Tennessee Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

Tenn. Code Ann. section 62-13-312(b)(9) makes it a ground for discipline to use or promote the use of a real estate listing agreement form, sales contract form, or offer to purchase form that fails to specify:

• a.the licensee's license number
• b.a definite termination date✓
• c.the firm's escrow account number
• d.the county tax parcel identifier

Tenn. Code Ann. section 62-13-312(b)(9) makes it a ground for discipline to use or promote the use of any real estate listing agreement form, real estate sales contract form, or offer to purchase real estate form that fails to specify a definite termination date. An open-ended listing leaves the owner bound indefinitely, which is the consumer harm the provision targets. Tenn. Comp. R. and Regs. 1260-02-.07 attacks a second improper listing practice, forbidding a broker or affiliate broker to accept or enter a listing based on a net price, meaning a price excluding the customary commission and expenses associated with the sale. Rule 1260-02-.36 adds the disclosures an exclusive buyer representation agreement must confirm in writing. License numbers, escrow account numbers, and parcel identifiers are not required contents of the forms.

Tenn. Code Ann. section 4-21-601, in the Tennessee Human Rights Act, names a protected characteristic in housing that the federal Fair Housing Act does not. That characteristic is:

• a.age
• b.marital status
• c.creed✓
• d.source of income

Tenn. Code Ann. section 4-21-601 prohibits discriminatory practices in housing and real estate transactions because of race, color, creed, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin. Creed is the addition: the federal Fair Housing Act lists race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, and handicap, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's 2021 memorandum applies the sex provision to sexual orientation and gender identity. Age, marital status, and source of income are protected in some other states and municipalities but are not in the Tennessee Human Rights Act's housing provisions. For a licensee, a violation of any federal, state, or municipal law prohibiting discrimination in the sale or rental of real estate because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin is separately a ground for discipline under Tenn. Code Ann. section 62-13-312(b)(13).

A Tennessee licensee pleads guilty to an offense enumerated in the license act. Under Tenn. Code Ann. section 62-13-312(f), the licensee must notify the Commission and provide certified copies of the conviction within:

• a.sixty (60) days, and the license is then automatically revoked unless a hearing is requested✓
• b.ten (10) days, after which the Commission issues a private reprimand to the licensee
• c.thirty (30) days, after which the license is automatically placed in temporarily retired status
• d.ninety (90) days, after which the firm's license is suspended by the Commission

Tenn. Code Ann. section 62-13-312(f) requires a licensee who pleads guilty to or is convicted of any offense enumerated in the chapter to notify the Commission of the conviction within sixty days and to provide certified copies of it. The same subsection then provides that the license shall automatically be revoked sixty days after the conviction unless the licensee makes a written request to the Commission for a hearing during that sixty-day period, after which the Commission may impose any sanction the chapter permits. The underlying offenses are listed in section 62-13-312(b)(12): forgery, embezzlement, obtaining money under false pretenses, bribery, larceny, extortion, conspiracy to defraud, and similar crimes. Section 62-13-312(g) adds that revoking or suspending a license also revokes any school or instructor approval the licensee holds.