Agency and Disclosure
Area III is ten items, a quarter of the state portion. Pennsylvania still defines and uses both the subagent and the transaction licensee, so its vocabulary should not be borrowed from states that repealed subagency.
Duties owed to every consumer
Section 606.1(a) lists fourteen duties owed to every consumer whether or not an agency relationship exists, and says they may not be waived. The single carve-out is in paragraph (3): a seller whose property is already under contract may waive, in writing and in the manner the Commission prescribes, the licensee's duty to present further written offers. Section 606.1(g) and section 35.311(d) forbid revealing or using a principal's confidential information during or after the relationship, subject to five closed exceptions: consent, disclosure to someone acting solely for the principal, subpoena or court order, prevention of a crime the principal intends, and the licensee's own defense. Confidentiality never covers a known material defect, which section 35.312(a)(2) requires the licensee to reveal.
The five relationships
Section 606 lets a broker act as a seller/landlord agent, a buyer/tenant agent, a dual agent or a transaction licensee, and lets a broker designate individual licensees. A subagent, by section 201, is a broker outside the listing broker's employ who acts for the seller and is deemed to have an agency relationship with the seller. A transaction licensee is a licensed broker or salesperson who provides services without being anyone's agent or advocate and owes limited confidentiality: sections 606.6 and 35.316 protect exactly three facts, that the seller will take less than asking, that the buyer will pay more than offered, and that either will accept different financing terms. Dual agency needs written consent from both parties, which must include a statement of the terms of compensation, under section 606.4(a). Where a broker designates agents for both sides, section 606.5(a) makes the broker a dual agent who must supervise them, and section 35.315(d) leaves non-designated licensees with no agency relationship at all.
Disclosure timing and compensation
The initial interview is the first substantive discussion of real estate needs. The Consumer Notice in section 35.336 must be given then if the interview is in person; if it is not, the licensee gives the oral disclosure in section 35.339 and delivers the written notice by the earlier of the first in-person meeting or the first showing. Section 606.1(b) allows a licensee to work before a written agreement is signed but not to recover a fee without one, and open listings and nonexclusive buyer agency agreements may be oral only if the consumer gets a written memorandum of the terms. Section 604(a)(12) lets a salesperson accept compensation only from the affiliated broker, and section 604(a)(12.1) lets a broker pay only licensed employees or another broker, subject to the qualified-association exception in section 604(c).
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Pennsylvania State Real Estate Commission (BPOA)
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 240 hours (16 credits) of broker-level real estate education, including 2 credits in a Commission-approved office management course and 2 in a Commission-approved law course
- Passing score
- Scaled score of 75 on each portion
- Scored questions
- 120
- Time limit
- 210 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Pennsylvania?
The Pennsylvania State Real Estate Commission, part of the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs in the Department of State, licenses brokers and salespersons under the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act. The Commission has contracted with Pearson VUE to administer its examinations.
What experience do I need before the Pennsylvania broker exam?
RELRA section 511 requires three years as a licensed salesperson, or educational and experience qualifications the Commission deems equivalent, plus 240 hours of approved broker-level education. Commonwealth Court held in Bhala v. State Real Estate Commission that simply holding a salesperson's license for three years is not by itself enough; 49 Pa. Code section 35.271 requires experience qualifications the Commission considers adequate for practice as a broker.
How is the Pennsylvania broker exam structured?
The broker exam has two separately timed portions: 80 scored national/general questions in 150 minutes and 40 scored Pennsylvania questions in 60 minutes, 120 scored questions over 210 minutes, plus 5 to 10 unidentified pretest questions on each portion. Pearson VUE's handbook lists a minimum passing score of 75 on each portion; scores are scaled to a 0-100 range and are, in the handbook's words, neither the number nor the percentage of questions answered correctly.
Sources: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dos/programs/professional-licensing.html, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/093900.pdf
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