Louisiana Real Estate Salesperson Exam — All Questions

Under Louisiana law, when must a licensee provide the Agency Disclosure Informational Pamphlet and disclose the agency relationship?

• a.Only at the closing table
• b.At the first contact concerning a specific property, before confidential information is disclosed✓
• c.Only if the client asks about representation
• d.Never, because agency disclosure is not required in Louisiana

Louisiana requires licensees to provide the Agency Disclosure Informational Pamphlet and disclose the agency relationship at the first contact regarding a specific property, before any confidential information is shared, so the consumer understands who the licensee represents.

In Louisiana, when a broker's firm represents both the buyer and the seller in one transaction, the broker may appoint different licensees within the firm to represent each client. This is known as:

• a.Subagency
• b.Universal agency
• c.Designated agency✓
• d.Open agency

Louisiana permits 'designated agency,' in which a broker whose firm represents both parties may appoint (designate) different affiliated licensees to represent the buyer and the seller separately. This allows each client to have an advocate within the same firm, subject to disclosure and consent.

A Louisiana licensee starts working with a buyer and nothing is signed about representation. What relationship does the statute presume?

• a.Designated agency, the licensee representing the buyer✓
• b.No relationship at all until an agency agreement is signed
• c.Subagency of the listing broker on any property shown
• d.Dual agency shared with the broker who listed the property

Notwithstanding the Civil Code's mandate articles, a licensee engaged in any real estate transaction is considered to represent the person he is working with as a designated agent, unless there is a written agreement between the broker and that person providing for a different relationship or the licensee is performing only ministerial acts. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3892; La. R.S. 9:3891(8).

What does Louisiana require before a licensee may act as a dual agent?

• a.Informed written consent from all clients✓
• b.Oral consent from each client, noted in the licensee's file
• c.Written approval from the commission
• d.An order from a court of competent jurisdiction and venue

A licensee may act as a dual agent only with the informed written consent of all clients, and that consent is presumed to have been given by a client who signs the dual agency disclosure form prepared by the commission. The consent must be obtained when the brokerage agreement is entered into or at any time before the licensee acts as a dual agent, and the signed form is kept for five years. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3897(A) and (C); LAC 46:LXVII.3705(C).

Acting as a dual agent in Louisiana, which of these may the licensee NOT pass along?

• a.Latent material defects in the property known to the licensee
• b.The prices at which comparable properties have recently sold
• c.The lowest price the seller would take✓
• d.The buyer's financial qualification to make the purchase

A dual agent must treat all clients honestly, disclose latent material defects known to him, disclose the buyer's or tenant's financial qualification to the seller or landlord, and supply comparable sales data. He may not reveal either client's confidential information, the price the seller or landlord will take other than the listing price, or the price the buyer or tenant is willing to pay, without that client's permission. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3897(A) and (B).

How is subagency created in a Louisiana real estate transaction?

• a.Through the MLS
• b.Only by a written agreement✓
• c.By a cooperating broker showing the property to a customer
• d.By the seller's consent recorded with the parish clerk of court

Subagency can only be created by a written agreement, and a licensee is not considered the subagent of a client or of another broker solely because of the broker's membership or affiliation in a multiple listing service or similar information source. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3898.

A Louisiana seller's designated agent misstates the square footage to a buyer. Is the seller liable for the agent's act?

• a.Yes, because the agent was acting on the seller's behalf
• b.Yes, unless the seller proves he gave no such instruction
• c.Yes, but only up to the amount of the commission paid
• d.No, Louisiana removes that vicarious liability by statute✓

A client is not liable for the acts or omissions of a licensee in providing brokerage services for or on behalf of the client. The statute does not change the licensee's own legal exposure for negligent or fraudulent misrepresentation of material information. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3899; La. R.S. 9:3893(E).

In Louisiana, what does the fact that the seller pays the buyer's broker tell you about whom that broker represents?

• a.That the broker is a subagent of the seller
• b.That the broker has become a dual agent
• c.Nothing; payment does not settle the agency question✓
• d.That the broker represents the seller unless the buyer objects

The payment or promise of payment of compensation to a broker is not determinative of whether an agency relationship has been created. A buyer's agent represents only the buyer regardless of whether the buyer pays directly or the seller pays through a commission split with the listing agent. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3896; La. R.S. 9:3891(7).

For which of these Louisiana transactions is agency disclosure not required?

• a.A lease of three years or less with no sale contemplated✓
• b.The sale of a vacant residential lot in a subdivision
• c.The lease of a warehouse for a term of ten years
• d.A bond for deed contract on a single-family house

Nothing in the agency chapter or in Chapter 17 of Title 37 requires agency disclosure for a lease that does not exceed a term of three years and under which no sale of the property to the lessee is contemplated. A parallel rule keeps a licensee who is the landlord out of dual agency on such a short lease. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3893(F); La. R.S. 9:3891(10).

A Louisiana buyer client mentions that the roof leaks and asks his agent to keep it quiet. Is that confidential information?

• a.Yes, a client's written request makes any information confidential
• b.Yes, but only until the purchase agreement has been signed
• c.Only if disclosing it would materially harm the client's position
• d.No; material information about physical condition is excluded✓

Confidential information is information a licensee obtains from a client that the client made confidential by written request or instruction, or whose disclosure could materially harm the client's position. The statute expressly provides that confidential information shall not be considered to include material information about the physical condition of the property, and confidentiality also yields where disclosure is required by law or would reveal a serious defect. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3891(6).