Agency and the Duties Owed by a Nevada Licensee
Area III is 20% of the state portion for brokers and salespersons alike - about 10 of the 50 broker items. Nevada writes its agency law as a list of statutory duties rather than as common-law fiduciary doctrine, and the exam tests the list.
Duties owed to every party, and the forms that state them
NRS 645.252(1) requires a licensee acting as agent to disclose to EACH party, as soon as practicable: material and relevant facts about the property that the licensee knows or should know; each source from which the licensee will be compensated; that the licensee is a principal to the transaction or has an interest in one; that the licensee is acting for more than one party; and any change in the licensee's relationship to a party. Subsection 2 requires reasonable skill and care toward all parties. Subsection 3 requires the licensee to give the appropriate Division form prepared under NRS 645.193 to each party for whom the licensee acts AND to each unrepresented party. Subsection 4 sets the outer limit: unless otherwise agreed in writing, the licensee owes no duty to verify a certified inspector's or other expert's statement, to investigate a party's financial condition, or to investigate the condition of the property. NRS 645.193 explains why more than one form exists - one for a licensee acting for a single party, one for a licensee acting for more than one, and one for a broker who assigns different affiliated licensees to separate parties.
Consent to act, and affiliated licensees on both sides
Where a licensee acts for more than one party, NRS 645.252(1)(d) requires disclosure AND the written consent of each party before the licensee may continue as agent. The consent must describe the transaction; state that the licensee acts for two or more parties with adverse interests and therefore has a conflict of interest; state that the licensee will not disclose confidential information for 1 year after the revocation or termination of any brokerage agreement with a party, unless ordered by a court or given that party's written permission; state that a party is not required to consent; and state that consent is given without coercion and with an understanding of its terms. NRS 645.253(1) carves out the different case of one broker assigning DIFFERENT affiliated licensees to the two parties: there, the written consent is not required, but each licensee may not disclose a client's confidential information except to the broker. Subsection 2 applies the same rule to affiliated property managers assigned to separate parties to a property management agreement.
Duties owed to a client, and what may be waived
NRS 645.254 lists the duties a licensee owes after entering a brokerage agreement: reasonable skill and care in carrying out its terms; no disclosure of confidential information for 1 year after revocation or termination unless ordered by a court or permitted in writing; seeking the transaction at the price and terms stated or at a price acceptable to the client; presenting all offers as soon as practicable; disclosing material facts the licensee knows about the transaction; advising the client to seek expert advice beyond the licensee's expertise; and accounting for all money and property in which the client may have an interest as soon as practicable. NRS 645.255 then forecloses waiver of every one of those and of the NRS 645.252 duties - with a single exception, the duty to present all offers, which the client may waive by signing a waiver on a form prescribed by the Division under NRS 645.254(4). NAC 645.637 fixes the confirmation timing: the agency or principal-status disclosure must be in writing, made as soon as practicable and no later than the date and time the client or an unrepresented party signs any written document, then confirmed in a separate provision and kept by the broker in the transaction file.
Negotiating directly with a client under another broker's exclusive agency
NRS 645.635(2) makes it a ground for discipline to negotiate a sale, exchange or lease, or to communicate after such negotiations but before closing, directly with a client the licensee knows has a brokerage agreement in force granting an exclusive agency, including an exclusive right to sell to another broker, "unless permission in writing has been obtained from the other broker." Written permission is the only route. NAC 645.610(1)(d) applies the same principle to advertising: no advertisement or sign referring to the availability of a property exclusively listed by another broker without that broker's prior written consent, which the listing broker may not give or withhold without the owner's knowledge. NRS 645.257 supplies the remedy for a breach of any statutory duty - an action for actual damages, with the licensee's standard of care being that of a reasonably prudent licensee measured by the knowledge NRS 645.343 and 645.345 require, and with the client's own knowledge of material facts not imputed to the licensee. NRS 645.259 limits liability for a client's misrepresentation to cases where the licensee knew of it and failed to correct it.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Nevada Real Estate Division (NRED)
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 64 college credits, including a 45-hour (3-credit) Broker Management course and 45 hours (3 credits) of real estate law with at least 18 hours of Nevada law
- Passing score
- 75% (each portion scored separately)
- Scored questions
- 130
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Nevada?
The Nevada Real Estate Division (NRED), within the Department of Business and Industry, licenses brokers and salespersons under NRS Chapter 645, and the Nevada Real Estate Commission adopts the regulations and imposes discipline. NRED contracts with Pearson VUE to deliver the licensing exams; Nevada no longer uses PSI, so a PSI bulletin found for Nevada is out of date.
What experience do I need before the Nevada broker exam?
Under NRS 645.330(4), a broker applicant must have been actively engaged full time as a licensed real estate broker-salesperson or salesperson in Nevada, or as a licensed broker, broker-salesperson or salesperson in another state or the District of Columbia, for at least 2 of the 4 years immediately preceding issuance of the broker's license. Education is separate: NRS 645.343 requires 64 semester units of college-level course work, including three semester units (45 hours) in broker management and three units in real estate law with at least 18 classroom hours of Nevada law. NRS 645.343(4) grants 16 semester units of credit for each 2 years of licensed experience in the preceding 10 years, up to 8 years, but that credit cannot be applied against the broker management course or the 18 hours of Nevada law.
How is the Nevada broker exam structured?
Pearson VUE's Nevada candidate handbook lists the Broker Combination exam as 130 scored items in 240 minutes: an 80-item national/general portion in 150 minutes and a 50-item Nevada state portion in 90 minutes. Each portion also carries 5 to 10 unscored pretest items inside the same clock. You need 75% correct to pass, and the two portions are scored separately — pass one and fail the other and you retake only the failed part, within 12 months.
What does the Nevada state portion actually test?
Pearson VUE publishes the Nevada outline (effective 15 January 2025) as percentages rather than item counts, with a separate percentage for salespersons and for brokers. For brokers the 50 state items are weighted: Duties and Powers of the Commission 5%, Licensing Requirements 5%, Agency and Duties Owed 20%, License Practice 20%, Disclosures 15%, Contracts 22%, Record Keeping 8%, and Special Topics 5%. Five subtopics are marked "Broker Only" — branch offices and license display, cooperative certificates, inspection of records, trust account records and management, and subdivisions. Record keeping is 8% for brokers against 3% for salespersons, while disclosures drops from 20% to 15%.
Sources: https://red.nv.gov, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/092900.pdf, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/092901.pdf, https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-645.html, https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NAC/NAC-645.html
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