Rhode Island Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

Before an owner may fill part of a freshwater wetland on a Rhode Island lot, whose approval is needed?

• a.The planning board of the city or town where the lot lies
• b.The director of the Department of Environmental Management✓
• c.The Coastal Resources Management Council for that region
• d.The Real Estate Commission at the Department of Business Regulation

R.I. Gen. Laws § 2-1-21(a)(1)(i) provides that no person may “excavate; drain; fill; place trash, garbage, sewage, highway runoff, drainage ditch effluents, earth, rock, borrow, gravel, sand, clay, peat, or other materials or effluents upon; divert water flows into or out of; dike; dam; divert; change; add to or take from or otherwise alter the character of any freshwater wetland, buffer, or floodplain as defined in § 2-1-20 without first obtaining the approval of the director of the department of environmental management,” and § 2-1-20.2 gives the same director the power to designate what counts as a wetland, buffer or floodplain. This matters at the point of sale because § 5-20.8-2(b)(3)(xxviii) requires the seller to disclose any such determination made by the department on all or part of the land. The Coastal Resources Management Council governs the shoreline and tidal waters under chapter 46-23, not inland freshwater wetlands, and a local planning board's approvals do not displace the director's.

How long is a Rhode Island smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector certificate valid?

• a.For the period the issuing authority sets, and at most one hundred twenty days
• b.For the period the issuing authority sets, and at least one hundred twenty days✓
• c.For thirty days from issuance, whatever period the issuing authority specifies
• d.For one year from issuance, whatever period the issuing authority specifies

R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-28.1-10 provides that “notwithstanding any law, regulation or practice to the contrary, smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector certificates issued by any state or local authority shall be valid for such period as the issuing authority may specify, but in no event for less than a period of one hundred twenty (120) days from the date of issuance.” The hundred and twenty days is therefore a floor rather than a ceiling, which is what makes the second option the trap. This is a practical closing point: a certificate obtained early in a transaction will not expire before a normal closing date. The Fire Safety Code itself is chapters 23-28.1 through 23-28.39 of title 23 by the terms of § 23-28.1-1, and § 23-28.1-6(a) applies its regulations to all structures unless a structure is specifically exempted.

The Rhode Island seller disclosure form addresses the sewage system. What does it tell a buyer served by an on-site system?

• a.That the state will pay to replace any on-site system found to be failing
• b.That the buyer must connect the property to a public sewer before closing
• c.That an on-site system may not serve a property that is being conveyed
• d.That a ten-day period is allowed to inspect the system for a cesspool✓

The Sewage System item of the disclosure form, printed word for word in R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.8-2(b)(3)(xvii), notifies purchasers that many Rhode Island properties are still served by cesspools, that cesspools are “a substandard and inadequate means of sewage treatment and disposal,” and that “pursuant to § 5-20.8-13, potential purchasers shall be permitted a ten-day (10) period to conduct an inspection of a property's sewage system to determine if a cesspool exists, and if so, whether it will be subject to the phase-out requirements as established in chapter 19.15 of title 23.” The form also requires the assessment, annual fees, type, cesspool or septic location, date last pumped, maintenance history and defects. The state funds no replacements, an on-site system is no bar to a conveyance, and nothing requires a sewer connection before closing.

A Rhode Island house served by a cesspool is sold. What does the Cesspool Act of 2007 require?

• a.Removal and replacement, or a sewer connection, within twelve months of sale✓
• b.Removal and replacement only where an inspection shows the cesspool has failed
• c.Removal and replacement, or a sewer connection, within thirty-six months of sale
• d.Removal and replacement only where the property lies inside a coastal zone

R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-19.15-12(a) provides that “any cesspool found to be serving a building or use subject to sale or transfer shall be removed and replaced with an OWTS or the building served by the cesspool shall be connected to a public sewer system within twelve (12) months of the date of sale or transfer.” Subsection (b) adds that where the manner of wastewater disposal is unknown, a system inspector must inspect before the sale to determine whether a cesspool is present, and subsection (c) carries across the ten-day buyer inspection period of § 5-20.8-13. The transfer trigger is the sale itself, so no finding of failure is needed; proximity to tidal waters and public drinking supplies drives the separate inspection duty in § 23-19.15-5, not the duty at transfer.

How much must be withheld from the total payment made to a nonresident individual selling Rhode Island real estate?

• a.Seven percent
• b.Three percent
• c.Six percent✓
• d.Ten percent

R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-30-71.3(a) requires the buyer to “deduct and withhold on the payments an amount equal to six percent (6%) of the total payment to nonresident individuals, estates, partnerships, or trusts, and seven percent (7%) of the total payment to nonresident corporations.” Seven percent is therefore the corporate rate and the classic distractor here. Subsection (b) defines “total payment” as the net proceeds of the sale actually paid to the nonresident seller, including the fair market value of any property transferred to the seller, so the withholding is not computed on the gross sale price. Under subsection (d) the buyer must remit the money to the tax administrator within three banking days of the closing, and under subsection (e) the seller is credited with having paid that amount for the taxable year.

Who must withhold and remit the tax when a nonresident sells Rhode Island real estate?

• a.The listing broker, who deducts it from the seller's net proceeds
• b.The closing attorney, who holds it back from the settlement figures
• c.The buyer, who is liable for the amount required to be withheld✓
• d.The seller's lender, which reports it on the mortgage payoff statement

R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-30-71.3(a) places the duty squarely on the purchaser — “the buyer shall deduct and withhold on the payments” — and § 44-30-71.3(c) makes every buyer subject to the section “liable for all amounts withheld, or required to be withheld,” with the amount constituting a lien on the owner's property until it is remitted. The statute then excludes the transaction professionals by name: § 44-30-71.3(f) provides that “the closing attorney, lending institution, and real estate agent or broker in any transaction governed by the provisions of this section is not subject to the withholding, deduction, or payment provisions of this section.” That exclusion is exactly why a broker must recognize the requirement without assuming responsibility for it. The lien lapses ten years after the sale under § 44-30-71.3(h).

Which residential hazard does Rhode Island regulate through state disclosure duties layered on top of federal law?

• a.Lead-based paint and environmental lead hazards in older housing✓
• b.Radon accumulation, addressed only in commercial office buildings
• c.Termite infestation, addressed through a mandatory statewide bond
• d.Flat roof failure, addressed through a mandatory workmanship warranty

Rhode Island's older housing stock has made lead the hazard the state regulates most aggressively. 216-RICR-50-15-3 § 3.5.1 states that its requirements are “in addition to, not in lieu of, Federal requirements for disclosure of lead-based paint and/or environmental lead hazards in housing,” and § 3.5.3(A) requires the seller or lessor, before the buyer is obligated, to supply the EPA pamphlet with its Rhode Island insert, a lead warning statement, a copy of any current lead certificate and a chronological list of all lead inspection reports. Under § 3.5.5 each agent must ensure the seller performs those steps, and the Department of Health reports a non-complying agent to the Department of Business Regulation for enforcement. Termite protection is handled by private contract, radon in residential property is addressed only as a disclosure form item under § 5-20.8-2(b)(3)(xii), and roof warranties are ordinary product guarantees.

What must a Rhode Island seller of a pre-1978 one-to-four-unit home allow before the buyer becomes obligated?

• a.A ten-day period to inspect for lead-based paint and lead hazards✓
• b.A thirty-day period to inspect for lead-based paint and lead hazards
• c.A five-day period to inspect for lead-based paint and lead hazards
• d.No inspection period, because the federal pamphlet takes its place

216-RICR-50-15-3 § 3.5.4(A)(1) requires that “sellers of any one (1) to four (4) unit residential dwelling built prior to 1978 shall allow the purchaser a ten (10) day period in which to have an inspection for the presence of lead-based paint and/or environmental lead hazards prior to the purchaser becoming obligated under any Contract for the Purchase and Sale of Residential Real Property.” R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.8-11(a) writes the same ten-day period into the purchase and sale agreement itself, and reaches one-to-four-family housing built before 2011. The parties may agree in writing to a different period, and a mortgagee selling at a foreclosure auction is exempt. Omitting the clause creates no defect in title but exposes the seller or agent to a civil penalty of one hundred to five hundred dollars and lets the buyer void the agreement in writing before title passes.

What does Rhode Island generally require the seller of residential real estate to give the buyer?

• a.Nothing at all, because Rhode Island follows a rule of pure caveat emptor
• b.A copy of the listing brokerage's bank statements for the escrow account
• c.A written disclosure of the deficient conditions the seller knows of✓
• d.A guarantee that the property will hold its value for a stated period

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.8-2(a) requires the seller to deliver a written disclosure to the buyer and to each agent, which “shall state all deficient conditions of which the seller has actual knowledge,” and § 5-20.8-1(5) defines deficient conditions to include any land restriction, defect, malfunction, breakage or unsound condition of which the seller has knowledge. That statutory duty is what defeats any pure caveat emptor reading. The form itself is not a warranty: the notice printed at the top of it by § 5-20.8-2(b)(1) tells the buyer this “is not a warranty by the seller that no other defective conditions exist” and advises the buyer to conduct independent inspections, and § 5-20.8-2(b)(1) adds that nothing imposes an affirmative duty on the seller to inspect. Escrow bank statements belong to the broker's records under § 5-20.5-26 and disclose nothing about the house.

When must the Rhode Island real estate sales disclosure reach the buyer?

• a.At the closing, when the deed and settlement statement are delivered
• b.As soon as practicable, and before any agreement to transfer is signed✓
• c.Within thirty days after the closing, along with the recorded deed
• d.Only where the buyer has asked for the disclosure form in writing

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.8-2(a) opens with the timing rule: “as soon as practicable, but in any event no later than prior to signing any agreement to transfer real estate, the seller of the real estate shall deliver a written disclosure to the buyer and to each agent.” The same subsection puts the agent under a hard stop — “the agent shall not communicate the offer of the buyer until the buyer has received a copy of the written disclosure and signed a written receipt” — and requires the seller or agent to sign and date a written account of any refusal to sign the receipt. Delivery at or after closing hands the information over once the buyer is committed, and the obligation belongs to the seller whether or not the buyer thinks to ask. Failure does not void the agreement or cloud title but carries a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars per occurrence under § 5-20.8-5(b).

What must a Rhode Island unit owner furnish a buyer before signing a contract to resell a condominium unit?

• a.The declaration and bylaws only, since the association keeps the remainder
• b.A public offering statement prepared and signed by the project's declarant
• c.Nothing beyond the seller disclosure form the state already requires
• d.The declaration, bylaws, rules, and an association resale certificate✓

R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-36.1-4.09(a) requires a unit owner reselling a unit to furnish the purchaser, before execution of any contract for sale or otherwise before conveyance, “a copy of the declaration (other than the plats and plans), the bylaws, the rules or regulations of the association, and a certificate” covering twelve listed items — among them the monthly common expense assessment, unpaid assessments, anticipated capital expenditures for the current and next two fiscal years, reserves, the current operating budget, unsatisfied judgments and pending suits, and insurance. The association must supply the certificate within ten days of the owner's request under § 34-36.1-4.09(b)(1). A public offering statement is the declarant's document for a first sale, and under § 34-36.1-4.08(a) a purchaser who receives it later than ten days before signing may cancel within ten days of first receiving it. Note that the Pearson VUE outline cites “RIGL 34-36-1.1,” a section that does not exist; chapter 34-36.1 is the operative condominium law.

What relationship does Rhode Island law presume a licensee has with a consumer?

• a.Subagent of the seller, under this state's common law of agency by conduct
• b.Designated client representative, unless the consumer declines it in writing
• c.Dual facilitator, unless the principal broker designates a different licensee
• d.Transaction facilitator, unless informed written consent establishes otherwise✓

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.6-3(a) provides that “it shall be presumed that all licensees in a real estate transaction are transaction facilitators unless the licensee obtains the informed, written consent of a buyer, seller, tenant, or landlord with an executed mandatory relationship disclosure to represent that person as a designated client representative.” Subsection (b) is the reason the common-law answer fails: the chapter is “expressly intended to abrogate the common law of agency,” no agency representation is assumed, and none is created by implication. Section 5-20.6-11 adds that paying or promising to pay a licensee does not create an agency relationship either. Dual facilitation is never the default; under § 5-20.6-6(c) it requires the informed written consent of the principal broker and of all parties before an offer is presented.

By when must a Rhode Island licensee execute the mandatory relationship disclosure to represent a client?

• a.No later than the closing at which title passes from seller to buyer
• b.No later than preparing a sales agreement, offer to purchase, or lease✓
• c.No later than ten days after the purchase and sale agreement is signed
• d.Only where the client asks for the relationship to be put into writing

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.6-8(d) states that “in all instances, a licensee's relationship with a buyer, seller, tenant, or landlord as a designated client representative must be established, and the mandatory relationship disclosure executed, no later than the preparation of a sales agreement, offer to purchase, or lease.” An earlier trigger can bite first: § 5-20.6-8(b) requires the licensee to hand over the disclosure and obtain a signed acknowledgment of receipt “prior to the disclosure of any confidential information,” and to sign and date a written declaration of the facts if the consumer refuses to sign. Section 5-20.6-9(a) forbids acting as a designated client representative until § 5-20.6-8 has been complied with. Failing to give the disclosure is a violation of license law under § 5-20.6-13(a), though § 5-20.6-13(b) provides it neither voids the sales agreement nor creates a defect in title.

What does a Rhode Island transaction facilitator owe a customer?

• a.Ministerial acts done honestly and competently, and an accounting for funds✓
• b.A duty to negotiate the most favorable price on the customer's behalf
• c.The full fiduciary duties a designated client representative owes a client
• d.No duty whatever, because a customer is not a client of the brokerage

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.6-4(a) lists the duties a transaction facilitator owes a customer: to perform agreed-upon ministerial acts timely and competently; to perform them “with honesty, good faith, reasonable skill, and care”; to account properly for money or property placed in the care and responsibility of the principal broker; and to protect confidential information when assisting customers as a dual facilitator. Subsection (b) then draws the line: “a licensee acting as a transaction facilitator does not owe any fiduciary duties to a customer except those duties specified in subsection (a).” Promoting a party's best interest and protecting confidential information during and after the relationship are duties of a designated client representative under § 5-20.6-5(a), which is a different and higher standard.

What does R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-7 require of a resident licensed Rhode Island broker?

• a.Any mailing address in this state, with the records maintained electronically
• b.A fixed office in this state, with the business records kept at any location
• c.A fixed office in this state, with the business records kept on its premises✓
• d.An office in any New England state in which the broker holds a valid license

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-7 provides that “each resident licensed real estate broker must maintain a fixed office within this state” and that “all business records relating to real estate transactions and to the management of that office must be kept on the premises of the fixed office location.” The same section requires the broker's original license and the original license of every affiliated salesperson to be prominently displayed in the office, and requires the broker to communicate any change of office location to the director immediately upon or prior to the change. A nonresident broker is treated differently: § 5-20.5-10(a) excuses a nonresident who maintains a definite place of business and a license in a reciprocating state from keeping a Rhode Island office. 230-RICR-30-20-2 § 2.4(E)(6) makes the principal broker responsible for the retention and maintenance of those records.

How must a Rhode Island principal broker reconcile the brokerage escrow account?

• a.Annually, filing a certified public accountant's audit at each renewal
• b.Only when the Department asks to inspect the brokerage's escrow records
• c.Quarterly, sending a summary letter to every client whose deposit is held
• d.Monthly, on a worksheet showing ledgers, journals and statements agree✓

230-RICR-30-20-2 § 2.20(B)(6) requires that “ledger sheets and journals or check stubs must be reconciled to the escrow account bank statements on a monthly basis” and that “to be sufficient, records of escrow monies must include a worksheet for each such monthly reconciliation showing the ledger sheets, journals or check stubs, and bank statements to be in agreement and balance.” R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-26(a)(1)(i) says the same in statute: each broker or office supervisor “shall maintain a monthly report as to the status of that office's escrow account and is responsible for its accuracy.” No annual audit is required, and no periodic client letter. Waiting for the Department is not an option either: § 2.20(C) makes all escrow records available on demand, and § 5-20.5-26(a)(1)(i) makes them available to the commission and the department on demand.

What is a Rhode Island broker's duty toward the licensed activity of affiliated salespersons?

• a.To do nothing further, because each salesperson holds a license of his own
• b.To guarantee that every listing the office takes sells within thirty days
• c.To exercise adequate supervision over that activity under this chapter✓
• d.To assist only those salespersons who ask the broker for guidance first

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-14(16) makes it a ground for discipline where a broker licensee fails “to exercise adequate supervision over the activities of his or her licensed salesperson within the scope of this chapter,” and 230-RICR-30-20-2 § 2.4(A) requires the principal broker to act in a supervisory capacity for every real estate transaction in which an affiliated licensee participates. Note the limit that candidates often overshoot: § 5-20.5-15(b) provides that an unlawful act by a salesperson “is not cause for the suspension or revocation of the license of the broker with whom he or she is affiliated unless it appears ... that the broker had knowledge of the unlawful act or violation” — so the broker answers for his own supervisory failure, not automatically for the salesperson's wrong. Licensure is what places a salesperson under the broker, and supervision concerns conduct rather than a promised market result.

For whose compliance with the real estate law is a Rhode Island principal broker made responsible?

• a.Affiliated licensees only, since unlicensed staff answer to the office manager
• b.Affiliated brokers only, since salespersons answer to their own team leader
• c.Affiliated licensees and the brokerage's non-licensed employees alike✓
• d.Nobody but himself, once each affiliated licensee has been duly licensed

230-RICR-30-20-2 § 2.4(B) makes the principal broker “responsible for the compliance of his or her affiliated licensees with the Rhode Island General Laws pertaining to real estate licensure and this Regulation,” and § 2.4(C) extends the identical responsibility to “his or her non-licensed employees.” The list in § 2.4(E) fills it out: adequate supervision of each affiliated licensee and each office, the proper display of all licenses, verification that every affiliated licensee is in good standing at the start of each renewal term, retention of transaction records, and all real estate activities of teams, including maintaining the brokerage escrow account and monitoring team advertising. A team leader supervises nothing in law; under § 2.2(A)(13) a team works under the supervision of the same principal broker.

A Rhode Island brokerage dissolves. What must the principal broker do?

• a.Notify the Department in writing and return his license within ten days✓
• b.Notify the Real Estate Commission and hold his license until it expires
• c.Notify the Department in writing and return his license within sixty days
• d.Notify the affiliated licensees only, who then transfer their own licenses

230-RICR-30-20-2 § 2.11 provides that “the principal broker shall notify the Department in writing of the dissolution of the brokerage and return his or her license to the Department within ten (10) days,” and requires every affiliated licensee to transfer to another brokerage or return the license for cancellation within the same ten days. Notice runs to the Department, which issues and cancels licenses, rather than to the Real Estate Commission, whose role under R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-12 is advisory and policy-making. One duty outlives the firm: § 2.4(E)(7) makes the principal broker responsible for the preservation and safekeeping of transaction and escrow account records until a new principal broker has been designated.

May a Rhode Island principal broker keep any of his own money in the brokerage escrow account?

• a.Yes, up to ten percent of the total client funds the account is holding
• b.Yes, a nominal sum to keep the account open or meet bank service charges✓
• c.No, any of the broker's own funds in the account amounts to commingling
• d.Yes, but only during the thirty days after the account has been opened

230-RICR-30-20-2 § 2.18(A)(7) provides that “the maintenance of nominal amounts of the licensee's funds in escrow accounts solely to provide continuity in such accounts or to meet bank service charges shall not be construed to be commingling,” and § 2.18(A)(9) adds a second exception where a statute or regulation compels a fixed balance. Those are narrow carve-outs from a strict rule: R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-26(a)(1)(i) forbids a broker or salesperson to commingle deposit money or other customers' funds with his or her own, or to use a customer's funds as his or her own, and requires client funds to sit in a separate account at a federally insured Rhode Island institution. There is no percentage allowance and no grace period, and moving escrow funds to a company or personal account before a closing is unlawful appropriation under § 5-20.5-26(c).

What must a Rhode Island broker do with earnest money received on a transaction?

• a.Keep it in the broker's personal checking account until a closing date
• b.Hold it in the office safe as cash and record the amount in a ledger
• c.Lend it to the seller against the equity the sale is expected to release
• d.Deposit it in an escrow account separate from the broker's own funds✓

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-26(a)(1)(i) requires every real estate firm to maintain an escrow account under the supervision of the qualified broker, and requires all funds paid to a salesperson or directly to a broker to be “segregated on the broker's books and deposited in an account in a recognized federally insured financial institution in Rhode Island separate from any account containing funds owned by the broker.” The records must show to whom the money belongs, the date deposited, the date of withdrawal and to whom paid, and must be kept for three years. 230-RICR-30-20-2 § 2.18(A)(2) requires the financial institution, the deposit tickets, the checks and the monthly statement all to carry the words Trust Account or Escrow Account. A personal account destroys the segregation the statute demands, cash in an office is not an account at all, and lending the deposit to the seller is a use the broker has no authority to make.

Buyer and seller dispute a deposit a Rhode Island broker holds and neither will sign a release. What must the broker do?

• a.Hold it in escrow indefinitely until the parties resolve their dispute
• b.Deposit it with the general treasurer within one hundred eighty days✓
• c.Pay it to whichever party the broker believes is entitled to receive it
• d.Return it to the buyer once sixty days have run from the first demand

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-26(a)(1)(iv) provides that “whenever the ownership of any deposit monies received by a broker or salesperson pursuant to this section is in dispute by the parties to a real estate transaction, the broker or salesperson shall deposit the monies with the general treasurer within one hundred eighty (180) days of the date of the original deposit,” to be held in trust until the dispute is mediated, arbitrated, litigated or otherwise resolved. Indefinite holding is therefore not an option, which is what makes it the tempting wrong answer. 230-RICR-30-20-2 § 2.19(C)(2) requires the broker to warn the parties by letter, in prescribed words, at least thirty days before transmitting the funds, and to send the Department's Escrow Deposit Transmittal Form with them; the parties may extend the deadline by written agreement. Paying out disputed funds without complying is a ground for discipline under § 5-20.5-14(28).

A Rhode Island buyer defaults and the broker judges the deposit forfeited. What notice must precede releasing it to the seller?

• a.Certified mail to the buyer, stating the release will occur in ten days
• b.Certified mail to the buyer, stating the release will occur in sixty days✓
• c.Certified mail to the seller, stating the release will occur in twenty days
• d.No notice at all, because the purchase and sale agreement fixes forfeiture

230-RICR-30-20-2 § 2.19(A) allows a principal broker to release a deposit to a seller or landlord only after three steps: a good faith determination that the buyer or renter forfeited the right to its return; written notice to the buyer or renter “by certified mail, return receipt requested, of his or her intent to release the deposit to the seller or landlord sixty (60) days from the date of receipt of the written notice”; and the buyer's failure to dispute ownership in writing within that sixty-day period. The mirror-image rule in § 2.19(B) runs the other way with a shorter clock — twenty-one days' certified-mail notice to the seller or landlord before returning a deposit to the buyer. A contract term cannot displace the procedure, because any written dispute converts the matter into the general treasurer process of § 2.19(C).

Who may hold an ownership interest in a Rhode Island real estate brokerage firm?

• a.Any licensee, including a salesperson affiliated with that same firm
• b.Any investor, provided a licensed broker runs the firm from day to day
• c.Only a person or entity that holds a valid Rhode Island broker's license✓
• d.Any person, provided the firm registers the owner with the Department

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-27 provides that “no person, firm, or corporation shall have an ownership interest in a real estate brokerage firm nor participate in the operation of the real estate brokerage firm unless the person, firm, or corporation holds a valid real estate broker's license, issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.” The bar therefore reaches passive investors and salespersons alike, and no registration with the Department cures it. Section 5-20.5-8 completes the picture for entities: a broker's license issued to a corporation, partnership or association designates one principal active officer for whom it is valid, and every other active broker or salesperson of that entity must hold an individual license. 230-RICR-30-20-2 § 2.24 separately forbids a licensee from lending his name or license to another person or to circumvent the licensing laws.

How long does a Rhode Island licensee have to appeal an adverse decision of the Department?

• a.Ten days from service of notice of the Department's action
• b.Sixty days from service of notice of the Department's action
• c.Thirty days from service of notice of the Department's action✓
• d.Six months from service of notice of the Department's action

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-16(b) gives any person aggrieved “the right of appeal from any adverse ruling, order, or decision of the department of business regulation to a court of competent jurisdiction in the county where the hearing was held within thirty (30) days from the service of notice of the action of the department upon the parties to the hearing.” Two further mechanics matter: § 5-20.5-16(d) provides that a final administrative decision does not take effect until the time for appeal has expired, and § 5-20.5-16(e) requires the appellant to post a one-thousand-dollar bond for costs. Twenty days is the interval at the earlier stage — § 5-20.5-15(a)(1) gives a licensee twenty days to request a hearing and requires at least twenty days' notice of the hearing date — and a hearing officer must decide within sixty days of the final hearing.

What is the largest administrative penalty the director may levy for a violation of the Rhode Island real estate law?

• a.Two thousand dollars✓
• b.Five thousand dollars
• c.Ten thousand dollars
• d.Five hundred dollars

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-14(b) provides that “the director is authorized to levy an administrative penalty not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000) for any violation under this section or the rules and regulations of the department of business regulation.” The penalty sits alongside the other sanctions in § 5-20.5-14(a): refusal of a license for cause, suspension, revocation, or probation “for a period not to exceed one year.” Different figures belong to different provisions and are the reason the distractors read plausibly: § 5-20.5-17(a) makes unlicensed activity a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of one hundred to five hundred dollars for an individual and one thousand to two thousand for a corporation, rising to two thousand to five thousand for a corporation on a second offense.