Washington Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

Washington's real estate agency law (RCW 18.86) requires that consumers be provided which informational document explaining brokerage relationships?

• a.A federal Truth in Lending statement
• b.The pamphlet on the law of real estate agency✓
• c.A homeowners insurance binder
• d.A property tax assessment

Under RCW 18.86, Washington brokers must provide consumers with the statutory pamphlet describing the law of real estate agency, which explains the duties owed and the types of relationships. This ensures consumers understand representation before entering a transaction.

In most Washington residential resales, the seller must give the buyer a completed real estate 'Form 17.' This form is the:

• a.Seller Disclosure Statement required under RCW 64.06✓
• b.Lead paint addendum
• c.Escrow instruction letter
• d.Purchase and sale agreement

Washington's Form 17 is the Seller Disclosure Statement required by RCW 64.06 for most residential sales. The seller discloses the known condition of the property and systems. The buyer typically has a right to rescind within a set period after receiving it if not satisfied.

A Washington broker begins showing homes to a buyer before any paperwork is signed. Whom does the broker represent?

• a.Neither party, until a written services agreement is signed
• b.The seller, under the listing firm's offer of cooperation
• c.The buyer, unless the firm appointed the broker to the seller✓
• d.Both parties, as a limited dual agent by operation of law

RCW 18.86.020(1) makes a broker who performs real estate brokerage services for a buyer that buyer's agent unless the firm appointed the broker to represent the seller, appointed the broker to both (limited dual agency), or the broker is the seller. Representation attaches from the services, not from a signature. Cite: RCW 18.86.020(1).

When must a Washington firm enter into a services agreement with its principal?

• a.Before services begin, or as soon as practical after✓
• b.Within five business days after the buyer first tours a home
• c.At any time before the closing agent disburses the proceeds
• d.Only when the principal asks the firm to put terms in writing

RCW 18.86.020(2)(a) requires the firm to enter into a services agreement with the principal before, or as soon as reasonably practical after, its appointed broker commences rendering real estate brokerage services to or on behalf of the principal. Cite: RCW 18.86.020(2)(a).

A Washington buyer services agreement does not state how long it runs. What term applies?

• a.Ninety days, the term used for residential listings
• b.Sixty days, the default the statute writes into it✓
• c.Six months, unless the buyer objects in writing
• d.No term; it runs until either party cancels it

RCW 18.86.020(2)(b)(i) requires a services agreement to state its term, and where the principal is a buyer it sets a default term of 60 days with the option of a longer term. This came from the agency overhaul in 2023 c 318, effective January 1, 2024. Cite: RCW 18.86.020(2)(b)(i).

How must a Washington principal consent to the appointed broker acting as a limited dual agent?

• a.By a separate addendum signed at the time of mutual acceptance
• b.Orally, then confirmed by the broker in the transaction file
• c.By initialing the purchase and sale agreement at closing
• d.By separately initialing that term in the services agreement✓

RCW 18.86.020(2)(b)(iv) requires the services agreement to state whether the principal consents to limited dual agency; that consent must be separately initialed by the principal and include an acknowledgment that a limited dual agent may not advocate terms favorable to one principal to the detriment of the other. Cite: RCW 18.86.020(2)(b)(iv).

When does Washington not require a services agreement for buyer representation?

• a.When the services are solely for commercial property✓
• b.When the buyer is paying cash and no financing is involved
• c.When the buyer has used the same firm in a prior purchase
• d.When the firm also holds the listing on the same property

RCW 18.86.020(3) provides that a services agreement is not required when a broker performs real estate brokerage services as a buyer's agent solely for commercial real estate, a term chapter 18.86 RCW defines by reference to RCW 60.42.005. Cite: RCW 18.86.020(3).

May a Washington principal waive the broker duties listed in RCW 18.86.030?

• a.Yes, any of them, if the waiver is initialed by both parties
• b.Yes, all but the duty to account for money and property
• c.No; the statute states these duties may not be waived✓
• d.Yes, but only in commercial real estate transactions

RCW 18.86.030(1) states that the duties it lists are owed to the principal and to all parties in a transaction and may not be waived. The added duties in RCW 18.86.040, 18.86.050 and 18.86.060 are waivable only to the narrow extent those sections themselves allow. Cite: RCW 18.86.030(1).

Unless otherwise agreed, what does a Washington broker owe with respect to the property's condition?

• a.A walkthrough inspection of all systems before any offer
• b.No independent inspection and no independent verification✓
• c.Verification of every statement the seller puts in writing
• d.A written review of the buyer's financial ability to close

RCW 18.86.030(2) says that unless otherwise agreed a broker owes no duty to conduct an independent inspection of the property, no duty to investigate either party's financial condition, and no duty to independently verify statements made by a party or by a source the broker reasonably believes reliable. The duty to disclose known material facts still stands. Cite: RCW 18.86.030(2).

A Washington listing is already under contract when a second written offer arrives. What must the broker do?

• a.Hold it until the pending contract fails or is terminated
• b.Return it unopened, since the seller cannot accept it
• c.Present it only if it beats the pending contract price
• d.Present it in a timely manner, the contract notwithstanding✓

RCW 18.86.030(1)(c) requires a broker to present all written offers, written notices and other written communications in a timely manner regardless of whether the property is subject to an existing contract for sale or the buyer is already a party to an existing contract to purchase. Cite: RCW 18.86.030(1)(c).

What must a Washington broker do with the statutory real estate brokerage pamphlet?

• a.Provide it and obtain an acknowledgment of receipt✓
• b.Post it in the firm's office where clients may read it
• c.Mail it to the party within three days after closing
• d.Offer it, and note in the file if the party declines

RCW 18.86.030(1)(f) requires the broker to provide the pamphlet prescribed by RCW 18.86.120 and obtain an acknowledgment of receipt from the party, as soon as reasonably practical but before the party signs a services agreement or an offer. Cite: RCW 18.86.030(1)(f).

When must a Washington broker disclose in writing whom the broker represents?

• a.At the first substantive contact with any prospective party
• b.Within 24 hours after the parties reach mutual agreement
• c.Before the principal signs an offer, and before mutual assent✓
• d.On the day the closing agent records the deed of conveyance

RCW 18.86.030(1)(g) requires the broker to disclose in writing whether the broker represents the buyer, the seller, or both as a limited dual agent before the broker's principal signs an offer, or as soon as reasonably practical but before the parties reach mutual agreement. Cite: RCW 18.86.030(1)(g).

What may a Washington limited dual agent not do?

• a.Keep looking for other properties for the buyer client
• b.Disclose a known material fact to both of the principals
• c.Receive compensation from both principals in the deal
• d.Advocate terms favoring one principal over the other✓

The acknowledgment RCW 18.86.020(2)(b)(iv) puts into the services agreement says a limited dual agent may not advocate terms favorable to one principal to the detriment of the other, and RCW 18.86.060(2) keeps the duty to take no action adverse to either party. Disclosing known material facts remains required by RCW 18.86.030(1)(d), and RCW 18.86.080(5) allows compensation from more than one party. Cite: RCW 18.86.060; RCW 18.86.020(2)(b)(iv).

How does chapter 18.86 RCW treat the common law fiduciary duties of a real estate agent?

• a.It adds them on top of the statutory duties it lists
• b.It supersedes them; the duties it creates are statutory✓
• c.It leaves them intact for sellers but not for buyers
• d.It applies them only when no services agreement exists

RCW 18.86.110 states that the duties under the chapter are statutory duties and not fiduciary duties, and that the chapter supersedes the fiduciary duties of an agent to a principal under the common law. The common law continues to apply to the parties in all other respects. Cite: RCW 18.86.110.

How long does a Washington broker's duty to keep a principal's confidential information last?

• a.Past termination, yielding only to a subpoena or court order✓
• b.Until the agency relationship ends by notice or by closing
• c.Three years, matching the firm's record retention period
• d.Until the property closes and the file goes to the escrow agent

RCW 18.86.040(1)(d) and RCW 18.86.050(1)(d) each state the duty not to disclose confidential information, except under subpoena or court order, even after termination of the agency relationship. RCW 18.86.070(2) confirms it survives termination. Cite: RCW 18.86.040(1)(d); RCW 18.86.050(1)(d).

After a Washington agency relationship ends, which duties remain unless otherwise agreed in writing?

• a.Loyalty and the duty to keep seeking a buyer for the seller
• b.Reasonable skill and care, plus honesty and good faith
• c.Accounting for money and property, and confidentiality✓
• d.Disclosure of material facts learned after termination

RCW 18.86.070(2) provides that except as otherwise agreed in writing, a broker owes no further duty after termination of the agency relationship other than to account for all moneys and property received during the relationship and to not disclose confidential information. Cite: RCW 18.86.070(2).

A Washington seller's broker learns of a defect and never tells the seller. Is the seller charged with that knowledge?

• a.Yes; an agent's knowledge is always imputed to the principal
• b.No; the principal must actually know it, absent a writing✓
• c.Yes, but only once the broker records it in the file
• d.No, unless the broker learned it from a licensed inspector

RCW 18.86.100 displaces the common law rule of imputed knowledge: unless otherwise agreed to in writing, a principal does not have knowledge or notice of any facts known by an agent of the principal that are not actually known by the principal. The broker's own duty to disclose material facts is untouched. Cite: RCW 18.86.100.

Washington now restricts marketing a residential listing to a limited group of buyers or brokers. What does the statute require?

• a.A written waiver signed by the seller before any private showing
• b.Notice to the multiple listing service within three business days
• c.Approval by the firm's designated broker and a five-day period
• d.Concurrent marketing to the general public and all other brokers✓

RCW 18.86.130, added to chapter 18.86 RCW by 2026 c 57 (Substitute Senate Bill 6091), bars a broker from marketing residential real estate to a limited or exclusive group of prospective buyers or brokers unless the property is concurrently marketed to the general public and all other brokers, except as reasonably necessary to protect the health or safety of the owner or occupant. Marketing to the public does not oblige the owner to allow access. Cite: RCW 18.86.130.