Legal Issues, Contracts, Leases and Conveyance
Twenty hours: the salesperson course's 10-hour Legal Issues subject (estates and interests, liens and easements, deeds, title closing and costs), its 3 hours on the contract of sales and leases, the broker course's 4-hour Conveyance of Real Property chapter and its 3 hours of General Business Law. This is the paperwork of a New York transaction and the statutes that decide who wins when it goes wrong.
Writing, recording and priority
General Obligations Law § 5-703 is New York's statute of frauds for land. Subdivision 1 requires a writing to create, grant, assign, surrender or declare an estate or interest in real property, carving out only 'a lease for a term not exceeding one year'. Subdivision 2 makes a contract for a lease longer than a year, or for the sale of real property or an interest in it, void unless the contract or a memorandum of it, expressing the consideration, is in writing and subscribed by the party to be charged. Real Property Law § 291 makes New York a race-notice state: an unrecorded conveyance is void against a later purchaser who takes 'in good faith and for a valuable consideration' and 'whose conveyance, contract or assignment is first duly recorded'. All three conditions must hold, so a buyer with notice of the earlier deed gains nothing by recording first. Lien Law § 10 sets the mechanic's lien deadline at eight months from the last item of work, shortened to four months where the improvement is to property improved with a single family dwelling; a real estate broker's lien is available only on a lease, only after the services are performed and both lessor and lessee have executed it, and only with the written compensation agreement annexed.
The Property Condition Disclosure Act
Real Property Law article 14 covers residential real property improved by a one-to-four family dwelling, and § 461(5) expressly excludes unimproved land, condominium units, cooperative apartments and property in a homeowners' association not owned in fee simple by the seller. Section 462(1) requires the seller to complete and sign the statement and deliver it to the buyer or the buyer's agent before the buyer signs a binding contract of sale, with a copy signed by both attached to the purchase contract. Section 463 exempts fourteen categories of transfer, including court-ordered transfers, foreclosure and deed-in-lieu transfers, transfers by a fiduciary administering an estate, transfers between spouses on divorce, transfers to or from government, transfers by a sheriff and transfers of newly constructed property that has never been inhabited. Section 464 requires a revised statement as soon as practicable if the seller learns something that makes the first materially inaccurate, but never after transfer of title or the buyer's occupancy. Check § 465 against any older material you own: the article as it now reads makes a seller liable only for a willful failure and then for the buyer's actual damages, and contains no $500 credit. Section 466 gives the listing broker a duty to inform the seller of the seller's obligations and the buyer's agent — or the seller's agent dealing with an unrepresented buyer — a duty to inform the buyer before the contract is signed.
Other New York disclosures, and what need not be disclosed
Real Property Law § 443-a provides that it is not a material defect that an owner or occupant is or was suspected to be infected with HIV or diagnosed with AIDS, or that the property is or is suspected to have been the site of a homicide, suicide, other death, or any crime punishable as a felony; no cause of action arises from the omission and it is not grounds for discipline. A buyer for whom this matters may submit a written inquiry when negotiating or making a bona fide offer, and the seller may choose whether to answer. Energy Law § 17-103, the truth in heating law, requires the seller of a residential structure to furnish heating or cooling bills within fifteen days of a written request, for the life of the structure or the preceding two years, whichever is shorter — and the seller need not honor a request first made after the purchase contract is signed. Real Property Law § 333-c requires a signed notice, before sale, where property lies partly or wholly in an agricultural district, warning that farming activities occur there and 'may include, but not be limited to, activities that cause noise, dust and odors'. Section 242 requires written notice before a purchase offer is accepted where no utility electric service is provided or where a gas or electric surcharge attaches, and requires disclosure of known uncapped natural gas wells before contract.
Leases and security deposits
General Obligations Law § 7-103 makes a residential security deposit the tenant's money, held in trust, never to be mingled with the holder's own funds. For a building of six or more family dwelling units, § 7-103(2-a) requires an interest-bearing account in a New York banking organization; § 7-103(2) allows the holder to keep one percent a year as administration expenses, the balance of the interest belonging to the tenant. Section 7-108 governs non-rent-stabilized units. Subdivision 1-a caps the deposit at one month's rent, with narrow exceptions for seasonal use dwellings and owner-occupied cooperative apartments, and excludes units under the city rent and rehabilitation law or the emergency housing rent control law and certain licensed care and senior communities. It gives the tenant a right to a move-in inspection and to a pre-move-out inspection with an itemized statement of proposed deductions and an opportunity to cure. And it requires the landlord, within fourteen days after the tenant vacates, to deliver an itemized statement and return the balance — failing which 'the landlord shall forfeit any right to retain any portion of the deposit'. The landlord bears the burden of proving the reasonableness of anything retained, and a willful violation exposes the landlord to punitive damages of up to twice the deposit.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- Prelicensing education
- 152 total hours (77-hour salesperson + 75-hour broker qualifying course)
- Time limit
- 150 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in New York?
The New York Department of State (DOS), Division of Licensing Services, licenses real estate brokers and salespersons under Real Property Law article 12-A and the rules at 19 NYCRR parts 175 to 179. New York writes and administers its licensing exam itself, at DOS exam sites scheduled through eAccessNY, rather than through PSI, Pearson VUE or any other outside vendor.
What experience do I need before the New York broker exam?
Real Property Law § 441(1)(b) requires either two years of active participation as a licensed real estate salesperson under a broker's supervision, or the equivalent experience in the general real estate business for at least three years. The experience is documented on the point schedule at 19 NYCRR § 179.3, where 3,500 points equal two years of full-time experience, a residential sale is worth 250 points and an exclusive listing 10. On top of that comes 152 hours of approved qualifying education — the 77-hour salesperson course plus the 75-hour broker course — and Real Property Law § 440-a sets the minimum age for a broker at 20.
How is the New York broker exam structured?
DOS publishes four facts about the paper and no more: it is multiple choice, it is "based on the 152-hour pre-licensing curriculum", applicants "will be allowed 2 1/2 hours to complete the test", and "all exam results are reported as either passed or failed; you will not receive a numerical score". There is no published item count, no published passing percentage and no content outline anywhere on dos.ny.gov — so treat any source that quotes a New York broker question count or topic breakdown as quoting something the Department has never published. There is also no separate national portion; the single state-written exam covers the whole 152-hour curriculum.
What does the 152-hour curriculum actually cover?
It is fixed in regulation, not just in the syllabus PDFs. 19 NYCRR § 176.3 prints the 77-hour salesperson course as 19 subjects, led by Law of Agency (11 hours), Legal Issues (10), Commercial and Investment Properties (10) and Human Rights and Fair Housing (6). 19 NYCRR § 176.4 prints the 75-hour broker course as 11 chapters, led by Agency Law, License Law and Operating a Real Estate Office (26 hours) and Advanced Fair Housing and Fair Lending (13), and requires completion of both courses. Because DOS names the full 152 hours as the exam's basis, material built on the 75-hour broker course alone misses whole subjects — Commercial and Investment Properties, Condominiums and Cooperatives, Municipal Agencies and Property Insurance among them.
Sources: https://dos.ny.gov/become-real-estate-broker, https://dos.ny.gov/real-estate-broker-frequently-asked-questions, https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/10/reb-syllabus-2022.pdf, https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/10/res-syllabus-2022.pdf, https://dos.ny.gov/real-estate-license-law
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