Rhode Island Real Estate Salesperson Exam — All Questions

Under Rhode Island's Real Estate Sales Disclosure law, the seller of residential real estate must generally:

• a.Give the buyer a completed disclosure form describing the known condition of the property✓
• b.Provide the buyer a title insurance policy
• c.Obtain a professional inspection before listing
• d.Guarantee the property is free of all defects

Rhode Island's Real Estate Sales Disclosure law (Chapter 5-20.8) requires most sellers of residential real estate to provide the buyer a completed disclosure form describing the known condition of the property. The seller is not required to inspect or to warrant the property but must answer honestly about known conditions.

Earnest money a Rhode Island salesperson receives from a buyer must be:

• a.Forwarded to the Real Estate Commission for safekeeping
• b.Paid directly to the seller when the offer is written
• c.Held by the salesperson in a personal account until closing
• d.Delivered promptly to the sponsoring broker for deposit in the broker's escrow account✓

Client funds such as earnest money must be handled through the broker's escrow (trust) account and kept separate from the broker's own funds. A salesperson who receives money must promptly deliver it to the sponsoring broker. Commingling or converting client money is a serious violation of Rhode Island license law.

A Rhode Island buyer signs an offer and the listing agent wants to deliver it to the seller, who has not yet completed the seller disclosure. The agent:

• a.May deliver the offer and obtain the disclosure before closing
• b.May deliver the offer if the buyer waives the disclosure orally
• c.May deliver the offer, since the duty is the seller's alone
• d.May not communicate the offer until the buyer has received the written disclosure and signed a receipt✓

The seller must deliver the written disclosure no later than before signing any agreement to transfer, and the agent shall not communicate the buyer's offer until the buyer has received a copy of the written disclosure and signed a written receipt for it. If the buyer refuses to sign, the seller or agent immediately signs and dates a written account of the refusal. Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 5-20.8-2(a).

A Rhode Island seller understates the age of the roof on the disclosure form and the buyer sues the listing agent. Under Chapter 5-20.8 the agent is:

• a.Not liable for the accuracy of the seller's representations✓
• b.Strictly liable for everything printed on the form
• c.Liable only if the agent also signed the disclosure form as a witness
• d.Liable for half the buyer's repair cost

The chapter says the agent is not liable for the accuracy or thoroughness of representations the seller makes in the written disclosure, nor for deficient conditions the seller did not disclose to the agent. Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws Sections 5-20.8-2(a) and 5-20.8-9.

A Rhode Island buyer asks whether anyone died in the house. Under the psychologically impacted property statute, the fact that the property was suspected of being the site of a homicide is:

• a.A material fact that must be disclosed in writing
• b.Not a material fact requiring disclosure✓
• c.Disclosable only if the buyer asks in writing
• d.A condition the seller must list on the disclosure form

The fact or suspicion that property is psychologically impacted, including suspicion that it was the site of a homicide, other felony, or suicide, or was occupied by a person with HIV or AIDS, is not a material fact requiring disclosure, and no cause of action arises from the silence. The statute is not, however, authorization to make a false statement. Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 5-20.8-6.

A Rhode Island seller never gives the buyer a completed disclosure form. The consequence is:

• a.The agreement is void and title is clouded
• b.The buyer may rescind at any time within one year of closing
• c.A civil penalty of up to $1,000 per occurrence, with the agreement and title unaffected✓
• d.A criminal misdemeanor charge against the seller

Failure to provide the seller disclosure form does not void the agreement nor create any defect in title, but each violation by the seller or the seller's agent carries a maximum civil penalty of $1,000 per occurrence. Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 5-20.8-5(b).

Every Rhode Island contract for the purchase and sale of real estate must give the buyer an inspection period of:

• a.Five business days from the seller's acceptance
• b.Ten calendar days, counting weekends and holidays
• c.Fourteen days, which may not be shortened
• d.Ten days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, unless the parties agree otherwise✓

The contract must allow a ten-day period, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, to conduct inspections before the buyer becomes obligated. The parties may mutually agree on a different period, and the buyer may waive the right in writing. Omitting the clause lets the buyer void the agreement by written notice before the transfer of title. Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 5-20.8-4.

Which Rhode Island transfer is exempt from the seller disclosure requirements of Chapter 5-20.8?

• a.A builder's transfer of a new, unoccupied dwelling unit✓
• b.A sale of a fifty-year-old two-family house by its owner
• c.A sale of vacant land intended for one dwelling
• d.A sale by an owner who has never lived in the property

The exempt list includes transfers by court order, foreclosure or mortgagee transfers, transfers by a fiduciary administering an estate or trust, transfers between co-owners or to a spouse or lineal relative, transfers from a governmental entity, transfers by a relocation company, transfers with no consideration, and the transfer of any new unoccupied dwelling unit from a builder or developer. Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 5-20.8-3.

Rhode Island's real estate conveyance tax on an ordinary sale is imposed at a rate of:

• a.$2.30 for each $500 of consideration, paid by the grantee
• b.$3.75 for each $500 of consideration, paid by the grantor✓
• c.$2.00 for each $1,000 of consideration, paid by the grantor
• d.One percent of the sale price, split between the parties

The tax applies when the consideration paid exceeds $100 and runs at $3.75 for each $500, or fractional part, of consideration including any lien or encumbrance remaining. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary the grantor pays. A second tier of $3.75 per $500 applies to residential consideration above a statutory threshold. Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 44-25-1(a) and (b), as amended by P.L. 2025, ch. 278, art. 5, sec. 10, effective October 1, 2025.

A Rhode Island transaction collapses and the buyer and seller each claim the deposit. The principal broker must transmit the money to the general treasurer:

• a.Within 30 days of the failed closing
• b.Within 90 days of learning of the dispute
• c.No later than 180 days from the date of the original deposit✓
• d.Only after a court orders the funds interpleaded into the registry

Whenever ownership of deposit money is in dispute, the broker deposits the money with the general treasurer within 180 days of the date of the original deposit, to be held in trust until the dispute is resolved. The parties may agree in writing to extend that period. Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 5-20.5-26(a)(1)(iv); 230-RICR-30-20-2.19(C).

Both parties to a failed Rhode Island transaction sign a written release directing the escrow agent to pay the deposit to the buyer. The agent must pay:

• a.Within ten days of receiving the release✓
• b.Within thirty days of receiving the release
• c.At the next regular disbursement date
• d.Only after the department approves the release

An escrow agent shall pay sums held in escrow as instructed by the parties to a failed real estate transaction within ten days of receipt of a written release signed by all the parties, and failure to do so is a ground for discipline. Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws Sections 5-20.5-26(d) and 5-20.5-14(a)(37).

A Rhode Island principal broker concludes in good faith that the buyer forfeited the deposit and wants to release it to the seller. The broker must first give the buyer written notice by certified mail of the intent to release the deposit in:

• a.Twenty-one days
• b.Sixty days✓
• c.Ten business days
• d.Ninety days

Forfeiture to a seller requires a good faith determination, certified mail notice to the buyer of the intent to release in sixty days, and no written dispute from the buyer within that period. The mirror rule for returning a deposit to a buyer uses a twenty-one-day notice to the seller. Cite: 230-RICR-30-20-2.19(A) and (B).

A Rhode Island seller tells a licensee, "Get me $400,000 and keep anything above it." The licensee:

• a.May take the listing if the arrangement is in writing
• b.May take the listing if the overage is disclosed at closing
• c.May take the listing only with the principal broker's consent
• d.May not take it, because net listings are prohibited✓

Accepting a listing based on a net price is a ground for discipline, and the department's regulation flatly forbids a licensee from entering into a net listing contract. Where an owner wants to list that way, the agreed commission is added and the listing is written in the usual manner. Cite: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 5-20.5-14(a)(22); 230-RICR-30-20-2.26(D).