Disciplinary Action
The outline gives this area 9 to 11 of the 90 state items and prints five subtopics: grounds for disciplinary action, enforcement and administrative procedures, judicial review, actions for recovery of compensation restricted, and the Statute of Frauds.
Grounds for Disciplinary Action
Section 61-2f-401 lists 26 numbered grounds. Subsection (1) covers substantial, intentional, and continued misrepresentation and false promises. Subsection (2) covers acting for more than one party without informed written consent. Subsection (4) covers failing within a reasonable time to account for or remit money that belongs to another, commingling it, or diverting it from the purpose for which it was received. Subsection (11) reaches a felony conviction, or a class A or class B misdemeanor involving fraud, misrepresentation, theft, or dishonesty, and it applies regardless of whether the crime is related to the business of real estate, and to a guilty or nolo plea or a plea in abeyance as well as a conviction. Subsection (13) covers a principal broker's or branch broker's failure to exercise active and reasonable supervision, Subsection (15) a breach of fiduciary duty, and Subsection (18) failing to respond to a division request in an authorized investigation within 10 business days. Subsections (24) and (25) address liens: a principal broker may not lien real property unless authorized by law, and a sales agent or associate broker may not lien real property for an unpaid commission.
Enforcement, Sanctions, and Judicial Review
Section 61-2f-402(1) gives the division exclusive jurisdiction to investigate and enforce violations except for an action begun in a court, and Subsection (5)(a) requires an adjudicative proceeding to be commenced by the earlier of two years after the violation is reported or the end of the records retention period in Section 61-2f-309. Section 61-2f-403 lets the division audit trust accounts and, on evidence of gross mismanagement, commingling, or misuse, order a full audit at the licensee's cost. Section 61-2f-404(1)(a) lets the commission, with the director's concurrence, impose an educational requirement, a civil penalty, revocation, suspension, probation, denial, a cease and desist order, an admonition, a reprimand, or surrender with discipline pending. The penalty ceiling is the greater of $5,000 per violation, $10,000 where the person knew or should have known the property owner was 65 or older or a vulnerable adult, or the gain derived. Subsection (2)(c)(i) makes an order operative 30 days after service unless it says otherwise, and Subsection (2)(a) gives a right to agency review by the executive director and to judicial review. Section 61-2f-407(1) lets the director issue a cease and desist order that stays in effect while a hearing requested within 10 days is pending.
Recovery of Compensation and the Statute of Frauds
Section 61-2f-409(1)(a) bars any action in a Utah court to recover a commission, fee, or compensation for an act or service prohibited under the chapter, and Subsection (1)(b) limits who may sue at all to a principal broker, an individual who was licensed as a principal broker when the service was performed, or an entity that division records show is affiliated with a principal broker. Subsection (2) adds that a sales agent or associate broker may not sue in that individual's own name except against the affiliated principal broker, and that the action may only be brought by that principal broker. The outline pairs this with the Statute of Frauds in Utah Code Title 25, Chapter 5. Section 25-5-1 requires a writing subscribed by the party for any estate or interest in real property other than a lease not exceeding one year; Section 25-5-3 makes a contract for the sale of land, or a lease for longer than a year, void unless in writing subscribed by the party by whom the sale or lease is to be made; and Section 25-5-4(1)(e) makes every agreement employing an agent or broker to purchase or sell real estate for compensation void unless in writing signed by the party to be charged. Utah's word is void, not merely unenforceable.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Utah Division of Real Estate (Dept. of Commerce)
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 120 hours (30-hour Utah Law + 45-hour Broker Principles + 45-hour Broker Practices)
- Passing score
- Scaled score of 75 on each portion (not a percentage)
- Scored questions
- 170
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Utah?
The Utah Division of Real Estate, within the Department of Commerce, licenses brokers, associate brokers and sales agents under the Real Estate Licensing and Practices Act (Utah Code Title 61, Chapter 2f) and the R162-2f rules. The Division contracts with Pearson VUE to deliver the licensing exams.
What experience do I need before the Utah broker exam?
Utah Code § 61-2f-203(1)(f) requires three years' full-time experience as a sales agent or the equivalent. Rule R162-2f-202b(1)(f) defines the equivalent and adds a second test: within the five years before you apply, either three years of full-time licensed active experience, or two years of it plus one year of full-time professional real estate experience from the rule's Appendix 3 table, AND at least 60 documented experience points, submitted in a package of 60 to 80 points, with at least half of the Table 1 and Table 2 points from Utah properties. The education is 120 hours of approved broker prelicensing (45 Broker Principles, 45 Broker Practices, 30 Utah Law).
How is the Utah broker exam structured?
170 scored questions in two separately scored portions: an 80-question national/general portion and a 90-question Utah state portion, taken in one 4-hour session, plus 5 unidentified pretest items on the national portion and 5 to 10 on the state portion. The Utah broker state portion is nearly twice the 50-item salesperson state portion, so salesperson material does not cover it. You must pass both portions; if you pass one and fail the other, Rule R162-2f-202b(5) gives you six months from the passed component to retake and pass the failed one.
What score do I need to pass the Utah broker exam?
A scaled score of 75 on the general portion and 75 on the state portion. The Pearson VUE candidate handbook is explicit that this is a scaled score and that the number reported to you "is neither the number of questions you answered correctly nor the percentage of questions you answered correctly" — so 75 is not 75%. Salesperson candidates are held to 70 on each portion.
What does the Utah broker state portion actually test?
Pearson VUE's Utah broker outline (document #094502, state outline effective July 15, 2016) divides the 90 state items into eight areas, each published as a range: Definitions (5-7), Licensing (15-17), Licensee Practice (33-35), Disciplinary Action (9-11), Real Estate Recovery Fund (2-3), Additional Utah State Topics (8-10), Property Management (4-6) and Closing Statements (6-8). Licensee Practice alone is about a third of the state exam, and its heaviest subtopic is the role of the broker — supervision and trust accounts.
Sources: https://realestate.utah.gov, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/094502.pdf, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/094500.pdf, https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title61/Chapter2F/61-2f.html, https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/rule/R162-2f/Current%20Rules
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