Mississippi Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

Under Mississippi's real estate transfer disclosure requirements, the Property Condition Disclosure Statement is completed by the:

• a.listing broker, on behalf of the seller
• b.home inspector engaged by the buyer
• c.transferor, that is, the seller of the property✓
• d.closing attorney, before the deed passes

Section 89-1-503(1) puts the duty on "[t]he transferor of any real property subject to Sections 89-1-501 through 89-1-523," who "shall deliver to the prospective transferee the written property condition disclosure statement." MREC's own form repeats it in the instructions to the seller — "Complete this form yourself" — and states that the representations on it "are made by the seller and are not the representations of any real estate licensee involved in the transaction." A licensee may hand the form over, but cannot author the seller's personal knowledge of the property. A home inspector reports to whoever hires the inspector, under a separate contract, and produces an opinion rather than the seller's statutory statement. A closing attorney arrives at the end of the transaction, long after the statement is due.

Which Mississippi transaction requires the seller to give a Property Condition Disclosure Statement?

• a.A house sold at a foreclosure sale after a default
• b.A wooded forty-acre parcel with no dwelling on it
• c.A newly built house sold through a licensed broker✓
• d.A house deeded by a widow to her adult daughter

Section 89-1-501(1) applies the statement to transfers of real property on which a dwelling unit is located, or a residential stock cooperative of not less than one nor more than four dwelling units, when the transfer is made by or with the aid of a duly licensed real estate broker or salesperson. Nothing in the section carves out new construction, so a builder selling a house he has just finished owes the same statement as anyone else; the only relief on the MREC form is for a seller who has neither occupied the property nor has any knowledge of its condition, which is not a builder's position. Subsection (2) is where the exclusions live, and the other three answers sit on that list: foreclosure sales after default in paragraph (b), transfers to a person in the lineal line of consanguinity of the transferor in paragraph (e), and transfers of real property on which no dwelling is located in paragraph (h).

A Mississippi buyer signs an offer and only afterward is handed the seller's disclosure statement. The buyer may terminate in writing within:

• a.five days of the in-person delivery
• b.three days of the in-person delivery✓
• c.ten days of the in-person delivery
• d.fifteen days of the in-person delivery

Section 89-1-503(1) closes with the remedy: if any disclosure, or any material amendment of a disclosure, is delivered after the execution of an offer to purchase, the transferee has three (3) days after delivery in person, or five (5) days after delivery by deposit in the mail, to terminate the offer by delivering written notice of termination to the transferor or the transferor's agent. Five days is the mail figure, and it is the trap in this item — the question specifies delivery by hand. MREC's form states the consequence for a buyer who acts in time: the earnest money is fully returned. Ten and fifteen days appear nowhere in the article. Note that "execution" is defined in the same section as the making or acceptance of an offer, so the clock is not tied to closing.

After delivering a disclosure statement, a Mississippi seller learns of a serious foundation problem. The seller must deliver an amended statement:

• a.only if the buyer asks a question about the foundation
• b.within ten days, even after the buyer has moved in
• c.at the closing, with the seller's closing certification
• d.as soon as practicable, until title passes or occupancy✓

The certification on MREC's form carries the rule: if a seller acquires knowledge that renders a previously provided statement materially inaccurate, the seller shall deliver an amended statement to the buyer as soon as practicable, and in no event is a seller required to provide one after transfer of title to the buyer or occupancy by the buyer, whichever is earlier. Section 89-1-515 permits the amendment in writing and makes it subject to Section 89-1-503, which is the sting: a material amendment is treated like a first delivery, so the buyer's three-day (in person) or five-day (mailed) right to terminate begins again on the amendment. Waiting for a question inverts the duty, which is triggered by the seller's knowledge rather than the buyer's curiosity. Holding the amendment for the closing certification defeats the buyer's right to act on it.

A Mississippi seller's house was the site of a suicide two years ago. Under Section 89-1-527 that fact is:

• a.a material fact the seller must disclose in writing
• b.disclosable only through the listing broker
• c.a ground for the buyer to rescind the sale
• d.not a material fact that must be disclosed✓

Section 89-1-527(1) provides that the fact or suspicion that property is or was the site of a natural death, suicide, homicide or felony crime — with one exception, illegal drug activity that affects the physical condition of the property, its physical environment or its improvements — "does not constitute a material fact that must be disclosed in a real estate transaction." The same subsection covers an act or occurrence that had no effect on the property's physical condition, and property owned or occupied by a person affected or exposed to a disease not known to be transmitted through common occupancy, expressly including HIV and AIDS. Failure to disclose these gives rise to no criminal, civil or administrative action against the owner, a licensed broker or any affiliated licensee, and subsection (3) says the omission is not a ground for terminating or rescinding the transaction. What the statute does not license is lying: an owner who makes an intentional or fraudulent misrepresentation in response to a direct inquiry can still be sued.

A Mississippi seller leaves half the disclosure statement blank and the sale later sours. As to the statement itself, the listing licensee:

• a.must fill the blanks in from the licensee's own file
• b.shares the seller's liability for the missing answers
• c.must withdraw from the listing within three days
• d.is not subject to MREC discipline over the statement✓

Mississippi went further here than most states. Section 89-1-523(2) provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, no real estate licensee shall be subject to discipline or other action of any kind by any Mississippi licensing authority pertaining to information required to be disclosed by Sections 89-1-501 through 89-1-523, or the delivery of that information. Section 89-1-503(2) says the same about a statement the seller fails to deliver or leaves partly blank, and Section 73-35-21(6) puts the mirror-image restriction on the Commission: it may not promulgate a rule or make an interpretation under which a licensee is held responsible for that information. All three came from HB 1271 (2024 Regular Session), ch. 423, which also repealed Section 89-1-519. Where the seller leaves blanks, Section 89-1-503(2) presumes the prospective buyer is on notice to inquire — the burden shifts to the buyer, not to the licensee. None of this touches the licensee's own duty under Section 73-35-21(1)(a) to avoid making a substantial misrepresentation.