West Virginia Real Estate Salesperson Exam — All Questions
15 questions
Real estate salespersons in West Virginia are licensed and regulated by:
- a.The West Virginia Real Estate Commission✓
- b.The county clerk
- c.The West Virginia Secretary of State
- d.The West Virginia Association of Realtors
The West Virginia Real Estate Commission licenses and disciplines brokers and salespersons under W. Va. Code Chapter 30, Article 40. A trade association is a private membership group and does not issue licenses.
In West Virginia, a licensed salesperson may conduct real estate brokerage:
- a.Only after also obtaining a broker license
- b.Independently after the license issues
- c.For any broker willing to share a commission
- d.Only under the supervision of a licensed broker✓
A West Virginia salesperson may act only under the supervision of a licensed broker and may not operate independently. The supervising broker is responsible for the salesperson's real estate conduct and for the brokerage's trust accounts and records.
A West Virginia salesperson may lawfully be paid a commission by:
- a.Any cooperating broker in the deal
- b.The broker who supervises the salesperson✓
- c.The seller directly upon listing
- d.The buyer directly at closing
A West Virginia salesperson is compensated only through the supervising broker, not directly by a buyer, seller, or another broker. The supervising broker oversees the salesperson and is accountable for handling client funds.
A person convicted of a first violation of the West Virginia Real Estate License Act or the Commission's rules is subject to:
- a.a fine of $500 to $1,000 and no jail exposure
- b.a fine of $1,000 to $2,000, confinement in jail up to 90 days, or both✓
- c.a felony conviction and up to one year in prison
- d.a civil penalty of $5,000 payable to the Commission
The violation is a misdemeanor. A first conviction draws a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $2,000, jail of not more than 90 days, or both; a second or subsequent conviction raises the fine to $2,000–$5,000 and the jail term to as much as one year. Cite: W. Va. Code §30-40-22(a)–(b).
A person who receives compensation for acts performed in violation of the West Virginia Real Estate License Act is additionally subject to a penalty of:
- a.exactly double the compensation received
- b.a flat $10,000 for each transaction involved
- c.not less than the compensation received and no more than three times it✓
- d.the compensation received, reduced by the broker's customary share of the split
This penalty is on top of the criminal fine, is set by a court, and may be recovered by the person aggrieved by the violation. Cite: W. Va. Code §30-40-22(g).
West Virginia brokers must preserve the records relating to a real estate transaction for:
- a.five years following the transaction's consummation✓
- b.three years from the date the listing was taken
- c.seven years from the date of closing
- d.two years from the latest date the company participated
Failure to preserve transaction records for five years after consummation is an enumerated ground for discipline, and the Commission's rule repeats the five-year floor for books, contracts, closing documents and trust account records. Cite: W. Va. Code §30-40-19(a)(28); W. Va. C.S.R. §174-1-10.3.
A West Virginia broker takes a listing entitling the broker to a commission only to the extent the sales price exceeds a stated figure. The broker has:
- a.taken an exclusive agency listing, which is expressly permitted
- b.violated only the trust fund account provisions of the Act
- c.created a dual agency that written consent would cure
- d.taken a net listing, which is a ground for discipline✓
Obtaining, negotiating or attempting to negotiate such an arrangement — the statute names it as "commonly referred to as a net listing" — is listed among the acts for which the Commission may refuse, suspend or revoke a license. Cite: W. Va. Code §30-40-19(a)(40).
Under West Virginia's advertising rule, the responsible broker's name and the term "Broker" must appear at a size that is:
- a.at least twice the size of any other name shown
- b.no less than half the size of the associate broker, salesperson, or team name✓
- c.exactly equal to the size of the team name used
- d.whatever size the responsible broker chooses to use
Every advertisement must carry the company name, the responsible broker's name with the term "Broker," the physical address of a licensed office and a phone number; the broker's name and title must be displayed at no less than half the size of the licensee or team names. Cite: W. Va. C.S.R. §174-1-17.1.
Which required item may be left off a West Virginia for-sale sign placed in a yard?
- a.the physical address of a licensed office location✓
- b.the company name under which the broker is licensed
- c.the responsible broker's name and the term "Broker"
- d.a telephone number at which the brokerage can be reached
The advertising rule makes one express exception for yard signs: signs placed in a yard offering property for sale, rent or lease need not display the physical address of a licensed office. Everything else the rule requires still applies. Cite: W. Va. C.S.R. §174-1-17.1.
When a West Virginia licensee advertises on social media, the brokerage information the rule requires must be:
- a.repeated in the text of every individual post
- b.embedded in the licensee's profile photograph
- c.accessible with no more than two mouse clicks✓
- d.filed with the Commission before the account is used
For internet advertising the required information must appear on the home page or first screen the viewer sees; on social media the rule relaxes that to information reachable within two mouse clicks. Cite: W. Va. C.S.R. §174-1-17.4.
The sign a West Virginia broker must erect at the principal office and at each branch office must use lettering:
- a.not less than three inches in height
- b.of whatever size the landlord permits
- c.at least half the height of the street number
- d.not less than one inch in height✓
The sign must be easily observed and read by a person about to enter, and must prominently display the broker's name, the term "Broker" and the company name in lettering at least one inch high. Cite: W. Va. C.S.R. §174-1-13.1.
A West Virginia broker who licenses a branch office and appoints a manager for it must choose a licensee who is active and has at least:
- a.five years of actual experience
- b.two years of actual experience✓
- c.one full year of actual experience
- d.a broker's license issued by another state
Every licensed branch office needs a designated manager. The broker may serve personally if capable of adequate supervision; otherwise the appointed associate broker or salesperson must be active with at least two years of actual experience. Cite: W. Va. C.S.R. §174-1-14.2.
On the death of a West Virginia sole proprietor broker, the Commission may allow an associate broker or designated salesperson to close the existing business for a period not to exceed:
- a.30 days from the date of death
- b.one year from the date of death
- c.six months from the date the Commission approves the arrangement✓
- d.the remainder of the license year
The permission is discretionary and fact-specific, lets the non-broker licensee take signed contracts to closing, and runs no more than six months from Commission approval. The sole proprietor's licensees may instead transfer to a new broker. Cite: W. Va. C.S.R. §174-1-11.1.a.
A West Virginia broker must notify the Commission of the establishment of, or any change to, a trust fund account within:
- a.30 days
- b.three business days
- c.the next license renewal cycle
- d.10 days✓
The statute fixes 10 days for trust account notices. Watch the neighbouring deadlines, which differ: a broker reports a change of company address within 10 days, while a licensee reports a change of name, address, phone or email within 30 days or before June 30, whichever comes first. Cite: W. Va. Code §30-40-18(k); W. Va. C.S.R. §§174-1-10.4, 174-1-9.6.
Administrative fines imposed by the West Virginia Real Estate Commission are deposited into:
- a.the General Revenue Fund of the State Treasury✓
- b.the real estate license fund
- c.a real estate recovery fund for consumers injured by licensees
- d.the Commission's continuing education account
Fees and other money go daily into a special revenue account called the real estate license fund, which may be spent only on administering and enforcing the Act. Fines are treated differently and go to General Revenue. West Virginia's Act creates no consumer recovery fund at all. Cite: W. Va. Code §30-40-9(a), (c).