Missouri 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.

Section 339.015, effective August 28, 2025, addresses criminal background checks for Missouri real estate applicants. What does it provide?

• a.The Commission must require fingerprints, which go to the Highway Patrol and on to the FBI
• b.The Commission may require fingerprints, which go to the Highway Patrol and on to the FBI✓
• c.The Commission may require fingerprints, which go to the Commission's own records unit only
• d.The Commission must require fingerprints, which go to the FBI without any state records search

Section 339.015.1 is permissive, and the distinction is the point of the section: the Commission "may require that fingerprint submissions be made as part of an application seeking licensure as a real estate broker, real estate salesperson, and real estate broker-salesperson." It does not itself impose fingerprinting on every applicant. Subsection 2 then says that if the Commission does require them, applicants submit the fingerprints "to the Missouri state highway patrol for the purpose of conducting a state and federal fingerprint-based criminal history background check," and subsection 3 sends them to the Patrol's central repository, where they are "used for searching the state criminal records repository and shall also be forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a federal criminal records search under section 43.540." Both searches happen, and the Patrol — not the Commission — is the receiving agency. The section was enacted by L. 2025 S.B. 71 merged with S.B. 81 & 174.

Under section 339.040.5, what must an applicant for a Missouri broker license show about experience and education?

• a.Two years actively engaged as a licensed salesperson, and the broker course completed within one year
• b.One year actively engaged as a licensed salesperson, and the broker course completed within six months
• c.Two years actively engaged as a licensed salesperson, and the broker course completed within six months✓
• d.Three years actively engaged as a licensed salesperson, and the broker course completed within two years

Section 339.040.5 requires each broker application to include "a certificate from the applicant's broker or brokers that the applicant has been actively engaged in the real estate business as a licensed salesperson for at least two years immediately preceding the date of application," together with a certificate from a Commission-accredited school "that the applicant has, within six months prior to the date of application, successfully completed the prescribed broker curriculum." Two years and six months are the two numbers, and the same subsection lets the Commission "waive all or part of the requirements ... when an applicant presents proof of other educational background or experience acceptable to the commission." In administering this the Commission states the experience requirement as twenty-four of the last thirty months of active Missouri salesperson licensure, which is how PSI bulletin 4673 phrases it; either way one year is too little and three years too many.

A Missouri broker begins doing business under a name other than the broker's legal name. What does 20 CSR 2250-4.030 require?

• a.Register the fictitious name with the Commission and send the secretary of state a copy within ten days
• b.Register the fictitious name with the secretary of state and send the Commission a copy within thirty days
• c.Register the fictitious name with the secretary of state and send the Commission a copy within ten days✓
• d.Register the fictitious name with the county recorder and send the Commission a copy within ten days

20 CSR 2250-4.030(1) provides that any broker doing business under a name other than the broker's legal name, or any entity doing business under a name other than the one registered with the secretary of state, "shall first comply with the provisions of sections 417.200-417.230, RSMo on the registration of fictitious names and shall furnish the commission a copy of the registration within ten (10) days of receipt of the official registration from the secretary of state." The order is fixed: registration happens at the secretary of state's office, and the Commission receives a copy afterwards, so reversing the two agencies describes a filing Missouri does not use. The county recorder records instruments affecting land and has no role in fictitious-name registration. The window is ten days, not thirty.

A Missouri broker moves the brokerage to a new business address. Under 20 CSR 2250-4.040, when must the Commission be notified?

• a.In writing within ten days before the change becomes effective
• b.In writing within thirty days after the change becomes effective
• c.In writing within seventy-two hours after the change becomes effective
• d.In writing within ten days after the change becomes effective✓

20 CSR 2250-4.040(1) provides that "A broker shall not conduct business under any other name or at any other address than the one for which the broker's individual license is issued unless the broker first complies with 20 CSR 2250-4.030. If a broker changes his/her name, home or business address, the broker shall notify the commission in writing within ten (10) days after the change becomes effective." The clock runs from the effective date of the change, so a notice due beforehand misstates the rule. Thirty days belongs to a different obligation — 20 CSR 2250-8.170(1) gives a licensee thirty days to answer a written request or inquiry from the Commission. The seventy-two hour figure is the deadline in 20 CSR 2250-4.050(3) for returning a terminated licensee's license, not for an address change.

What distinguishes a Missouri real estate broker-salesperson under section 339.010?

• a.The person holds a broker license in good standing but is associated with, and may not also operate as, a broker✓
• b.The person holds a salesperson license but has completed the broker curriculum and awaits examination
• c.The person holds a broker license in good standing and may operate a separate brokerage concurrently
• d.The person holds a salesperson license and supervises other salespersons for the associated broker

Section 339.010.3 defines a real estate broker-salesperson as one "who has a real estate broker license in good standing, who for a compensation or valuable consideration becomes associated, either as an independent contractor or employee, either directly or indirectly, with a real estate broker to do any of the things above mentioned," and then adds the restriction that settles the question: "A real estate broker-salesperson may not also operate as a real estate broker." So the license is at broker level while the practice is under another broker, and running a brokerage at the same time is exactly what the sentence forbids. The two salesperson answers describe the wrong license class altogether; supervising other licensees is the sales manager role, which under 20 CSR 2250-8.040(1) itself requires a broker-salesperson license or a broker-partner, broker-associate or broker-officer license.

A salesperson terminates the association with a Missouri broker. Under 20 CSR 2250-4.050, what must the broker do?

• a.Notify the Commission and return the licensee's license within seventy-two hours of the termination✓
• b.Notify the Commission and return the licensee's license within ten days of the termination
• c.Notify the Commission and retain the licensee's license until the licensee joins a new broker
• d.Notify the Commission and return the licensee's license within thirty days of the termination

20 CSR 2250-4.050(3) provides that "Within seventy-two (72) hours of the termination of the association of any broker-salesperson or salesperson, a broker shall notify the commission and shall return to the commission that licensee's license," and adds that "The broker shall provide a dated and timed receipt to the licensee when the licensee submits a letter of termination to the broker" — the timed receipt exists because the deadline is measured in hours. Holding the license until the licensee finds a new broker inverts the rule; the license goes back to the Commission, which is what makes the licensee inactive in the interim. Ten days is the address-change deadline in 4.040(1) and the branch-office notice deadline in 8.030(4); thirty days is the deadline for answering a Commission inquiry under 8.170(1).

A Missouri limited liability company applies for a real estate broker license. What does Chapter 339 require of the entity?

• a.It must appoint a managing member who is responsible for the entity's acts in real estate brokerage
• b.It must appoint a designated broker only if it maintains more than one place of business
• c.It must appoint a resident agent who is responsible for the entity's acts in real estate brokerage
• d.It must appoint a designated broker who is responsible for the entity's acts in real estate brokerage✓

Section 339.710(12) closes its definition of "designated broker" with a flat command: "Every real estate broker partnership, limited partnership, association, limited liability company, professional corporation or corporation shall appoint a designated broker." The designated broker is an individual licensed as a broker who is "appointed by" the entity "to be responsible for the acts of" it. The requirement carries no size threshold, so conditioning it on multiple offices adds a qualification the definition does not contain. A managing member or a resident agent may exist for company-law or service-of-process purposes but neither need hold a broker license, and section 339.030(1) separately requires individual licenses for every member, manager, or officer who actively participates in the brokerage business.

What continuing education must an active Missouri broker complete to renew, and how is it split?

• a.Twelve hours in the two-year license period, at least three of which are a core course✓
• b.Sixteen hours in the two-year license period, at least three of which are a core course
• c.Twelve hours in the two-year license period, at least six of which are a core course
• d.Twelve hours in each year of the license period, at least three of which are a core course

20 CSR 2250-10.100(1) requires each licensee holding an active license to complete "during the two (2)-year license period prior to renewal, as a condition precedent to license renewal, a minimum of twelve (12) hours of real estate instruction approved for continuing education credit by the Missouri Real Estate Commission," and 10.100(3) requires that "At least three (3) hours of the twelve (12) hours of approved instruction shall be taken in a course identified by the Missouri Real Estate Commission and noticed on its official website ... as a core course." 10.100(4) makes the balance elective. Section 339.040.8 carries the twelve hours at statute level, requiring evidence that "during the two years preceding he or she has completed twelve hours of real estate instruction in courses approved by the commission." Twelve hours covers the whole two-year period, not each year of it, and excess hours cannot be carried forward under 10.100(8).

The Missouri Real Estate Commission has designated Fair Housing as the core course topic for the 2026-2028 renewal period. What does that mean for a broker taking only one core course?

• a.That course must be Fair Housing, and it is required in addition to the twelve hours
• b.That course may be Fair Housing or any other approved core topic for the period
• c.That course must be Fair Housing only if the broker's practice includes residential sales
• d.That course must be Fair Housing, and it counts within the twelve required hours✓

The mechanism is the standing designation power in 20 CSR 2250-10.100(3), which requires at least three of the twelve hours to be "taken in a course identified by the Missouri Real Estate Commission and noticed on its official website, no later than March 31 of each even-numbered year as a core course for the following renewal period." Having designated Fair Housing for 2026-2028, the Commission states that if a licensee takes only one core course for that period it must be a Fair Housing course, while a licensee may choose to take all twelve hours as core courses. The designation names the topic; it does not add hours, so the three core hours sit inside the twelve rather than on top of them. The rule lists Fair Housing among the topics schools may submit when the Commission designates none, and the requirement turns on the renewal period rather than on the licensee's field of practice.

A Missouri broker lets an affiliated salesperson run what is effectively the salesperson's own brokerage, taking a monthly fee and exercising no real control. Which rule does this violate?

• a.20 CSR 2250-8.020(2), which forbids a broker to permit others to carry on brokerage for their own benefit✓
• b.20 CSR 2250-8.010(1), which requires a broker to maintain a regularly established place of business
• c.20 CSR 2250-8.040(1), which requires a sales manager to hold a broker-salesperson license
• d.20 CSR 2250-8.030(1), which requires a branch office to operate under the parent office's name

This is what the rules call improper use of a license, and 20 CSR 2250-8.020(2) describes it precisely: a broker shall not permit affiliated licensed or unlicensed persons to "Establish and carry on real estate brokerage business for their own benefit, directly or indirectly, where the broker's primary interest is the receipt of a fee or other valuable consideration for the use of the broker's license by others," or where the broker "has no control or only nominal control of the business affairs conducted under the broker's license or is only nominally associated with the business." The rule's stated purpose is to prohibit a broker "from using his/her license to permit a salesperson to function as a real estate brokerage firm." The place-of-business, sales manager and branch office rules are all real requirements, but none of them reaches the sale of the license itself.

Under 20 CSR 2250-8.020(1), a Missouri broker is NOT held responsible for inadequate supervision when all of the listed conditions are met. Which of the following is one of them?

• a.The broker reported the violation to the Commission within thirty days
• b.The broker did not attempt to avoid learning of the violation✓
• c.The broker required the offending licensee to complete remedial education
• d.The broker terminated the offending licensee's association with the firm

20 CSR 2250-8.020(1) makes brokers, designated brokers and office managers responsible for supervising the real estate related activities "of all licensed and unlicensed persons associated with them," then sets out a six-part safe harbor. Each of the six must hold: the violation conflicted with the broker's specific written policies or instructions; "Reasonable procedures have been established to verify that adequate supervision was being performed"; the broker on learning of it "attempted to prevent or mitigate the damage"; "The broker did not participate in the violation"; "The broker did not ratify the violation"; and "The broker did not attempt to avoid learning of the violation." That last condition is the one listed here — it forecloses willful blindness. Reporting to the Commission, ordering remedial education and terminating the licensee may all be sensible responses, but none of them appears among the six conditions.

A Missouri broker opens a branch office. Under 20 CSR 2250-8.030(1), how must that office be operated?

• a.Under its own branch license issued by the Commission, complying with the place-of-business rule
• b.Under the same name and license as the parent office, complying with the place-of-business rule✓
• c.Under any registered fictitious name of the broker, complying with the place-of-business rule
• d.Under the same name as the parent office but with a separate license for the branch manager

20 CSR 2250-8.030(1) provides that "If a broker maintains a branch office(s), each shall be operated under the same name and license as the parent office and every such place of business shall comply with the provisions of 20 CSR 2250-8.010." Missouri issues no separate branch license and charges no branch fee; the branch is covered by the parent license, and the Commission learns of it through the written notice required by 8.030(4). A branch under a different fictitious name would defeat the "same name" requirement. Note also 8.030(2), which exempts on-site project sales, leasing or management offices in an apartment complex, office building, shopping center or similar development from being registered as branch offices at all.

A Missouri broker changes the managing licensee of an existing branch office. What notice does 20 CSR 2250-8.030(4) require?

• a.Written notice to the Commission within seventy-two hours after the change
• b.Written notice to the Commission within thirty days after the change
• c.Written notice to the Commission before the change takes effect
• d.Written notice to the Commission within ten days after the change✓

20 CSR 2250-8.030(4) states that "A broker shall notify the commission, in writing, within ten (10) days after opening or making any change in the address or managing licensee of a branch office." The same ten-day period covers three separate events — opening the branch, changing its address, and changing who manages it. The notice follows the change rather than preceding it, so an advance-notice answer misstates the rule. Seventy-two hours is the deadline in 20 CSR 2250-4.050(3) for returning a terminated licensee's license, and thirty days is the period in 20 CSR 2250-8.170(1) for responding in writing to a Commission request or inquiry; neither applies to a branch office.

Under 20 CSR 2250-8.040, who may act as a sales manager or assistant sales manager for a Missouri broker?

• a.A salesperson who has completed the forty-eight-hour broker pre-examination course for that broker
• b.A broker-salesperson, or a broker-partner, broker-associate or broker-officer of the broker✓
• c.A salesperson with at least two years of active licensure with that broker
• d.Any licensee the broker designates in writing and reports to the Commission

20 CSR 2250-8.040(1) requires that "Any licensee who acts in the capacity of a sales manager or assistant sales manager for the broker shall be required to hold a broker-salesperson license or to be licensed as a broker-partner, broker-associate or broker-officer of the broker." The rule sets a license-class test, so the role is closed to salespersons no matter how experienced they are or how much of the broker curriculum they have sat through — completing a course is not holding a license. Nor can a broker open the role by designating someone and notifying the Commission; the rule's stated purpose is simply to define "who may be a sales manager," and it does so by license class alone.

Under 20 CSR 2250-8.030(3), what is true of the licensee who directly supervises a Missouri branch office?

• a.The office manager may still list and sell, and thereby assumes responsibility for the branch
• b.The office manager may still list and sell, and the principal broker remains responsible for the branch✓
• c.The office manager may not list or sell, and the principal broker remains responsible for the branch
• d.The office manager may not list or sell, and thereby shares responsibility for the branch

20 CSR 2250-8.030(3) settles both halves. A branch office "shall be under the direct supervision of either a licensed broker, broker-salesperson, or a broker-partner, broker-associate, or broker-officer of the principal licensed broker; provided that nothing contained in this rule shall be construed to relieve the principal licensed broker from responsibility for all brokerage activities conducted at the branch office." The proviso keeps accountability with the principal broker, so answers that shift or share it to the manager get the rule backwards. The rule then adds that "Nothing in this section shall be construed as to prohibit the office manager from engaging in the listing and sale of real estate," which disposes of the idea that managing a branch bars the manager from production work.

What limit does 20 CSR 2250-8.050 place on a Missouri broker's unlicensed clerical or office employees?

• a.Their activities are limited to duties performed in the physical presence of a licensee
• b.Their activities are limited to duties the broker sets out in a written employment agreement
• c.Their activities are limited to duties normally attributed to those positions✓
• d.Their activities are limited to duties that do not involve contact with the public

20 CSR 2250-8.050(1) is one sentence long: "The activities of unlicensed clerical or office employees of a broker shall be limited to the duties normally attributed to those positions. Unlicensed persons shall not do, or attempt to do, any of the activities set out under 339.010.1.(1)-(10), RSMo." The measure is therefore the ordinary content of a clerical job, plus an absolute bar on the acts that define brokerage — selling, leasing, negotiating, listing, procuring prospects and the rest. A broker cannot widen the limit by writing a broader job description, because the rule and the statute set the boundary rather than the employer. Supervision in the same room does not license an unlicensed act either. And public contact is not itself forbidden: answering a phone is ordinary clerical work.

An unlicensed employee is retained to help manage rental property for a Missouri broker. Which activity is within the statutory exemption from licensure?

• a.Listing the rental property for lease and advertising it in the employee's own name
• b.Negotiating the rent and lease terms with a prospective tenant under the direct instructions of the owner
• c.Showing a rental unit to a prospective tenant under the direct instructions of the broker or owner✓
• d.Deciding which of two competing rental applications the owner should accept

Section 339.010.9(5) exempts a person employed or retained to manage real property from holding a license "if the person is limited to one or more of the following activities," and paragraph (c) names "Showing a rental unit to any person, as long as the employee is acting under the direct instructions of the broker or owner, including the execution of leases or rental agreements." The companion paragraphs cover delivering and receiving lease applications and payments, conveying information prepared by the broker or owner, and assisting with administrative, clerical or maintenance tasks. Negotiating, listing and advertising are acts reserved to licensees by section 339.010.1(3) and (4), and exercising judgment over which application to accept is not conveying prepared information. Paragraph (f) also makes the broker subject to discipline for the unlicensed person's violations. (The regulations still cite this list by its former numbering, 339.010.5(5).)

What does 20 CSR 2250-8.010(2) require to be displayed at a Missouri broker's regular place of business?

• a.Each affiliated licensee's current license, framed and visible to the public at the broker's regular place of business
• b.A notice of the broker's escrow account institution and account number
• c.The broker's license together with a schedule of the firm's commission rates
• d.A business sign of sufficient size bearing the name under which the broker or firm is licensed✓

20 CSR 2250-8.010(2) requires that "A broker's business sign of sufficient size to identify it and bearing the name under which the broker or the broker's firm is licensed, or the regular business name, shall be displayed outside of the broker's regular place of business." This is now the operative display requirement in Missouri. The rule that once required licenses themselves to be displayed, 20 CSR 2250-8.060, was rescinded effective July 30, 2023, so an answer built on posting affiliated licensees' licenses states a duty the Commission has withdrawn. Missouri has never required commission rates to be posted — rates are negotiable and posting them would raise antitrust concerns. Escrow account details go to the Commission under section 339.105.2, not onto a wall.

Under 20 CSR 2250-8.010(1), which Missouri broker must maintain a regularly established place of business in this state?

• a.Every resident broker, including those whose licenses are on inactive status
• b.Every broker-salesperson associated with a firm that maintains a regular place of business in this state
• c.Every resident broker who has at least one salesperson associated with the firm
• d.A resident broker who is actively engaged in the real estate business and not on inactive status✓

20 CSR 2250-8.010(1) requires that "Every resident broker, except those who have placed their licenses on inactive status or those not actively engaged in real estate business, shall maintain a regularly established place of business in this state, which shall be open to the public during usual business hours or at regular stated intervals." The two exceptions are written into the sentence, so extending the duty to inactive licensees contradicts it. The rule closes by disapplying itself "to a broker-salesperson or to broker-partners, broker-associates or broker-officers of a firm which maintains a regular place of business," which rules out the broker-salesperson answer. And the duty does not depend on having salespersons; rather, the same subsection provides that "No salesperson may be associated with a broker not maintaining a regularly established place of business."

A Missouri salesperson places a newspaper advertisement for a listed home showing only the property photograph and the salesperson's mobile number. Which requirement does this fail?

• a.Every advertisement must carry the broker's business name and show the advertiser is a broker✓
• b.Every advertisement must carry the Commission's fair housing logo and the broker's address
• c.Every advertisement must carry the seller's written consent reference and the listing expiration
• d.Every advertisement must carry the salesperson's license number and the property's list price

20 CSR 2250-8.070(2) provides that "No real estate advertisement by a licensee shall show only a post office box number, telephone number, or street address. Every advertisement of real estate by a licensee shall contain the broker's regular business name or the name under which the broker or the broker's firm is licensed and shall indicate that the party advertising is a real estate broker and not a private party." This is Missouri's rule against blind advertisements. 8.070(3) adds that where the licensee's own name or telephone number is used, "the advertisement also shall include the name and telephone number of the broker or firm who holds the licensee's license." Missouri requires no license number, list price, Commission logo, or consent reference in the advertisement itself — though 20 CSR 2250-8.090(1) does separately require the owner's written consent before advertising or signing a property.

Three Missouri salespersons associated with one brokerage want to market themselves as "Heartland Realty Group." What does 20 CSR 2250-8.070(5) say?

• a.They may, because a team name is permitted once it is filed with the Commission
• b.They may not, because the name could be construed as a real estate entity they are not licensed as✓
• c.They may, because the restriction reaches only names that omit the brokerage's own name
• d.They may not, because a team may never advertise under any name other than the broker's

20 CSR 2250-8.070(5), added by the amendment effective October 30, 2022, provides that "No licensee or group of licensees shall advertise as a real estate company in any manner, or use any name, team name, or other term that could be construed by members of the public as the advertiser being a real estate partnership, company, brokerage, or business entity, unless the advertiser holds a valid appropriate entity license," and (5)(A) names the trigger words: "realty, brokerage, company, or other terms that may be construed as a real estate entity." Filing with the Commission does not cure it. The bar is not absolute, however, which is why the last option overstates: (5)(B) provides that where the team name "includes or incorporates the name of the broker/brokerage" with which the licensees are affiliated, using those words "shall not constitute a violation" when they identify that affiliation. Section 339.100.2(24)(b) carries the same rule at statute level.

A Missouri broker advertises a guaranteed sales plan in a newspaper. Under 20 CSR 2250-8.070(6), how prominent must the disclaimer of conditions and limitations be?

• a.In print at least one-half as large as the largest print in the advertisement
• b.In print at least one-fourth as large as the largest print in the advertisement✓
• c.In print at least as large as the body text of the advertisement
• d.In print at least eight points in size regardless of the advertisement

20 CSR 2250-8.070(6)(B) fixes a proportion rather than an absolute size: the disclaimer "shall be set forth in print at least one-fourth (1/4) as large as the largest print in the advertisement." Tying it to the largest print means a bolder headline forces a bolder disclaimer, which a fixed point size or a comparison to body text would not achieve. The rule also reaches broadcast, where (6)(C) requires radio and television advertisements to include "a conspicuous statement advising if any conditions and limitations apply," and (6)(D) requires every guaranteed sales agreement to be in writing and to contain the charges for the plan, the price at which the property will be sold or purchased, and "the approximate net proceeds the seller may reasonably expect to receive."

A Missouri broker joins a national franchise and begins using its trade name and insignia in advertising. What does 20 CSR 2250-8.080(1) require?

• a.The broker must furnish the Commission the franchisor's certificate of authority to do business
• b.The broker must obtain the Commission's written approval before using the trade name
• c.The broker must register the franchise trade name as a fictitious name owned by the franchisor
• d.The broker must furnish the Commission a copy of the franchise agreement or contract✓

20 CSR 2250-8.080(1) provides that if a broker "maintains any business relationship or affiliation, whether by franchise agreement, contract or otherwise, with another organization and uses the name, trade name or insignia of the other organization in any manner in real estate advertising, the broker shall furnish the commission a copy of the franchise agreement or contract and such other related information as the commission may require." The duty is to file a copy, not to seek permission, so no prior approval is contemplated. The franchisor's corporate credentials are not what the rule calls for. And where a fictitious name is registered under 20 CSR 2250-8.070(5)(C) for a group of licensees, the rule contemplates it being "owned by the broker/brokerage," not by a franchisor.

A Missouri broker's franchise agreement states that the franchisor has no legal liability for the broker's actions. Where must the broker disclose that?

• a.In all advertising that uses the franchisor's trade name or insignia
• b.In the broker disclosure form given at first substantial contact
• c.In a notice filed with the Commission and posted at the place of business
• d.In all listing agreements, contracts for sale and closing statements✓

20 CSR 2250-8.080(2) names three documents: where the franchise agreement provides that the franchisor or owner of the trade name or insignia "has no legal liability for the actions of the broker using the trade name or insignia, the broker shall include in all listing agreements, contracts for sale and closing statements a clear and explicit statement to that effect in type reasonably calculated to gain the attention of the reader of the document." These are the transaction documents a consumer actually signs, which is why the rule reaches them rather than the advertising that carries the trade name. The broker disclosure form under section 339.770 communicates brokerage relationship status and has nothing to do with franchisor liability, and the rule requires no filing with the Commission or posted notice for this disclosure.

Which pair of dates must appear in every Missouri written listing agreement under 20 CSR 2250-8.090?

• a.A definite beginning date and an expiration date✓
• b.An expiration date and a date for delivery of the seller's disclosure
• c.A definite beginning date and a date for the first price reduction
• d.An expiration date and a date by which the seller must notify the broker of cancellation

20 CSR 2250-8.090(4)(A) lists fourteen contents every written listing agreement or other written agreement for brokerage services must contain, and items 3 and 4 are "A definite beginning date" and "An expiration date." Missouri requires both ends of the term to be fixed, so an open-ended listing is not permissible. The final option describes something Missouri affirmatively forbids: 8.090(4)(B) provides that "The agreement shall contain no provision requiring an owner to notify the broker of intent to cancel the listing after the expiration date," which is the rule against automatic continuation. Price reductions and disclosure delivery dates are matters the parties may address but are not on the required list; the other mandatory items include the price, the commission including any bonuses, the type of listing, the property's description, and statements permitting or prohibiting subagency, dual agency and transaction brokerage.

When must a Missouri licensee give the owner a copy of a signed listing agreement?

• a.Within twenty-four hours after the owner's signature is obtained
• b.At the time the owner's signature is obtained✓
• c.At the time the broker accepts the listing at the office
• d.Within three business days after the owner's signature is obtained

20 CSR 2250-8.090(4)(D) requires that "The licensee shall give a legible copy of every written listing agreement or other written agreement for brokerage services to the owner of the property at the time the signature of the owner is obtained." The delivery is simultaneous with signing rather than measured in hours or days afterwards, so the consumer never signs a document and leaves without it. The same rule applies on the buyer side: 8.090(5)(D) requires a legible copy to go to the buyer or tenant "at the time the signatures are obtained," with a copy retained in the broker's office. Waiting for office acceptance would also fail, because the duty falls on the licensee at the moment of signature. Compare section 339.100.2(5), which makes it a ground for discipline to fail "within a reasonable time to deliver a duplicate original" of instruments prepared by or under the supervision of the licensee.

Under 20 CSR 2250-8.100, what is a Missouri licensee's duty on receiving a written offer to purchase a listed property?

• a.Tender it within twenty-four hours to the seller, and advise the offeror if it is rejected
• b.Tender it promptly to the seller, unless it is below the list price the seller set
• c.Tender it promptly to the seller, and promptly advise the offeror if it is rejected✓
• d.Tender it within three business days to the seller, and advise the offeror if it is rejected

20 CSR 2250-8.100(2) requires that "Every licensee shall promptly tender to the seller or seller's agent every written offer to purchase and shall promptly tender to the buyer or buyer's agent any counteroffer made by the seller, including any back-up contracts properly identified as such," and closes with "A buyer or seller must be promptly advised when an offer or counteroffer has been rejected." The standard is "promptly" — Missouri fixes no number of hours or days, so answers supplying twenty-four hours or three business days invent a deadline the rule does not contain. The word "every" forecloses any low-offer exception, and section 339.100.2(17) reinforces it by making it a ground for discipline to fail "to timely inform seller of all written offers unless otherwise instructed in writing by the seller."

A Missouri contract is amended during negotiation and then accepted. What does 20 CSR 2250-8.100(3) require?

• a.Every change initialed by the licensee, and the date final agreement was reached shown
• b.Every change initialed by all buyers and sellers, and the offer's original date retained
• c.Every change initialed by all buyers and sellers, and the date final agreement was reached shown✓
• d.Every change initialed by the party proposing it, and the date of the first signature shown

20 CSR 2250-8.100(3) provides that "Any change to a contract shall be initialed by all buyers and sellers. Acceptance of each fully executed contract shall include the date at which final agreement was reached either by 1) specific acknowledgment of final acceptance date; or 2) date of the last signature or initial to the contract." Both halves matter. Initialing runs to the principals, not to the licensee and not merely to whoever proposed the change, because the record must show that every party assented. And the operative date is the date of final agreement — the last signature or initial — not the date the offer was first written or first signed, which is what makes contract deadlines run from the right day.

A Missouri salesperson advertises her own home for sale, which is not listed with any brokerage. What must the advertisement contain under 20 CSR 2250-8.070?

• a.A prominent statement that the property is offered for sale by owner without a broker
• b.A prominent statement naming the broker with whom the salesperson's license is held
• c.A prominent statement that no commission will be paid in connection with the sale
• d.A prominent statement reading by owner-broker, by owner-salesperson, or by owner-agent✓

20 CSR 2250-8.070(1)(B) requires that when a licensee advertises property in which the licensee has an interest and which is not listed by a brokerage entity, "the advertisement shall contain, in a prominent fashion, one (1) of the following: 1. By owner-broker; 2. By owner-salesperson; or 3. By owner-agent." The point is that the public must know it is dealing with someone inside the business. That is why the plain "for sale by owner" answer is not merely insufficient but affirmatively prohibited: 8.070(1)(A) forbids a licensee to "advertise to sell, buy, exchange, rent, lease, or manage property in any manner indicating that the offer ... is being made by a private party not engaged in the real estate business." Naming the broker is the requirement in 8.070(3) for property in which the licensee has no interest, and no rule requires a statement about commissions.

A Missouri broker collects a fee from both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction without telling either of them. Under section 339.100.2, what is the consequence?

• a.It is a ground for discipline, because compensation from more than one party requires all parties' knowledge✓
• b.It is a ground for discipline only if the broker also acted as a dual agent in the transaction
• c.It is permitted, because the broker's compensation arrangements are a private contract matter
• d.It is permitted, provided each fee is separately disclosed on that party's closing statement

Section 339.100.2(6) makes it a ground for discipline to be "Acting for more than one party in a transaction without the knowledge of all parties for whom he or she acts, or accepting a commission or valuable consideration for services from more than one party in a real estate transaction without the knowledge of all parties to the transaction." Knowledge of all parties is the condition, and the subdivision reaches the compensation independently of the agency question, so it applies whether or not the broker was a dual agent. Disclosure buried in each party's own closing statement does not satisfy a requirement that all parties know, and it would come far too late in any event. The arrangement is not a purely private matter — this is exactly the conflict the subdivision exists to police.

A Missouri purchase contract is signed by the last party on a Tuesday. Absent a contrary provision in the contract, when must the earnest money be deposited in the broker's escrow account?

• a.No later than five banking days after the last signature is obtained
• b.No later than ten banking days after the last signature is obtained✓
• c.No later than ten banking days after the broker receives the funds
• d.No later than the next banking day after the last signature is obtained

20 CSR 2250-8.120(1) provides that money received as set out in section 339.100.2(1) "shall be deposited in the escrow or trust account maintained by the broker no later than ten (10) banking days following the last date on which the signatures or initials, or both, of all the parties to the contract are obtained, unless otherwise provided in the contract." Two features are easy to get wrong. The clock runs from the last signature, not from the broker's receipt of the money, which is why funds can sit before a contract is fully signed — the same subsection allows earnest money received before acceptance to be deposited early "with the written authorization of the party(ies) providing the funds." And the period is ten banking days rather than five or one. Separately, 8.120(2) requires an affiliated licensee to "immediately deliver to the broker with whom affiliated all money received."

How much of a Missouri broker's own money may be kept in the brokerage escrow account, and for what purpose?

• a.Up to one thousand dollars, specifically identified, to cover service charges on the account✓
• b.Up to five hundred dollars, specifically identified, to cover service charges on the account
• c.Up to one thousand dollars, specifically identified, to cover shortages pending reconciliation
• d.No amount at all, because any personal funds in the account are commingling

Section 339.105.1 forbids commingling but writes in one narrow exception: "No broker shall commingle his or her personal funds or other funds in this account with the exception that a broker may deposit and keep a sum not to exceed one thousand dollars in the account from his or her personal funds, which sum shall be specifically identified and deposited to cover service charges related to the account." So a flat no-personal-funds answer overstates the rule, and five hundred dollars understates the figure. The permitted purpose is bank service charges alone; using the cushion to paper over shortages would not be covering service charges. 20 CSR 2250-8.120(4) repeats the prohibition and refers back to this subsection for the only allowance.

A Missouri transaction closes and the brokerage has earned its commission from funds held in escrow. What does 20 CSR 2250-8.120(4) require?

• a.The commission payable must be removed from the escrow account at the time the transaction is completed✓
• b.The commission payable must be removed from the escrow account within thirty days of closing
• c.The commission payable may remain in the escrow account until the broker's next reconciliation
• d.The commission payable must be removed from the escrow account before the transaction closes

20 CSR 2250-8.120(4) states flatly that "Commissions payable must be removed from the escrow account at the time the transaction is completed." Leaving earned commission in the account turns escrow money into the broker's money sitting in a trust account, which is the commingling the section is built to prevent. Removing it before closing would be worse still, because section 339.105.5 provides that a broker "shall not be entitled to any money ... as part or all of his or her commission or fee until the transaction has been consummated or terminated, unless agreed in writing by all parties." Missouri has no escrow reconciliation rule, so a reconciliation-based answer rests on a procedure the regulations do not require. Under 8.120(6) a commission check must be payable to the licensee owed it or to the firm's general operating account.

A Missouri broker manages rental property and holds tenants' security deposits. Where must those deposits be kept?

• a.Intact in the property management escrow account with the current rents
• b.Intact in an escrow account other than the property management escrow account✓
• c.Intact in the brokerage's general operating account, separately identified
• d.Intact in an interest-bearing account held in each tenant's own name

20 CSR 2250-8.220 requires two separate accounts on the management side. Subsection (1) requires a broker to maintain "a separate escrow account(s), to be designated as a property management escrow account(s), for the deposit of current rents and money received from the owner(s)"; subsection (2) then provides that "All security deposits held by a broker shall be maintained, intact, in an escrow account other than the property management account(s), pursuant to section 339.105, RSMo, unless the owner(s) have agreed otherwise in writing." Deposits therefore sit apart from operating rent money. A general operating account is not an escrow account at all. And Missouri does not require individual tenant accounts; the return of deposits and disputes about them are governed by section 535.300 under 20 CSR 2250-8.230(1).