Massachusetts Real Estate Salesperson Exam — All Questions
12 questions
Massachusetts requires licensees to present consumers with a mandatory agency disclosure form. This disclosure must generally be provided:
- a.Only at the closing table
- b.Only after a purchase contract is signed
- c.At the first personal meeting to discuss a specific property✓
- d.Never, because Massachusetts has no agency disclosure
Massachusetts requires the Mandatory Licensee-Consumer Relationship Disclosure to be presented at the first personal meeting between a licensee and a consumer to discuss a specific property, so the consumer understands whom the licensee represents before sharing information.
Massachusetts real estate law recognizes a relationship in which a licensee assists a buyer and seller without representing either as a client. This is known as a:
- a.Designated seller agent
- b.Dual agent
- c.Subagent of the buyer
- d.Facilitator (non-agent)✓
Massachusetts recognizes the facilitator relationship, in which a licensee helps parties reach an agreement without acting as the agent of either and without owing fiduciary duties of loyalty, though the facilitator must still be honest and account for funds.
The Massachusetts dual-agency and designated-agency statute, M.G.L. c. 112, Section 87AAA3/4, applies to transactions involving:
- a.Owner-occupied single-family homes and nothing else
- b.Land with a building intended for 1 to 4 residential dwellings✓
- c.Any parcel of real property located in the commonwealth
- d.Residential property rented for more than 100 days a year
Subsection (a) limits Section 87AAA3/4 to the intended purchase or sale of land with a building intended for use as 1 to 4 residential dwellings, or land on which a building is intended to be built for use as 1 or 2 residential dwellings. 254 CMR 3.00(13) draws the same line. Commercial and larger multifamily deals fall outside it. Cite: M.G.L. c. 112, Section 87AAA3/4(a).
Once a Massachusetts broker appoints a designated agent for a client, what the designated agent learns about that client is:
- a.Reportable to the designated agent on the other side
- b.Not imputed to the appointing broker or other affiliates✓
- c.Treated as known by every licensee in the brokerage firm
- d.Shared with the appointing broker as a supervisory matter
M.G.L. c. 112, Section 87AAA3/4(c) provides that when a designated agent is appointed, 'information known or acquired by the designated agent shall not be imputed to the appointing broker or salesman or to other affiliated licensees.' That non-imputation is what lets one firm hold both sides. Known material defects are the standing exception and must still be revealed. Cite: M.G.L. c. 112, Section 87AAA3/4(c); 254 CMR 3.00(13)(c)1.
A Massachusetts buyer refuses to sign the agency disclosure notice her salesperson hands her. The salesperson must:
- a.Note the date given and that the buyer declined to sign✓
- b.Have a second licensee witness and countersign it
- c.Stop working with the buyer until the notice is signed
- d.Send the unsigned notice to the Board within 30 days
254 CMR 3.00(13)(a)2. provides that where a prospective purchaser or seller declines to sign, the licensee shall make a notation of the date the notice was given and the fact that the consumer declined, and shall keep that notice for three years. Refusing to sign does not stop the relationship or trigger any Board filing. Cite: 254 CMR 3.00(13)(a)2.
How long must a Massachusetts licensee keep a copy of the agency disclosure notice given to a consumer?
- a.One year
- b.Two years
- c.Three years✓
- d.Seven years
254 CMR 3.00(13)(a)1. requires the licensee to provide the original to the consumer and 'maintain a copy with their records for a period of three years from the date on the notice.' The same three-year period runs for dual-agency and designated-agency consent forms and for escrow check copies. Cite: 254 CMR 3.00(13)(a)1.
A Massachusetts dual agent cannot fully satisfy the duties of loyalty, full disclosure, reasonable care and obedience. The consent form must state that the dual agent still owes:
- a.Confidentiality of material facts and accounting for funds✓
- b.A duty to negotiate the lowest achievable price for the buyer
- c.Undivided loyalty to whichever party consented first
- d.A written opinion of value for the property being sold
254 CMR 3.00(13)(b) requires the consent form to say that a dual agent is neutral between the parties and cannot fully satisfy loyalty, full disclosure, reasonable care and obedience, 'but shall still owe the duty of confidentiality of material information and the duty to account for funds' — and that confidentiality survives the end of the relationship. Cite: 254 CMR 3.00(13)(b).
A Massachusetts facilitator differs from an agent most importantly in that the facilitator:
- a.Owes no duty of confidentiality to the seller or the buyer✓
- b.May not be paid out of the proceeds of the sale
- c.May not show property listed by another brokerage firm
- d.Must be a licensed broker rather than a salesperson
254 CMR 3.00(13)(e) says a facilitator, also called a transaction broker, represents neither party, and that the facilitator 'does not have a duty of confidentiality with regard to any information received from the seller or purchaser.' M.G.L. c. 112, Section 87AAA3/4(f) authorizes the role. Nothing limits who may pay a facilitator or what a facilitator may show. Cite: 254 CMR 3.00(13)(e); M.G.L. c. 112, Section 87AAA3/4(f).
Working as a facilitator rather than an agent, a Massachusetts licensee is still required to:
- a.Obtain the buyer's written consent to dual agency
- b.Keep the seller's lowest acceptable price confidential
- c.Describe the property exactly as the seller describes it
- d.Disclose known material defects and account for funds✓
254 CMR 3.00(13)(e) gives the facilitator a duty to present all real property honestly and accurately, to disclose known material defects, and to account for funds, and requires written notice at the first personal meeting to discuss a specific property stating that no agency relationship exists. Confidentiality is precisely the duty a facilitator does not carry. Cite: 254 CMR 3.00(13)(e).
A Massachusetts broker appoints one affiliated licensee as the seller's designated agent and another as the buyer's designated agent in the same sale. The appointing broker is:
- a.Released from every agency duty to both parties
- b.Treated as the seller's agent because of the listing
- c.Required to withdraw the firm from the transaction
- d.Presumed to be a dual agent in that transaction✓
M.G.L. c. 112, Section 87AAA3/4(c) provides that when a broker has appointed designated agents for both buyer and seller, the broker is presumed to be a dual agent who exclusively represents neither. 254 CMR 3.00(13)(c) adds that the appointing broker stays neutral but continues to owe both parties confidentiality and the duty to account for funds, and remains liable for a designated agent's breach. Cite: M.G.L. c. 112, Section 87AAA3/4(c); 254 CMR 3.00(13)(c).
Before offering subagency to another firm on a Massachusetts listing, the listing licensee must:
- a.Confirm that the subagent carries errors-and-omissions cover
- b.Explain vicarious liability and get the seller's written consent✓
- c.Reduce the seller's commission by the subagent's share
- d.Get the Board's written approval of the cooperating firm
M.G.L. c. 112, Section 87AAA3/4(e) bars entering into or offering a subagency agreement when marketing a property without informing the seller about vicarious liability and obtaining written consent. 254 CMR 3.00(13)(d) requires that the written notice explain that vicarious liability is the seller's or buyer's potential liability for a subagent's misrepresentation, act or omission. Cite: M.G.L. c. 112, Section 87AAA3/4(e); 254 CMR 3.00(13)(d).
Massachusetts does not require written agency notice to every person who walks into an open house, provided the licensee:
- a.Conspicuously discloses the relationship by sign or literature✓
- b.Records the name and address of everyone who attends
- c.Announces the relationship aloud to arriving visitors
- d.Delivers the written notice to anyone who later submits an offer
254 CMR 3.00(13)(a)3. excuses written notice to each open-house visitor only where the licensee, by sign, poster, distributed listing literature or property description form, conspicuously discloses any pre-existing agency relationship — and where that disclosure appears in literature handed out at the open house it must be more conspicuous than any other written material. Cite: 254 CMR 3.00(13)(a)3.