Ohio Real Estate Salesperson Exam — All Questions

Ohio real estate licensees are regulated by which body?

• a.The Ohio Attorney General's office
• b.The county auditor
• c.The Ohio Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing✓
• d.The Ohio Association of Realtors

The Ohio Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing, within the Department of Commerce, licenses and regulates real estate professionals. Trade associations do not issue or govern licenses.

Under Ohio license law, a salesperson's real estate license is held and their activities supervised by:

• a.The affiliated broker✓
• b.The multiple listing service
• c.The Ohio Real Estate Commission directly
• d.The salesperson personally

An Ohio salesperson must work under a broker who holds the salesperson's license and is responsible for supervising their activities and trust funds. Salespersons cannot operate independently.

An Ohio salesperson does not submit the 20 hours of post-licensure education within twelve months. What happens to the licence?

• a.A fine is assessed but the licence continues
• b.The licence is placed on probationary status
• c.The licence is suspended automatically✓
• d.Nothing until the next three-year renewal

The statute provides that if the required proof is not submitted within 12 months, the licensee's licence is suspended automatically. No hearing or Commission action is needed for the suspension to take effect. Cite: ORC 4735.09 (10-9-2021).

How many hours of continuing education must an Ohio licensee complete, and how often?

• a.Thirty hours in each three-year period✓
• b.Twenty hours in each two-year period
• c.Fourteen hours in each two-year period
• d.Thirty-six hours in each four-year period

ORC 4735.141 requires 30 hours of continuing education on or before the licensee's birthday occurring three years after initial licensure, and on or before the licensee's birthday every three years after that. Cite: ORC 4735.141.

What date fixes an Ohio licensee's continuing education deadline?

• a.December 31 of every third calendar year
• b.The anniversary of the licence issue date
• c.June 30 of every third calendar year
• d.The licensee's birthday, every three years✓

Ohio ties the deadline to the licensee's birthday: the first is the birthday occurring three years after initial licensure, then every three years on that birthday. Cite: ORC 4735.141.

Within the Ohio 30-hour continuing education requirement, which three-hour courses are mandatory?

• a.Appraisal, property management, and finance
• b.Civil rights, current legislation, and canons of ethics✓
• c.Fair housing, agency law, and escrow accounting
• d.Contract law, disclosure duties, and advertising

ORC 4735.141 requires at least three classroom hours each in: current municipal, state and federal civil rights law with fair housing strategies; current state and federal legislation affecting the industry; and the canons of ethics adopted by the Ohio real estate commission under ORC 4735.18. Cite: ORC 4735.141.

Which Ohio statute sets out the canons of ethics that a mandatory continuing education course must cover?

• a.ORC 4735.09, on licence qualifications
• b.ORC 4735.141, on continuing education hours
• c.ORC 4735.18, on the canons of ethics✓
• d.ORC 4735.07, on the licence examination

The three-hour ethics course must cover the canons of ethics for the real estate industry as adopted by the Ohio real estate commission and set out in ORC 4735.18. Cite: ORC 4735.141; ORC 4735.18.

Instead of taking formal disciplinary action, ORC 4735.05 lets Ohio's superintendent of real estate:

• a.revoke the licence without any hearing
• b.issue an advisory letter to the licensee✓
• c.order the brokerage to pay the complainant
• d.levy a fine of up to one thousand dollars

ORC 4735.05 lists the superintendent's powers, including issuing an advisory letter in place of formal disciplinary action. Sanctions themselves are imposed by the commission after a hearing, not by the superintendent. Cite: ORC 4735.05 (eff. 10/3/2023, HB 33, 135th G.A.).

What is the largest fine the Ohio Real Estate Commission may impose for a single violation of ORC 4735.18?

• a.$2,500✓
• b.$1,000
• c.$5,000
• d.$7,500

ORC 4735.051 lets the commission impose 'a fine, not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars per violation,' alongside or instead of revocation, suspension, a public reprimand or required coursework. Those fines are credited to the real estate recovery fund. Cite: ORC 4735.051 (eff. 11/5/2004, SB 106, 125th G.A.).

An unlicensed person is found to have acted as a real estate broker in Ohio. What civil penalty may the commission assess, and where does the money go?

• a.Up to $2,500 per violation, credited to the real estate recovery fund
• b.Up to $5,000 per violation, paid over to the consumer harmed
• c.Up to $1,000 per violation, into the real estate operating fund✓
• d.None; only a court may punish unlicensed brokerage in Ohio

ORC 4735.052(C)(4) allows a civil penalty 'in an amount it determines, not to exceed one thousand dollars per violation' for violations of ORC 4735.02, 4735.023 or 4735.25, and division (D) deposits those penalties in the real estate operating fund created by ORC 4735.211. Each day of violation is a separate violation. Cite: ORC 4735.052(C)(4) and (D) (eff. 10/3/2023, HB 33, 135th G.A.).

Under ORC 4735.18(A)(25), when must an Ohio licensee hand the parties true copies of listings and other agreements?

• a.Within three business days after signing
• b.At closing, with the settlement statement
• c.Only when a party asks for them in writing
• d.At the time each party signs them✓

ORC 4735.18(A)(25) makes it a disciplinary offence to fail 'to furnish all parties involved in a real estate transaction true copies of all listings and other agreements to which they are a party, at the time each party signs them.' Cite: ORC 4735.18(A)(25) (eff. 3/20/2026, SB 155 and SB 56, 136th G.A.).

ORC 4735.18(A)(26) requires an Ohio broker's special or trust bank account to be:

• a.noninterest-bearing, at an Ohio depository, apart from the broker's funds✓
• b.interest-bearing, with the interest credited to the recovery fund
• c.kept by the listing salesperson in that salesperson's own name
• d.at any federally chartered bank the buyer and seller pick

ORC 4735.18(A)(26) requires the broker to maintain at all times 'a special or trust bank account in a depository of a state or federally chartered institution located in this state,' and the account 'shall be noninterest-bearing, separate and distinct from any personal or other account of the broker.' Cite: ORC 4735.18(A)(26) (eff. 3/20/2026, SB 155 and SB 56, 136th G.A.).

An Ohio broker both manages rentals and lists homes for sale. Under ORC 4735.18(A)(27), the rents and security deposits must be:

• a.in the same trust account that holds earnest money
• b.in a trust account used only for those funds✓
• c.paid straight into each owner's personal bank account
• d.in the brokerage's operating account, reconciled monthly

ORC 4735.18(A)(27) requires a separate special or trust account 'to be used exclusively for the deposit and maintenance of all rents, security deposits, escrow funds, and other moneys received by the broker' in property management, distinct from the earnest-money trust account of division (A)(26). Cite: ORC 4735.18(A)(27) (eff. 3/20/2026, SB 155 and SB 56, 136th G.A.).

Earnest money sitting in an Ohio broker's trust account may be released before closing when:

• a.the listing broker concludes that the buyer defaulted
• b.thirty days pass with no written objection from either party
• c.the buyer's lender turns down the loan application
• d.both parties sign separate written instructions on disbursing it✓

ORC 4735.24(A) holds the money in the account per the purchase agreement until the transaction closes, until 'the parties provide the broker with separate written instructions that both parties have signed,' until a final court order says who gets it, until a residential cancellation under ORC 5301.95(C)(1), or until it becomes unclaimed funds. Cite: ORC 4735.24(A) (eff. 3/2/2026, SB 155, 136th G.A.).

An Ohio purchase agreement carries the optional clause of ORC 4735.24(B). The parties dispute the earnest money and never sign instructions or file suit. The broker must:

• a.divide it evenly between the purchaser and the seller
• b.pay it to the seller as liquidated damages after a year
• c.return it to the purchaser by the September 1 after two years✓
• d.leave it in the trust account indefinitely until a court rules

ORC 4735.24(C)(1): where the agreement contains the division (B) provision, 'not later than the first day of September following the two year anniversary date of the deposit of the earnest money in the broker's account, the broker shall return the earnest money to the purchaser' unless signed instructions or notice of a court action arrived. Cite: ORC 4735.24(C)(1) (eff. 3/2/2026, SB 155, 136th G.A.).

An Ohio broker cannot locate the purchaser when disputed earnest money falls due to be returned. ORC 4735.24(C)(2) tells the broker to:

• a.remit it to the director of commerce as unclaimed funds✓
• b.book it as brokerage income at the end of the year
• c.deposit it with the recorder of the property's county
• d.release it to the seller after ninety more days have passed

ORC 4735.24(C)(2) requires the broker, after giving the notice ORC 169.03(E) demands, to report the money as unclaimed funds to the director of commerce under ORC 169.03 and remit all of it. Cite: ORC 4735.24(C)(2) (eff. 3/2/2026, SB 155, 136th G.A.).

An Ohio salesperson advertises a house she owns herself that is not listed with any brokerage. ORC 4735.16(B) makes her advertisement:

• a.name her and say the property is agent owned✓
• b.name only the brokerage she is affiliated with
• c.read 'for sale by owner' and leave out her name
• d.carry the superintendent's advertising file number

ORC 4735.16(B) requires a licensee advertising property the licensee owns to identify himself or herself and to state that the property is 'agent owned,' and to disclose the brokerage as well if the property is listed. Cite: ORC 4735.16(B) (eff. 9/29/2011, HB 153, 129th G.A.).

In Ohio real estate advertising, the brokerage's name must appear:

• a.only in the fine print at the bottom of the ad
• b.at twice the size of the property's street address
• c.on the yard sign alone, and not in online listings
• d.in equal prominence with the salesperson's name✓

ORC 4735.16(B) provides that 'the name of the brokerage shall be displayed in equal prominence with the name of the salesperson,' and the licensee must be identified by name with the affiliated brokerage named. Cite: ORC 4735.16(B) (eff. 9/29/2011, HB 153, 129th G.A.).

Ohio's team advertising rule, OAC 1301:5-1-21, says a team's name:

• a.may be any name the principal broker approves in writing
• b.must carry 'team' or 'group' and skip 'realty' and 'associates'✓
• c.must include the surname of the brokerage's principal broker
• d.may not appear in advertising at all, only on business cards

OAC 1301:5-1-21 requires a team or group name to include the word 'team' or 'group' and forbids the words 'realty' and 'associates', and requires the brokerage name in equal or greater prominence than the team name and the salesperson's name. Non-compliance is prima facie evidence of a violation of ORC 4735.18(A)(21). Cite: OAC 1301:5-1-21 (eff. 7/1/2021; prior eff. 7/28/2002, 1/1/2013).

An Ohio broker returns an affiliated salesperson's licence to the division. Within what time must the broker notify that salesperson in writing?

• a.Ten business days
• b.Thirty calendar days
• c.Three business days✓
• d.Five calendar days

OAC 1301:5-1-06 requires the principal broker to give written notice by hand delivery, mail, facsimile or email 'within three business days of returning the licensee's license to the division,' keep proof of delivery, and copy the division. The salesperson's licence then goes automatically to inactive status. Cite: OAC 1301:5-1-06 (eff. 3/28/2025; prior eff. 2/10/2019).

Who prescribes the Ohio Residential Property Disclosure Form?

• a.The Ohio supreme court
• b.The county auditor's office
• c.The property's listing broker
• d.The director of commerce✓

ORC 5302.30(D) has the director of commerce prescribe the disclosure form, which lets the transferor disclose material matters relating to the physical condition of the property. Cite: ORC 5302.30(D) (eff. 5/6/2005, HB 231, 125th G.A.).

An Ohio buyer signs a purchase contract and only afterwards receives the seller's Residential Property Disclosure Form. The buyer may rescind:

• a.within three business days of receiving the form✓
• b.at any time before the deed is recorded
• c.within thirty days of receiving the form
• d.only if the form discloses a material defect

ORC 5302.30(K) gives the transferee three business days following receipt of the form or an amendment by the transferee or the transferee's agent, and in no event later than the earlier of thirty days after the transferor accepted the offer or the date of closing or transfer of title. No rescission right arises if the form came before the offer. Cite: ORC 5302.30(K) (eff. 5/6/2005, HB 231, 125th G.A.).

Which Ohio transfer is exempt from the Residential Property Disclosure Form?

• a.An owner's sale of a sixty-year-old bungalow
• b.A sheriff's sale under a foreclosure decree✓
• c.An owner-occupant's sale of a two-family duplex
• d.An owner's sale of a condominium unit she lives in

ORC 5302.30(B) exempts court-ordered transfers such as foreclosure, probate and bankruptcy sales, mortgagee acquisitions and deeds in lieu, fiduciary transfers, transfers between co-owners or relatives, transfers involving government bodies, and newly built, never-occupied homes. An ordinary owner sale of a used one- to four-family home is covered. Cite: ORC 5302.30(B) (eff. 5/6/2005, HB 231, 125th G.A.).

Ohio's statewide real property conveyance fee, collected by the county auditor, is:

• a.one dollar per hundred dollars of value, at least ten dollars
• b.fifty cents per hundred dollars of value, with no minimum
• c.ten cents per hundred dollars of value, at least one dollar✓
• d.one per cent of the price, capped at five hundred dollars

ORC 319.54(G)(3) sets the auditor's conveyance fee at 'one dollar, or ten cents for each one hundred dollars or fraction thereof,' whichever is greater, which works out to $1 per $1,000 of value with a $1 floor. A county may add a permissive transfer tax of up to thirty cents per hundred dollars under ORC 322.02. Cite: ORC 319.54(G)(3) (eff. 4/9/2025, HB 265 and HB 496, 135th G.A.).

Ohio is one of the few states that still recognises dower. Under ORC 2103.02 a spouse holds:

• a.a fee simple half interest in the marital residence
• b.a claim to one third of the sale proceeds at closing
• c.an automatic survivorship tenancy in all real property
• d.a life estate in one third of the other spouse's real property✓

ORC 2103.02 endows a spouse 'of an estate for life in one third of the real property' the other spouse owned during the marriage. Because that interest survives a conveyance made during the marriage unless the spouse is barred of dower, Ohio deeds routinely have the non-owning spouse sign to release it. Cite: ORC 2103.02 (eff. 10/1/1953, SB 361, 100th G.A.).