Utah Real Estate Sales Agent Exam — All Questions

The principle of contribution states that the value of a component or improvement is measured by:

• a.The raw number of square feet of floor area or land area that the improvement happens to occupy
• b.The owner's personal emotional attachment to and sentimental feelings about that improvement
• c.Its original construction or installation cost in every case, dollar for dollar, with no exception
• d.How much it adds to the overall value of the property, not its cost✓

Under contribution, an improvement is worth the amount it adds to the whole property's market value, which may be more or less than its cost. This principle explains why some renovations do not fully return their expense, a key point in over-improvement analysis.

Under Internal Revenue Code Section 121, a qualifying homeowner may generally EXCLUDE from taxable capital gain:

• a.Up to $250,000 of gain if single, or $500,000 if married filing jointly✓
• b.Up to a full one million dollars of gain on any property at all, at any time and any frequency
• c.All gain on any and every investment or rental property the taxpayer happens to own and sell
• d.Absolutely nothing, because gain on the sale of a home is always fully and entirely taxable

Section 121 lets homeowners who owned and used the home as their principal residence for at least two of the prior five years exclude up to $250,000 of gain (single) or $500,000 (married filing jointly). It applies to a primary residence, not to investment property.

Depreciation recapture on the sale of investment real estate means that:

• a.All of the depreciation deductions previously claimed are simply refunded to the investor in cash
• b.The investor is legally required to physically restore and rebuild the depreciated building itself
• c.Gain from prior depreciation may be taxed, often at a special rate✓
• d.No income tax is ever owed at all on the sale of a property that has previously been depreciated

When depreciated property is sold at a gain, the portion of gain due to depreciation deductions is 'recaptured' and taxed under special rules, reflecting the earlier tax benefit. It is a tax concept, not a requirement to rebuild, and it increases, not eliminates, tax on sale.

Which appraisal approach is generally MOST reliable for a special-purpose property, such as a church or public school, that rarely sells and earns no market income?

• a.The sales comparison approach, which depends on recent sales of similar comparable properties
• b.The income approach, which converts a property's market rental income into an indicated value
• c.The gross rent multiplier method, which relies on typical market rents that these lack entirely
• d.The cost approach✓

Special-purpose properties have few or no comparable sales and generate no market rent, so the cost approach (replacement cost new, less depreciation, plus land) is typically most reliable. Sales comparison lacks comparables and the income/GRM methods need market income these properties do not produce.

The four characteristics an item must have to possess value in the market, often remembered as DUST, are:

• a.Debt, Utility, Supply, and Taxes, a mix of unrelated financing and cost terms rather than value
• b.Demand, Utility, Scarcity, and Transferability✓
• c.Depreciation, Use, Sale, and Title, which describe stages of ownership rather than value itself
• d.Demand, Ownership, Scarcity, and Time, which swaps in two terms that are not part of the concept

For something to have market value it must have Demand (buyers who want it), Utility (usefulness), Scarcity (limited supply), and Transferability (the ability to convey it). The DUST acronym captures these four essentials of value.

Real estate sales agents in Utah are licensed and regulated by:

• a.The Utah Secretary of State
• b.The Utah Division of Real Estate, within the Department of Commerce✓
• c.The Utah Association of Realtors
• d.The county recorder

The Utah Division of Real Estate, part of the Department of Commerce, licenses and disciplines real estate licensees under the Real Estate Licensing and Practices Act (Title 61, Chapter 2f). A trade association is a private membership group and does not issue licenses.

In Utah, a licensed sales agent may conduct real estate activity:

• a.Independently, once the license is issued
• b.Only while affiliated with and supervised by a principal broker✓
• c.For any broker who agrees to split a commission
• d.Only after also obtaining a broker license

A Utah sales agent must be affiliated with and supervised by a principal broker and may not operate independently. The principal broker is responsible for the affiliated agents and for the brokerage's trust accounts and records.

A Utah sales agent may lawfully be paid a commission by:

• a.The seller directly upon listing
• b.The principal broker with whom the agent is affiliated✓
• c.The buyer directly at closing
• d.Any cooperating broker in the deal

A Utah sales agent is compensated only through the affiliated principal broker, not directly by a buyer, seller, or another broker. The principal broker supervises the agent and is accountable for handling client funds.

In Utah, when one brokerage represents both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction, the arrangement is known as:

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

Utah treats representation of both the buyer and the seller by one brokerage as limited agency, which requires the informed written consent of both parties. A limited agent must stay neutral on price and terms and may not disclose one party's confidential information to the other.

A Utah licensee who represents the seller as the seller's agent owes the seller:

• a.No duties once an offer is written
• b.Fiduciary duties including loyalty, confidentiality, and reasonable care✓
• c.The same undivided loyalty to the buyer as well
• d.Only a duty to find any buyer at any price

A Utah seller's agent owes the seller fiduciary duties including loyalty, confidentiality, obedience to lawful instructions, full disclosure, accounting, and reasonable care. To the buyer as the other party, the agent still owes honesty and must disclose known material defects.

In a typical Utah residential sale, a sales agent writing an offer will most often use:

• a.The state-approved Real Estate Purchase Contract (REPC)✓
• b.A custom contract drafted by the agent
• c.An oral agreement confirmed later in writing
• d.A form supplied only by the buyer's lender

Utah sales agents typically use the state-approved Real Estate Purchase Contract (REPC) and other Division-approved forms for residential offers. Licensees may complete these standard forms but may not draft complex custom provisions, which would be the unauthorized practice of law.

Earnest money a Utah sales agent receives from a buyer must be:

• a.Sent to the Division of Real Estate for safekeeping
• b.Given directly to the seller when the offer is made
• c.Delivered promptly to the principal broker for deposit in the brokerage trust account✓
• d.Held by the agent in a personal account until closing

Client funds such as earnest money must be handled through the brokerage's real estate trust account, which the principal broker maintains. A sales agent who receives money must deliver it promptly to the principal broker. Commingling or converting trust money is a serious violation of Utah license law.

To qualify for a Utah sales agent license, an applicant must first complete:

• a.A four-year college degree in real estate
• b.The required 120-hour pre-license course from an approved provider✓
• c.A 45-hour pre-license course
• d.A two-year apprenticeship under a broker

Utah requires an applicant to complete the required 120-hour pre-license course from an approved provider before taking the sales agent licensing examination. Applicants must also pass a background check and, after passing the exam, affiliate with a principal broker to activate the license.

A Utah licensee served with a Division request for documents in an investigation must respond in full within:

• a.Five calendar days of the day the request is served
• b.Ten business days of the day the request is served✓
• c.Thirty calendar days after the day the request is served
• d.The next regularly scheduled Real Estate Commission meeting

Failing to respond to a Division request within 10 business days after the day it is served is itself unprofessional conduct, separate from whatever is being investigated. It covers failing to answer a subpoena, withholding evidence, and failing to produce documents or records. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-401(18); Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401a(25).

A Utah sales agent is owed an unpaid commission on a closed sale. Utah license law permits the agent to:

• a.Record a lien against the property that was sold in the transaction
• b.Record a lien on the brokerage's office building
• c.Direct the closing office to hold back the seller's sale proceeds
• d.Sue the principal broker, but not lien any real property✓

Utah added a specific ground for discipline: a sales agent or associate broker may not place a lien on real property for an unpaid commission or other compensation for brokerage services, and a principal broker may do so only if some other law authorizes it. The agent's claim runs against the broker under their independent contractor agreement. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-401(24)-(25), (20).

A Utah sales agent posts a listing on a social platform where the brokerage name does not fit in the post itself. License law is satisfied if the post:

• a.Links to a page identifying the brokerage within one click✓
• b.Names the agent's team and the agent's license number
• c.Adds the brokerage name to the agent's profile biography
• d.Adds an equal housing opportunity logo

Utah requires the brokerage name in the advertisement, but for an advertisement placed online or in a digital format the statute accepts a link to a website or media platform that identifies the brokerage name within one click. The brokerage name used must be the name shown on Division records. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-401(12)(b); Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401h(2), (4).

Utah caps the civil penalty for one violation of the Real Estate Licensing and Practices Act at $5,000, except that the cap rises to $10,000 when:

• a.The violation involved money held in the brokerage trust account
• b.The licensee has been disciplined before
• c.The property owner was 65 or older, or a vulnerable adult✓
• d.The transaction closed in a county with fewer than 25,000 residents

The commission, with the director's concurrence, may impose the greater of $5,000 per violation, $10,000 per violation where the licensee knew or should have known the property owner was 65 or older or a vulnerable adult, or the gain or economic benefit derived from the violation. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-404(1)(a)(ii).

A fine imposed on a Utah licensee by the commission and the director is deposited into:

• a.The Utah General Fund, like most state fines
• b.A restitution account for the complainant
• c.The Department of Commerce revolving account
• d.The Real Estate Education, Research, and Recovery Fund✓

Notwithstanding the general rule of Section 13-1-2 that fines go elsewhere, Utah routes real estate fines into the Real Estate Education, Research, and Recovery Fund, which reimburses the public for damages, funds fraud investigations, and pays for real estate education and research. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-405(3); 61-2f-503(3).

Utah's Real Estate Education, Research, and Recovery Fund limits what it will pay on final judgments to:

• a.$15,000 for one transaction and $50,000 for one licensee✓
• b.$15,000 per claimant, with no cap per licensee
• c.$50,000 per transaction, $15,000 per licensee
• d.$25,000 per transaction, $100,000 per licensee

Regardless of how many claimants or parcels are involved in a transaction, the fund's liability may not exceed $15,000 for a single transaction or $50,000 for one licensee. Separately, the Division makes $100,000 available at the start of each fiscal year to satisfy final judgments. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-506(3)(c); 61-2f-503(5).

A buyer holds a final Utah fraud judgment against a sales agent covering actual damages, punitive damages, attorney fees and interest. Recovery from the fund may include:

• a.Punitive damages but not actual damages
• b.Every element of the judgment
• c.The actual damages only, up to the transaction cap✓
• d.Actual damages plus court costs and attorney fees

The petition asks the court for an amount equal to the uncollected actual damages that remain unpaid. Recovery from the fund may not include punitive damages, attorney fees, interest or court costs, and what is left is still subject to the per-transaction cap. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-506(3)(a)-(c).

A consumer holds a final fraud judgment against a Utah brokerage entity, not against any individual licensee. The Recovery Fund will:

• a.Pay up to $50,000 since the entity is registered
• b.Not reimburse a judgment entered against an entity✓
• c.Pay only after the entity's assets are exhausted
• d.Pay if a principal broker signed the listing

Part 5 applies to damages caused by an individual licensee, and the statute states that reimbursement may not be made for a final judgment against an entity. To reach the fund the claimant needs a judgment against the licensee personally, plus proof of a returned writ of execution and reasonable diligence in collecting. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-503(4); 61-2f-506(5).

A Utah sales agent's separate professional license is revoked in another state for dishonesty. Under Utah license law the agent must notify the Division:

• a.Only if the other state's action involved a Utah property
• b.At the time of the agent's next Utah license renewal
• c.Only if the revocation becomes final after appeal
• d.By signed statement within 10 business days✓

A licensee must send the Division a signed statement within 10 business days after any license or registration needed to engage in an occupation or profession is suspended, revoked, surrendered, cancelled or denied, in this state or another jurisdiction. The same 10-day rule covers a cease and desist order or injunction. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-301(1)(b)-(c).

A Utah brokerage must keep the records of a sale that closed in March 2026 until at least the end of:

• a.March 2029 - three years from the closing date itself
• b.December 2029 - three calendar years after 2026✓
• c.March 2031 - five years from the closing date itself
• d.December 2028 - two calendar years after the sale year

Utah measures retention in calendar years following the year of the triggering event, not from the event date, so anything that closes during 2026 must be kept through the end of 2029. The trigger is also the rejection of an offer, the failure of a transaction, the start of a lease, or the end of a property management agreement. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-309(2)(b); Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401k(2)(b).

The Division director serves a cease and desist order on a person advertising Utah real estate services without a license. The order:

• a.Stays in effect while a requested hearing is pending✓
• b.Is stayed automatically once a hearing is requested
• c.Expires unless the commission ratifies it in 30 days
• d.May be appealed only to the district court

The person served has 10 days after service to request a hearing, and the cease and desist order remains in effect while that hearing is pending. If the commission and director then agree the conduct violated the chapter, the director makes the order permanent and may add discipline under Section 61-2f-404. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-407(1)(b)-(c), (2)(a).

The standard legal forms a Utah licensee is allowed to fill out are approved by:

• a.The Division of Real Estate and the Utah State Bar
• b.The Utah Association of Realtors and the Division
• c.The Real Estate Commission and the Utah attorney general✓
• d.The Department of Commerce executive director alone

Utah is unusual in naming two approvers: a licensee may fill out only the legal forms approved by the commission and the attorney general, plus forms provided by statute or prepared by a party's legal counsel. Only a principal broker, or a branch or associate broker the principal broker designates, may complete closing documents. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-306(1)-(2); Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401f(1).

Acting as a limited agent under Utah rules, a licensee owes each of the following to BOTH parties EXCEPT:

• a.Obedience to lawful instructions, consistent with neutrality
• b.Reasonable care and diligence throughout the deal
• c.Undivided loyalty to each party's best interest✓
• d.Holding safe money or property entrusted to the agent

A Utah limited agent acts as a neutral third party and owes only obedience consistent with that neutrality, reasonable care and diligence, safekeeping of money and property, and any duties the agency agreement adds. Loyalty, absolute confidentiality and full disclosure are precisely the duties both parties waive in writing. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401a(3)-(4).

A Utah seller tells her listing agent in confidence that the basement floods every spring and that she must sell before her divorce is final. The agent must:

• a.Keep both statements confidential until closing
• b.Disclose the flooding; keep the divorce confidential✓
• c.Disclose both, since buyers rely on the listing
• d.Disclose the divorce, and keep the flooding quiet

Utah's confidentiality duty stops the agent from revealing information that would weaken the principal's bargaining position, but it expressly does not cover a known material fact concerning a defect in the property or the client's ability to perform on the contract. Motivation to sell stays confidential; the recurring flooding does not. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401a(1)(d).

Before a Utah licensee may act as a limited agent, each party must sign an acknowledgment that the party waives the right to:

• a.Any claim against the Real Estate Education, Research, and Recovery Fund
• b.A separate agent later in the transaction
• c.Cancel the brokerage agreement without cause
• d.Undivided loyalty, absolute confidentiality, full disclosure✓

Prior informed consent to limited agency takes three written pieces: an explanation of what will be held confidential and what will be disclosed, a written acknowledgment from each party waiving undivided loyalty, absolute confidentiality and full disclosure, and a written acknowledgment that the licensee will act neutrally to advance both parties' interests. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401a(3).

Utah rules require a licensee who has already given a written agency disclosure to confirm that disclosure again:

• a.In the approved Real Estate Purchase Contract at signing✓
• b.Orally to the other agent before the offer is written
• c.In the brokerage's transaction file within ten days
• d.On a Division form filed with the Division after closing

Utah treats the disclosure and its confirmation as two steps. When the binding sales agreement is executed, the prior agency disclosure is confirmed in the agency confirmation paragraph of the currently approved Real Estate Purchase Contract, or in substantially similar language incorporated in or attached to the agreement; in a lease it is incorporated or attached. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401a(10)-(11).

A Utah licensee has listed a rental house she owns, and the buyer asks her to represent him as well. She may:

• a.Act as a limited agent with both parties' written consent
• b.Act as a limited agent if her broker approves in writing
• c.Act as a limited agent after disclosing that she owns it
• d.Not act as a limited agent, because she is a principal✓

Utah rules flatly bar a licensee from acting, or attempting to act, as a limited agent in any transaction in which the licensee is a principal, or in which an entity where the licensee is an officer, director, partner, member, manager, employee or stockholder is a principal. Written consent cannot cure it. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401b(1)(o).

A Utah licensee wants to show a property listed by another brokerage while acting as a sub-agent of the listing broker. Before showing it, the licensee must:

• a.Notify the seller and obtain the seller's consent
• b.File a sub-agency notice with the Division
• c.Get the listing brokerage's written consent to sub-agency✓
• d.Obtain the buyer's written consent to a dual commission

Sub-agency is never assumed in Utah. The licensee must notify the listing brokerage that sub-agency is requested, enter a written agreement with it consenting to the sub-agency and defining its scope, obtain any available property information, and then owe the seller the same fiduciary duties the listing agent owes. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401a(12).

A Utah seller's principal broker hands blank forms to an unrepresented buyer and negotiates terms with him directly. Under the Real Estate Licensing and Practices Act, this conduct:

• a.Creates an implied limited agency with the buyer
• b.Does not create an agency relationship with the buyer✓
• c.Requires a written agency disclosure to the buyer within 24 hours
• d.Is unlawful without the seller's written permission

The statute says a principal broker representing a seller does not create an agency relationship with an unrepresented buyer by contacting the buyer directly, providing blank forms, or negotiating the terms of the transaction. The broker still owes honesty and still must disclose known material defects. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-308(5).

A Utah buyer's principal broker may contact a seller who is under an exclusive brokerage agreement if he has written authorization from the seller, but he may not:

• a.Ask the seller for that authorization✓
• b.Discuss the terms of the transaction
• c.Give the seller blank approved forms
• d.Negotiate the price with the seller

Utah lets a buyer's principal broker go around the listing broker only with written authorization from the seller's broker or from the seller, and once authorized he may discuss the transaction, supply blank forms and negotiate. The statute forbids soliciting that authorization from the seller. Cite: Utah Code 61-2f-308(3).

A Utah licensee telephones a for-sale-by-owner intending to buy the home for his own account. On that first call he must disclose:

• a.The price he is willing to pay for the home
• b.That he holds a Division license, active or not✓
• c.The name of the brokerage that employs him
• d.That he will record the conversation for his file

A licensee making an offer or solicitation to buy as a principal, directly or indirectly, must disclose in the initial contact that he holds a license with the Division, and must say so whether the license is active or inactive. His position as a principal is then confirmed in writing before any binding purchase or lease agreement. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401a(5)-(6).

A Utah sales agent learns that the buyer who just asked her to write an offer already has a signed representation agreement with another brokerage. She may not:

• a.Refer the buyer back to the other brokerage
• b.Tell her principal broker about the conflict
• c.Enter an agency agreement with that buyer✓
• d.Show the buyer a property that she has listed

Utah rules prohibit entering or attempting to enter a concurrent agency representation when the licensee knows or should know the principal already has an agency representation agreement with another licensee. The rules separately forbid subjecting a principal to paying a double commission without informed consent. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401b(1)(k).

A Utah seller wants to accept a buyer's offer but at a higher price. The licensee preparing the counteroffer must:

• a.Use an approved addendum form to state the change✓
• b.Strike the price and initial the change in the margin
• c.Retype the whole contract with the new price inserted
• d.White out the price and write the new one above it

Utah rules require a counteroffer or any other modification to be made on an approved addendum form, and separately make it prohibited conduct to counter by striking out, whiting out, substituting new language or otherwise altering either the boilerplate of the Real Estate Purchase Contract or the language inserted to complete its blanks. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401a(18); R162-2f-401b(1)(p).

A Utah seller offers to let his agent keep everything the house brings above a set figure. The agent must decline because Utah prohibits:

• a.Charging a commission set as a percentage of the sale price
• b.Unapproved listing agreements
• c.Paying a licensee compensation after the closing has occurred
• d.Taking a net listing, whatever the seller has agreed to✓

Utah lists taking a net listing among the acts an individual licensee may not do, so the arrangement is barred even where the seller proposed it. Percentage commissions are ordinary, and compensation after closing is normal; what the rule forbids is the open-ended spread between a seller's net and the sale price. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401b(1)(h).

A former client who holds no license sends a Utah agent a buyer without being asked, and the sale closes. The agent may thank the client with:

• a.A commission split of up to ten percent of the gross fee
• b.A gift of appreciation valued at $250 or less✓
• c.Any gift, since the referral was not solicited by the agent
• d.A written referral fee

Paying a finder's fee or any valuable consideration to an unlicensed person for referring a prospect is prohibited, with one narrow exception: a gift valued at $250 or less in appreciation for an unsolicited referral that results in a real estate transaction. A share of the commission is not within the exception. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401b(1)(l); Utah Code 61-2f-401(5).

A mortgage broker offers a Utah sales agent a flat fee for every borrower the agent sends over. The agent:

• a.May accept it if the buyer is told about it in writing beforehand
• b.May accept it if it is paid to the principal broker
• c.May not accept a referral fee from a mortgage broker✓
• d.May accept it only on a refinance, not a purchase

Utah rules bar a licensee from accepting a referral fee from a lender or a mortgage broker at all; there is no disclosure or broker-routing cure. Compensation the licensee does legitimately earn beyond the commission must be disclosed in writing to each party and paid to the licensee's principal broker. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401b(1)(m); R162-2f-401a(16).

A Utah licensee also holds an escrow agent appointment. In a transaction where she represents the buyer, she may:

• a.Act as both if the seller signs a written waiver
• b.Act as both if the title company employs her broker
• c.Act as both if she rebates the escrow fee to the buyer
• d.Not also act as the escrow agent in that transaction✓

Utah rules forbid a licensee from acting as a real estate agent or broker in the same transaction in which the licensee also acts as a mortgage loan originator or lending manager, an appraiser or appraiser trainee, an escrow agent, or a provider of title services. Consent does not cure the conflict. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401b(1)(n).

A Utah principal broker who lists and sells real estate must keep the brokerage real estate trust account in:

• a.A bank or credit union located within Utah✓
• b.Any federally insured institution in the United States
• c.An institution chosen by the buyer's title company
• d.A Division-designated trust company

A principal broker engaged in listing or selling real estate must maintain at least one real estate trust account in a bank or credit union located within the state of Utah, and must notify the Division in writing of the account number, the institution's address and the activity the account is used for whenever it is opened, moved or renumbered. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-403a(1).

A Utah real estate trust account must be non-interest-bearing unless the parties agree in writing to an interest-bearing account and:

• a.The buyer receives all of the interest at the closing
• b.The broker reports the interest to the Division monthly
• c.It goes to a qualifying affordable housing charity✓
• d.The interest is split between the buyer and the seller

Utah allows an interest-bearing real estate trust account only where the parties agree in writing, designate in writing who receives the interest, and that recipient is a 501(c)(3) organization operating exclusively to make grants to Utah affordable housing programs, with the recipient program itself a 501(c)(3). Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-403a(2).

A Utah principal broker leaves some of her own money in the brokerage real estate trust account to cover bank charges. She violates the commingling rule once that balance exceeds:

• a.Any amount, since personal funds may never be deposited
• b.$1,000 of the broker's own money✓
• c.$100 of the broker's own money
• d.$5,000 of the broker's own money

The rule makes it a violation of the statutory commingling prohibition for a principal broker to deposit more than $1,000 of the broker's own funds into a real estate trust account, so a modest cushion for bank charges is allowed up to that line. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-403a(13)(a)(i); Utah Code 61-2f-401(4)(b).

A Utah sales agent gives his principal broker a buyer's earnest money check. Absent a written agreement to the contrary, the broker must deposit it into a trust account within:

• a.The next banking day
• b.Ten business days of receiving it
• c.Five calendar days of the offer's acceptance
• d.Three business days of receiving it✓

The principal broker has three business days from receiving a client's money to deposit it into a trust account the broker maintains, or with the parties' written agreement into a title company or other authorized escrow account. The deadline does not apply where the written agreement says the money is held for a set time or deposited on acceptance. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401c(1)(h).

How often must a Utah principal broker reconcile the brokerage trust account records against the bank records and against the client ledgers?

• a.Quarterly, and again at every Division audit
• b.At least monthly, for both sets of records✓
• c.Whenever the account balance changes
• d.Annually, before the renewal

A principal broker must keep a date-sequential record of every deposit and disbursement and a running balance, reconcile the brokerage trust account records with the bank or credit union records at least monthly, and reconcile them with the brokerage client account records at least monthly as well. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-403a(10).

A Utah transaction failed years ago and the principal broker still cannot determine who is entitled to the earnest money sitting in trust. After three years the rule requires the broker to:

• a.Remit it to the Utah State Treasurer's Office✓
• b.Transfer it to the operating account as a fee
• c.Split it evenly between the buyer and seller of record
• d.Hold it in trust until a party makes a claim

If a principal broker is unable to disburse trust funds within three years after the failure of a transaction, the rule requires the funds to be remitted to the State Treasurer's Office as unclaimed property under the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. Where both parties make competing written claims, the broker may interplead the funds or refer the parties to mediation. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-403a(8)-(9).

Utah has no statute requiring a home seller to complete a state property-condition disclosure form. One condition Utah statute does require a seller to disclose is:

• a.Every repair the seller has made in the previous five years
• b.Any past radon testing
• c.Known current methamphetamine contamination✓
• d.Whether the roof is still under a manufacturer's warranty

Utah imposes no statutory seller property-condition disclosure form. What the statute does require is that an owner or lessor with actual knowledge that the property is currently contaminated from the use, storage or manufacture of methamphetamine disclose that in a lease, conveyance or related transaction. The property-condition form buyers usually see is called for by the state-approved purchase contract, not by statute. Cite: Utah Code 57-27-201(1); Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401f(1).

A Utah house was the site of a suicide two years ago and no one asks the seller's agent about it. Utah law treats the fact that the house is stigmatized as:

• a.A material fact that must be disclosed to any buyer
• b.Confidential unless the buyer asks a direct question
• c.Disclosable only if the seller gives written permission
• d.Not a material fact, and no basis for liability✓

Utah statute says the failure of an owner to disclose that property is stigmatized is not a material fact that must be disclosed, and that neither the owner nor the owner's agent is liable for failing to disclose it. Stigmatized is defined to cover a homicide, other felony or suicide site, the dwelling of a person infected or suspected of being infected with HIV, and property that was contaminated and has since been decontaminated. Cite: Utah Code 57-1-37; 57-1-1(8).

A Utah seller who knows his house is methamphetamine-contaminated says nothing, and the buyer sues the listing agent, who never knew. Utah statute provides that the agent is:

• a.Liable jointly with the seller for the failure
• b.Not liable, because he is not the owner✓
• c.Liable for decontamination costs
• d.Liable if he ever visited the property himself

A real estate professional, meaning a licensee under Title 61, Chapter 2f, is not liable for an owner or lessor making or failing to make the methamphetamine disclosure, unless the professional is also the owner or lessor of the property. The licensee's own duty not to misrepresent a material fact he knows about is a separate matter. Cite: Utah Code 57-27-202; 57-27-102(4).

Before offering a Utah residential property for sale, a licensee must disclose in the listing agreement, and again to the buyer, the:

• a.Source relied on for the square footage used in marketing✓
• b.County assessor's most recent market value
• c.Total commission the seller has agreed to pay
• d.Name of every licensee who will hold an open house

Utah makes the square footage source an affirmative disclosure duty: it goes in the written agreement with the seller through which the licensee acquires the right to offer the property, and in a written disclosure given to the buyer at or before the seller's disclosure deadline under the contract. Cite: Utah Admin. Code R162-2f-401a(8).