South Carolina Real Estate Salesperson Exam — All Questions
14 questions
Real estate salespersons in South Carolina are licensed and regulated by:
- a.The South Carolina Association of Realtors
- b.The county register of deeds
- c.The South Carolina Real Estate Commission, under the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation✓
- d.The South Carolina Secretary of State
The South Carolina Real Estate Commission, part of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR), licenses and disciplines real estate licensees under South Carolina Code Title 40, Chapter 57. A trade association is a private membership group and does not license practitioners.
In South Carolina, each real estate office must be managed and supervised by a:
- a.Broker-in-charge✓
- b.Certified appraiser
- c.Property manager
- d.Licensed attorney
South Carolina requires that each real estate brokerage office have a broker-in-charge (BIC) who is responsible for supervising affiliated licensees and for maintaining the office's trust (escrow) accounts and records. A salesperson works under the supervision of the broker-in-charge and may not operate independently.
A South Carolina salesperson may lawfully be paid a commission for brokerage services by:
- a.The seller directly upon listing
- b.Any cooperating broker in the deal
- c.The broker with whom the salesperson is affiliated✓
- d.The buyer directly at closing
A South Carolina salesperson works under and is compensated only by the broker (through the broker-in-charge) with whom the salesperson is affiliated. A salesperson may not accept commissions or fees directly from a buyer, seller, or another broker. The broker is responsible for supervision and for handling client funds.
Since South Carolina's 2024 rewrite of the Real Estate Practice Act, the entry-level licensee who works under a broker-in-charge is officially titled:
- a.A real estate salesperson
- b.A real estate associate✓
- c.A real estate affiliate broker
- d.A provisional real estate broker
2024 Act No. 204, effective May 21, 2024, substituted "associate" for "salesperson" throughout Chapter 57. South Carolina now issues licenses in the classifications of associate, broker, broker-in-charge, property manager and property manager-in-charge. "Affiliate broker" and "provisional broker" are titles used in other states, not in South Carolina. Cite: S.C. Code 40-57-30(5) and 40-57-110(A).
How many commissioners serve on the South Carolina Real Estate Commission?
- a.Five
- b.Seven
- c.Ten✓
- d.Fifteen
The Commission has ten commissioners: seven practising licensees, one elected from each congressional district by the legislators representing that district; two public members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate; and one additional practising licensee elected at large by the other nine. Each serves a four-year term. Cite: S.C. Code 40-57-40(A)-(B).
When two South Carolina licensees disagree about how to split a commission, the Real Estate Commission:
- a.may not involve itself in the dispute✓
- b.must arbitrate and issue a binding award
- c.will hold a hearing and divide the fee between them
- d.appoints a mediator at the parties' expense
The Commission is barred by statute from resolving disputes between licensees over the payment or division of a commission or fee; that is a civil matter. Separately, a licensee who lets such a dispute delay or wreck a closing can be disciplined for it. Cite: S.C. Code 40-57-60(B) and 40-57-710(A)(28).
A South Carolina broker-in-charge must notify the Commission of a change of office name, address, email address or telephone number within:
- a.48 hours
- b.thirty days
- c.the next renewal cycle
- d.ten days✓
Notice of a change of office name, address, email address or telephone number goes to the Commission by mail within ten days. Do not confuse it with the separate thirty-day deadline for updating a licensee's own contact information, or the five-day deadline when a broker-in-charge leaves the registered office. Cite: S.C. Code 40-57-135(A)(8).
When a designated broker-in-charge becomes disassociated with the office registered with the Commission, he must notify the Commission within:
- a.twenty-four hours
- b.thirty days
- c.five days✓
- d.the end of the renewal cycle
The broker-in-charge has five days to notify the Commission; the designation is then removed and that licensee's license is deactivated. This five-day rule was added by the 2024 rewrite of the Act. Cite: S.C. Code 40-57-330(C).
If a South Carolina broker-in-charge dies, the Department may permit a supervised licensee to act as broker-in-charge for up to:
- a.six months✓
- b.thirty days
- c.twelve months
- d.the remainder of the renewal cycle
On the death or medical incapacitation of a broker-in-charge or property manager-in-charge, the Department may allow a supervised licensee to act in that role for up to six months, which gives the office time to qualify a permanent replacement. Cite: S.C. Code 40-57-135(C)(4).
South Carolina requires a broker-in-charge to keep listing contracts, sales contracts, leases and trust account records for a minimum of:
- a.two years
- b.five years✓
- c.seven years
- d.eighteen months
Leases, sales contracts and addenda, listing and buyer agency agreements, transaction broker agreements, option contracts, property management agreements, residential property disclosure forms and trust account records must all be kept for at least five years and produced to the Commission on request. Electronic storage is allowed if an off-site backup exists. Cite: S.C. Code 40-57-135(D) and 40-57-136(F)(1).
When an offer on South Carolina real estate is rejected without a counteroffer, the licensee must give the offeror a signed offer-rejection form within:
- a.twenty-four hours
- b.five business days
- c.forty-eight hours✓
- d.a reasonable time, which the statute does not define
The Commission promulgates an offer rejection form. Whether the licensee represents the buyer, the seller, or acts as a transaction broker, a rejection without a counteroffer requires that signed form to reach the offeror within forty-eight hours, affirming the offer was presented. Cite: S.C. Code 40-57-135(I)(5).
A South Carolina licensee selling his own home must reveal his license status in the contract:
- a.in a separate addendum signed at closing
- b.anywhere in the document, in ordinary type
- c.only if the buyer asks about it
- d.in bold, underlined, capital letters on the first page✓
In a personal transaction the licensee must disclose license status at first substantive contact, in any advertising, and in bold, underlined, capital letters on the first page of the contract. Trust funds from a personal rental or sale go into the licensee's personal trust account, not the firm's. Cite: S.C. Code 40-57-135(F).
Under South Carolina's Real Estate Practice Act, marketing residential real estate that the marketer has contracted to buy but does not yet own is:
- a.permitted for anyone, licensed or not
- b.prohibited for a brokerage firm and its subagents✓
- c.permitted only with the seller's oral consent
- d.regulated by the Attorney General rather than the Commission
The 2024 amendments defined "wholesaling" and barred brokerage firms and their subagents from engaging in it, representing others in it, or assisting it. Advertising real estate owned by someone else in the expectation of compensation falls within the definition of "broker" and requires a license. Assigning a contractual right to purchase is treated differently. Cite: S.C. Code 40-57-30(44) and 40-57-350(A).
South Carolina law addresses a licensee's use of artificial intelligence by providing that:
- a.the licensee is responsible for work product produced with AI help✓
- b.AI-assisted documents must be reviewed by the Commission before use
- c.AI may not be used in any real estate transaction in the State
- d.violations committed through AI are charged to the software vendor
A section added in 2024 makes a licensee responsible for all work product produced by him or with the assistance of artificial intelligence, machine learning or similar programs, and a violation committed through those programs is treated as if the licensee committed it directly. Cite: S.C. Code 40-57-820.