Special Topics: Subdivisions, Timeshares and Water Rights
Area VIII is 5% of the state portion - about 2 or 3 items across five printed subtopics, one of which, Subdivisions, is marked (Broker Only). The three Nevada cancellation clocks in this area all run five calendar days but return the purchaser's money on different schedules, which is what makes them testable together.
Subdivisions (Broker Only)
NRS 119.182(1) requires the information submitted under NRS 119.140 to be given to and reviewed with each purchaser by the broker or salesperson BEFORE the execution of any contract of sale, and requires the broker to obtain the purchaser's signed receipt for a copy. Where a contract for disposition is entered into, the receipt and copies of all contracts and agreements must be kept in the broker's files WITHIN THE STATE OF NEVADA "for 3 years or 1 year after final payment has been made on any contract for the sale of property, whichever is longer" - a different clock from the general 5-year rule in NAC 645.650. Subsection 2 gives the purchaser of a non-exempt subdivision interest the right to cancel by written notice until midnight of the fifth calendar day following execution of the contract; the right may not be waived, and an attempt by the developer to obtain a waiver makes the contract voidable by the purchaser. Subsection 4 gives the developer 15 days after receiving the notice to return all payments. NRS 119.183 requires a seller of more than one large-parcel lot to disclose in a separate signed document that the city, county, school district and special districts are not obliged to furnish services, specifically fire protection and roads, and that public utilities may be similarly free of obligation. NRS 119.1835 requires disclosure of utility transmission-line rights-of-way and easements before any binding agreement. NRS 119.184 forbids advertising or offering a subdivision in Nevada until the Division approves the advertising, and requires the Division's processing number in each advertisement.
Timeshares
NRS 119A.400 requires the developer, or the project broker and sales agent selling for the developer, to give each prospective purchaser the approved public offering statement with the date the developer's permit was originally issued and its effective date, plus an addendum summarizing pending amendments submitted to the Division. The project broker or sales agent must REVIEW the statement with each prospective purchaser before any contract is executed and obtain a signed receipt, and where a contract is signed the project broker keeps that receipt for 3 years subject to inspection and audit. NRS 119A.410 gives the purchaser the right to cancel by written notice until midnight of the fifth calendar day following execution of the contract, requires the contract to state that right, makes it unwaivable, permits delivery of the notice personally, by certified mail return receipt requested, or by express, priority or recognized overnight service with proof of service - and requires the developer to return all payments within 20 DAYS after receipt of the notice. Set that against the subdivision developer's 15 days under NRS 119.182(4): same five-day right, different refund clocks. NRS 119A.420 requires purchaser deposits to be held in escrow until the cancellation right has expired unexercised, unless the developer or project broker posts a surety bond satisfactory to the Division instead.
Water rights
NRS 533.025 states the premise: "[t]he water of all sources of water supply within the boundaries of the State whether above or beneath the surface of the ground, belongs to the public." What an owner holds is an appropriative right, and it is administered by the State Engineer rather than by the county recorder. NRS 533.384(1)(a) requires a person to whom an application or permit to appropriate public waters, a certificate of appropriation, an adjudicated or unadjudicated water right, or an application or permit to change the point of diversion, manner of use or place of use is conveyed to file with the State Engineer, with the prescribed fee, a REPORT OF CONVEYANCE containing an abstract of title, a copy of any deed, written agreement or other document pertaining to the conveyance, and anything else the State Engineer requests. Paragraph (b) requires a parallel filing with the irrigation district where the place of use lies wholly or partly within one. NRS 533.386 sets the limits of what confirmation means: the confirmation is not a determination of ownership - only a court can decide that - and neither the confirmation nor the report establishes the actual amount of water the right yields. A deficient report is rejected and returned. NRS 533.387 exempts conveyances of shares of stock in a ditch company that owns the right.
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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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