it, and why the broker's name is not a substitute — the person who did the work signs for it. The same regulation at G(2) requires a broker to advertise only under the name on the license and forbids letting affiliated licensees use individual names unless the connection with the broker is obvious. Section 17-548 adds that team members must conduct all brokerage activity from the office where their licenses are displayed.