Broker Management: Trust Funds, Place of Business, Operations, and People
Broker Management is 18 of the 60 items, the largest block on the West Virginia broker outline and the part a salesperson bank could never serve. Its four lettered subtopics are trust funds, place of business, brokerage operation and management, and human resources management and interpersonal skills.
Trust Funds
Section 30-40-18 requires a broker who does not immediately deliver funds to the principal or a neutral escrow depository to maintain and reconcile one or more trust fund accounts at a federally insured institution, withdrawable without notice, holding no more than the insured amount. The account may not earn interest unless a Commission rule authorizes it, and rule 174-1-15.4 authorizes it only under a written agreement of all parties naming the institution, who earns the interest, and how it is disbursed, with no benefit to any licensee. The broker may keep at most $100 of his own money in the account for a minimum balance. He is the designated trustee with signature authority; only one other licensed member or officer may be authorized to disburse. He must notify the Commission within 10 days of establishing or changing an account and keep records showing the date and source of every deposit. A salesperson who receives trust funds must deliver them to the broker immediately or by the next business day, and the broker must deposit them on the same schedule. When a seller fails to close through no fault of the buyer, rule 174-1-10.6 gives the broker no right to any of the earnest money except by agreement of the parties or court order.
Place of Business
Section 30-40-17(a) requires every broker to maintain a definite place of business in West Virginia, designated on the license certificate, and forbids transacting business at any other in-state location unless it is licensed as a branch office; a nonresident broker with a definite place of business at home need not keep a West Virginia office. Rule 174-1-14.1 requires an application, fee, and certificate for each branch, and exempts a temporary shelter in a subdivision the broker is selling where no closings occur and no licensees are permanently assigned. Rule 174-1-14.2 requires a designated manager for each branch, who must be an active licensee with at least two years of actual experience unless the broker manages it personally. Rule 174-1-13.1 requires a sign at the entrance of the principal office and each branch showing the broker's name, the term Broker, and the company name in lettering not less than one inch high. An office address change must be reported within 10 days.
Brokerage Operation and Management
Records must be preserved for five years following consummation, may be kept electronically if accessible to the Commission, and are open to inspection at the broker's usual place of business during business hours. An entity obtains a broker's license through a member or officer, whose authority comes from a notarized subordination resolution executed by the governing body; every member or officer engaging in the real estate business must be separately licensed. A trade name must be applied for and must appear on the license certificate before it is used, must be the company name in all advertising, and any change is reported within 30 days. On the death or incapacity of a sole proprietor broker, the Commission may let an associate broker or designated salesperson close existing business for up to six months from the date of Commission approval; for a designated broker, a new subordination resolution naming a successor must be filed before any business is transacted.
Human Resources Management and Interpersonal Skills
Section 30-40-19(a)(30) makes a broker's failure to supervise affiliated associate brokers and salespersons a ground for discipline, and rule 174-1-21.1 spells out what that includes: letting a person work on an inactive, expired, cancelled, suspended, or revoked license; failing to enforce restrictions on a license; directing or allowing violations of state or federal law; failing to promptly correct or mitigate a violation after learning of it; failing to ensure that forms and advertising comply; failing to ensure timely communication about agency relationships and transactions; and failing to give new licensees information about the license act. Rule 174-1-21.2 removes the obvious excuse: the duty is unaffected by the broker not being in the same office, location, or geographical area as the licensee.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- West Virginia Real Estate Commission
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 90 clock hours (WV salesperson licensees) or 180 clock hours otherwise
- Passing score
- 75%
- Scored questions
- 140
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in West Virginia?
The West Virginia Real Estate Commission licenses salespersons, associate brokers, and brokers. Note that the Commission's official site is rec.wv.gov. The Commission approves your application first and then issues an authorization to test through Pearson VUE, which delivers the exams; passing scores are good for 90 days, within which you must apply for the license.
What experience do I need before the West Virginia broker exam?
Broker and associate broker applicants must be at least 18 with a high school diploma or equivalent and must pass a national criminal background check. The experience requirement in W. Va. Code §30-40-12 is stated in closed transactions, not in years: either representation of a buyer or seller in at least 20 closed transactions as a licensed salesperson during the two years before you apply, or — expressly "regardless of the number of years as a licensed salesperson" — at least 40 closed transactions. (The Commission's own broker web page also states a two-year minimum as a salesperson; the statute's second path does not impose one, so confirm which the Commission is applying to your file.) A "closed transaction" means the real estate was actually conveyed, or a lease of at least one year was consummated, with you representing a party. Your former responsible brokers must file affidavits attesting to that experience. Education depends on your current status: candidates who hold a West Virginia salesperson license complete 90 clock hours of broker education — 30 hours of Brokerage Operation and Management, 25 hours of Human Resources Management and Interpersonal Skills, and 35 hours of West Virginia Specific Real Estate for Brokers — while applicants without a WV salesperson license must complete 180 clock hours (12 college semester credit hours). Coursework must have been completed within the three years before you apply, and you must score 70% or higher in each subject area to be eligible to sit the exam.
How is the West Virginia broker exam structured?
The broker exam is divided into two parts that are scheduled and scored separately: a national portion of 80 scored items allowed 150 minutes, and a West Virginia state law portion of 60 scored items allowed 90 minutes, each carrying unscored pretest items as well (the handbook's fee table says 5 per part, while both content outline pages say 5 to 10). The West Virginia state portion is six areas: Commission powers 9 items, Licensing 14, Real Estate Practice 11, Agency Relationships 4, West Virginia Fair Housing 4, and Broker Management 18 — that last block, on trust funds, place of business, brokerage operations, and supervision, is the part the salesperson exam has no counterpart to. The passing score for the broker level is 75% (the salesperson level is 70%), and scores are reported as scaled scores. Despite what some third-party guides claim, the current Pearson VUE handbook describes only these two multiple-choice parts — there is no broker simulation portion.
Sources: https://rec.wv.gov/License-Info/Pages/Broker.aspx, https://rec.wv.gov/Education/Pages/Pre-Licensing-Education.aspx, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/094900.pdf, https://code.wvlegislature.gov/30-40-12/, https://code.wvlegislature.gov/30-40-14/
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