New Hampshire Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

Which of the following is expressly exempt from the New Hampshire Real Estate Practice Act under RSA 331-A:4?

• a.An unlicensed assistant paid a share of the commission on each closing
• b.A loan originator who refers buyers to a listing firm for a referral fee
• c.A home inspector who negotiates the purchase price on a client's behalf
• d.An attorney at law acting in the performance of duties as an attorney✓

RSA 331-A:4, III exempts "an attorney at law in the performance of duties as an attorney," and the list around it exempts owners dealing in their own property, attorneys-in-fact, licensed auctioneers, public officials, court-appointed and testamentary fiduciaries, manufactured housing park operators, certain corporate site consultants and on-site condominium rental offices. Nothing exempts the other three. Paying an unlicensed assistant out of the commission runs straight into RSA 331-A:26, XXIV, which forbids paying valuable consideration to any person not licensed under the chapter. A paid referral of buyers is licensed activity under RSA 331-A:2, III(h), which reaches anyone who "assists or directs in the procuring of prospects" for compensation. And negotiating price for a client is licensed activity under RSA 331-A:2, III(c) and III(i); an inspection license carries no authority to do it.

RSA 331-A:10, II(c) lets a New Hampshire broker applicant qualify on part-time experience instead of a year of full-time employment by an active principal broker. How many part-time hours as a licensed salesperson in this state does it require, within five years of the application date?

• a.1,000 hours
• b.1,500 hours
• c.2,000 hours✓
• d.3,000 hours

RSA 331-A:10, II(c) gives three routes: "(1) Has been employed full time by an active principal broker for at least one year within 5 years of the date of application; or (2) Has at least 2,000 part-time hours as a licensed salesperson in this state within 5 years of the date of application; or (3) Proves to the office ... that the applicant has experience equivalent." The figure is 2,000 hours and the hours must be in New Hampshire. The other three numbers appear nowhere in the section. Two further conditions travel with the experience requirement and are easy to lose: RSA 331-A:10, II(g) demands evidence of at least six separate transactions in which the applicant was actively involved and compensated, and II(b) sets 60 hours of approved study completed before the examination date, against 40 hours for a salesperson under RSA 331-A:10, I(b).

RSA 331-A:14 conditions the issue or renewal of a New Hampshire principal or managing broker license on a surety bond in a sum of not less than:

• a.$10,000
• b.$25,000✓
• c.$50,000
• d.$100,000

RSA 331-A:14 provides that no principal or managing broker's license "shall be issued or renewed until the applicant gives to the commission a surety bond in any form approved by the commission in a sum of not less than $25,000," executed by the applicant and a surety company authorized to do business in the state. Rea 301.01(f) and Rea 401.01(g) repeat the $25,000 figure for original applications and for renewals, and require the bond to run concurrently with the dates of licensure. The other amounts are invented. Note who is covered: RSA 331-A:10, II(f) excludes associate brokers and excludes the corporation, partnership, limited liability company or association itself, so the bond attaches to the individuals who carry supervisory responsibility. The bond is payable to the state for the benefit of any aggrieved person and is conditioned on faithful accounting for entrusted funds, and RSA 331-A:14 lets the commission revoke the license if the bond ever ceases to be in full force.

Rea 403.01 sets the continuing education a New Hampshire licensee must complete to renew on active status. It is:

• a.A three-hour accredited core course plus 12 hours of accredited elective courses✓
• b.A three-hour accredited core course only, with no elective-hour requirement
• c.A six-hour accredited core course plus six hours of accredited elective courses
• d.Fifteen hours of accredited elective courses, with no core-course requirement

Rea 403.01(a) requires every active and inactive renewal applicant to complete "a minimum 3-hour continuing education core course that has been accredited by the commission," and Rea 403.01(b) adds, for applicants renewing on active status and for inactive licensees moving to active status, "an additional 12 hours of continuing education elective courses." That is 15 hours in total, but the split matters: RSA 331-A:25, IX authorizes exactly this structure, and the core course is the part that RSA 331-A:20, II(a) aims at changes in state and federal law. Dropping the elective hours, halving them, or replacing the core with electives all describe requirements the rule does not impose. One trap for first-time renewals: under Rea 403.01(c) and (d), a salesperson renewing for the first time must take the 12 elective hours as designated post-licensing courses, one from each of the four required topics in Rea 302.03 - purchase and sale agreements, ethics, disclosure forms and agency.

A New Hampshire license has expired because the renewal application was not filed by the expiration date. Under RSA 310:8, III, how long after expiration does the license lapse, after which it can no longer be renewed but only reinstated?

• a.Thirty days
• b.Six months
• c.One year✓
• d.Two years

RSA 310:8, III provides that licences "shall expire when completed renewal applications, renewal fee, and supporting documents have not been filed by the expiration of the license," that holders of an expired license are not authorized to practice, and that "expired licenses shall lapse one year from expiration," after which the holder "shall not be able to renew, but shall be eligible to reinstate." RSA 310:8, II sets the license term itself at two years, and IV requires the office to send a renewal notice at least two months before expiration while making clear that failing to receive it excuses nothing. Watch the citation here as well: the PSI outline still points "License renewal" at RSA 331-A:19 and "Change in license/status" at RSA 331-A:17 and :18, and all three were repealed by 2023, 79:336, effective September 1, 2023. Renewal mechanics for this board now sit in RSA 310:8 and in Rea 401.01.