Oklahoma Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

Under 60 O.S. § 833, an Oklahoma seller's completed disclosure statement may not be dated more than:

• a.One hundred eighty days before the purchaser receives the statement✓
• b.Ninety days before the purchaser receives the statement from the seller
• c.Thirty days before the purchaser receives the statement from the seller
• d.One full year before the purchaser receives the statement from a seller

Section 833(C) states that "either the disclaimer statement or the disclosure statement required by this section must be completed, signed and dated by the seller. The date of completion on either statement may not be more than one hundred eighty (180) days prior to the date of receipt of the statement by the purchaser." The same limit applies to both forms. Section 833(B)(1) sets what the disclosure statement must cover, all of it keyed to the seller's actual knowledge: water and sewer systems including flood zone status, structural systems, plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning, wood-destroying organisms, major fire or tornado damage, land use matters, hazardous or regulated materials, prior manufacture of methamphetamine, and any other known defects. Section 834(C) closes the gap after delivery — if the seller learns of a defect afterwards, the seller "shall promptly deliver to the purchaser either a disclosure statement or an amended disclosure statement which discloses the newly discovered defect," signed and dated.

Which seller may deliver an Oklahoma residential property condition disclaimer statement instead of a disclosure statement?

• a.One who has occupied the property but has made no recent repairs to it
• b.One who is selling through a licensee rather than selling by the owner
• c.One who has never occupied the property and knows of no defect in it✓
• d.One who has held title to the property for less than twelve months now

Section 833(A)(1) permits a written property disclaimer statement on the Commission's form only where it states that the seller "a. has never occupied the property and makes no disclosures concerning the condition of the property, and b. has no actual knowledge of any defect." Both limbs are required, so an owner who has lived in the house cannot disclaim no matter how little work she has done. Being represented by a licensee is not the test either; it goes to who counts as a "seller" under 60 O.S. § 832(2), which reaches a seller represented by a licensee and also an unrepresented seller who receives a written request from the purchaser. Length of ownership is not mentioned anywhere in the Act. OAC 605:10-15-4 requires the Commission to develop and amend both forms by rule, makes them available to the public on request, and prints the disclosure statement at Appendix A and the disclaimer statement at Appendix B of the chapter.

Under 60 O.S. § 836, a licensee assisting an Oklahoma seller must obtain the disclaimer or disclosure statement and make it available to potential purchasers:

• a.Before the property is first advertised or shown to any purchaser
• b.At the closing, together with the rest of the transaction documents
• c.Before acceptance of an offer to purchase the property in question✓
• d.Within ten days after the purchase contract has been fully executed

Section 836(A) gives a licensee representing or assisting a seller "the duty to obtain from the seller a disclaimer statement or a disclosure statement and any amendment required by the Residential Property Condition Disclosure Act and to make such statement available to potential purchasers prior to acceptance of an offer to purchase," and (B) puts the mirror duty on a licensee assisting the purchaser. Acceptance of the offer is the hinge throughout the Act — 60 O.S. § 834(B) provides that where the statement reaches the purchaser after an offer has been made, "the offer to purchase shall be accepted only after the purchaser has acknowledged receipt... and confirmed the offer to purchase." Subsection (C) adds the licensee's own duty to disclose defects actually known to the licensee that are not in the statement, while (E) makes clear the licensee has no duty to inspect independently or to verify what the seller wrote. A licensee who does not comply is subject to discipline under 59 O.S. § 858-208(6), and 59 O.S. § 858-312(23) makes violation of the Act a separate cause.

Which transfer is exempt from the Residential Property Condition Disclosure Act under 60 O.S. § 838?

• a.The sale of a thirty-year-old house by an owner who never lived in it
• b.The sale of a newly constructed dwelling that has never been occupied✓
• c.The sale of a duplex in which the seller occupies one of the two units
• d.The sale of a house by an owner who is not represented by a licensee

Paragraph 9 of section 838(A) exempts "transfers of a newly constructed, previously unoccupied dwelling." The rest of the exemption list is structural rather than about the condition of the house: court-ordered transfers including execution, eminent domain and partition; transfers to a mortgagee in default, foreclosure sales, power-of-sale transfers and deeds in lieu; transfers by a non-occupant fiduciary administering an estate, guardianship, conservatorship or trust; co-owner to co-owner; transfers to a spouse or a lineal relative; divorce and separation settlements; mergers and parent-subsidiary transfers; and transfers to or from a governmental entity. A seller who never occupied an older house is not exempt at all — she simply qualifies for the disclaimer statement under 60 O.S. § 833(A)(1). A duplex is squarely inside the Act, since 60 O.S. § 832(8) defines "property" as residential real property improved with not less than one nor more than two dwelling units. And an unrepresented seller becomes a "seller" under 60 O.S. § 832(2)(b) as soon as the purchaser makes a written request. Section 838(B) leaves 59 O.S. § 858-513 on psychologically impacted property untouched.

Under 59 O.S. § 858-513, the fact that an Oklahoma house was the site of a suicide or a homicide is:

• a.Not a material fact, so it need not be disclosed in the transaction✓
• b.A material defect the seller must record on the disclosure statement
• c.A material fact the licensee must volunteer to every serious prospect
• d.Disclosable only where the event happened within the past five years

Section 858-513(A) provides that the fact or suspicion that real estate is psychologically impacted — including that an occupant was infected with HIV or diagnosed with AIDS or another disease highly unlikely to be transmitted by occupying a dwelling, or that the property "was, or was at any time suspected to have been the site of a suicide, homicide or other felony" — "is not a material fact that must be disclosed in a real estate transaction." Subsection (B) bars any cause of action against the owner or an assisting licensee for failing to disclose it. There is no five-year window and no entry for it on the disclosure statement, whose items in 60 O.S. § 833(B)(1) are physical conditions. But silence is not the whole answer: subsection (C) and OAC 605:10-15-3 set a procedure where a purchaser or lessee making a bona fide written offer tells the licensee in writing that the factor matters to the decision — the licensee must then inquire of the owner and report the findings with the owner's consent, and if the owner refuses, must tell the purchaser so. Section 858-514 separately provides that the Sex Offenders Registration Act and the Mary Rippy Violent Crime Offenders Registration Act impose no disclosure duty on a licensee.