Utah Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

Rule R162-2f-403b says a Utah property management trust account is used to secure tenant security deposits, rents, and:

• a.The management fees the brokerage has already earned
• b.The brokerage's reserve for advertising vacant units
• c.Money an owner tenders as a reserve or for unexpected costs✓
• d.Deposits taken on nightly rentals of a resort condominium

Rule R162-2f-403b(12) states the account's purpose: securing tenant security deposits, rents, "money tendered by a property owner as a reserve fund or for payment of unexpected expenses," and, where the broker has no separate real estate trust account, client funds from a real estate transaction. Earned management fees go the other way: Subsection (16) forbids paying a commission or the broker's management fee directly from the account and requires the funds to pass through the operating account first, and Subsection (13)(b)(ii) requires earnings to be moved out within 60 days. A brokerage advertising reserve is the broker's own money. And Subsection (3) bars depositing funds from the rental of tourist accommodations for periods of less than 30 consecutive days, which Section 61-2f-102(32)(b)(ii) excludes from property management altogether.

Rule R162-2f-403b requires a Utah principal broker to keep a property management trust account separate from the real estate trust account once the broker regularly manages:

• a.Three or more individual units
• b.Seven or more individual units✓
• c.Ten or more individual units
• d.Twenty or more individual units

Rule R162-2f-403b(1)(a)(i) requires a principal broker "regularly engaged in property management on behalf of seven or more individual units" to establish at least one property management trust account separate from the real estate trust account, maintained in a bank or credit union located in Utah. Subsection (1)(a)(ii) covers the smaller operator: a broker regularly managing six or fewer units may run the money through a real estate trust account kept under Rule R162-2f-403a. Rule R162-2f-403a(14) states the same threshold from the sales side, requiring a real estate company that regularly manages seven or more units to open the separate account. The unit count, not the number of owners or of management agreements, is what trips the requirement.

Rule R162-2f-403b sets a ceiling on the broker's own money in a Utah property management trust account. The limit is:

• a.$25,000
• b.$1,000
• c.$500
• d.$10,000✓

Rule R162-2f-403b(13)(b)(i) provides that a principal broker violates Subsection 61-2f-401(4)(b) by depositing "more than $10,000 of the principal broker's own funds into the property management trust account." Subsection (13)(a) adds that even a permitted deposit of the broker's money is a violation unless records clearly identify the total belonging to the broker and a monthly line-item reconciliation of those deposits and withdrawals is performed. The number differs from the sales side and the pair is worth memorizing together: Rule R162-2f-403a(13)(a)(i) caps the broker's own funds in a real estate trust account at $1,000. The higher ceiling reflects a property management operation's need to float owner expenses between rent cycles.

Rule R162-2f-401j lists what an unlicensed employee of a Utah property management company may do. Which task is permitted?

• a.Quoting rent and lease terms the principal broker has set✓
• b.Negotiating the rent and term of a lease with a new tenant
• c.Deciding which applicants the brokerage will approve
• d.Signing a property management agreement for the brokerage

Rule R162-2f-401j(3) lets an unlicensed individual employed by a real estate or property management company, under the principal broker's supervision, provide a prospective tenant with access to a rental unit, provide secretarial, bookkeeping, maintenance, or rent collection services, "quote rent and lease terms as established or approved by the principal broker," complete pre-printed lease or rental agreements except as to terms determined through negotiation, serve or receive legal notices, address tenant or neighbor complaints, and inspect units. Repeating terms the broker set is permitted; negotiating them is the express exception in Subsection (3)(d). Signing the management agreement and deciding applications are judgment calls reserved to licensees, and Subsection (2) requires the broker to train each affiliated licensee and unlicensed employee to work within these boundaries.

A Utah property owner terminates the management contract. Rule R162-2f-401j requires the principal broker to deliver the trust money to the owner or designee within:

• a.15 days of the termination of the contract
• b.30 days of the termination of the contract✓
• c.10 days of the termination of the contract
• d.60 days of the termination of the contract

Rule R162-2f-401j(4) provides that "within 30 days of the termination of a contract with a property owner for property management services, the principal broker shall deliver any trust money to the property owner, the property owner's designated agent, or other party as designated under the contract with the property owner." The same subsection adds a four-year limit on division enforcement where the broker delivered the money but missed the deadline. Subsection (1) requires property management by a real estate brokerage to be done under the brokerage name as registered with the division, unless the principal broker holds a dual broker license and has obtained a separate registration under Rule R162-2f-205 for the other business name.