Wyoming Real Estate Salesperson Exam — All Questions

Regarding a known adverse material fact about a property, a Wyoming licensee must:

• a.Ignore it under caveat emptor
• b.Disclose it only when acting as an agent, never as a customer's licensee
• c.Conceal it if the seller requests
• d.Disclose the known adverse material fact and deal honestly with the parties✓

Whether acting as an agent or working with a customer, a Wyoming licensee must disclose known adverse material facts about a property and deal honestly with all parties. A licensee may not conceal or misrepresent a known defect even at the seller's request.

Earnest money a Wyoming salesperson receives from a buyer must be:

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

Client funds such as earnest money must be handled through the brokerage's trust account, which the responsible broker maintains and keeps separate from personal funds. A salesperson who receives money must deliver it promptly to the responsible broker. Commingling or converting client money is a serious violation of Wyoming license law.

Wyoming's property disclosure statement for vacant land must tell the buyer, among other things:

• a.the assessed value of the parcel for the current tax year
• b.whether the underlying mineral estate has been severed in the chain of title✓
• c.the identity of every previous owner appearing in the parcel's chain of title
• d.the name of the nearest certified appraiser

The statement also covers whether the property is offered as a unified estate, the availability of utilities, water and sewer, road maintenance, fire protection, and known or recorded easements. Cite: Wyo. Stat. §34-1-151(a).

For purposes of Wyoming's vacant land disclosure statute, "vacant land" means land with no habitable dwelling, outside a platted subdivision or city or town, and:

• a.less than 40 acres
• b.less than 320 acres
• c.of any size
• d.less than 140 acres✓

All three conditions must be met for the parcel to be vacant land under the statute. Cite: Wyo. Stat. §34-1-151(d).

A separate Wyoming disclosure applies to every seller of land outside the corporate boundaries of a city or town. That seller must state in writing whether:

• a.the land lies within a designated floodplain
• b.the land has ever been used for livestock grazing
• c.fee ownership of the wind estate has been severed from the surface✓
• d.a conservation easement has ever been offered on any portion of the land

The wind disclosure reaches the existence of a wind energy agreement as defined in the statute, and like the vacant-land disclosure it may be waived by the buyer. Cite: Wyo. Stat. §34-1-151(e), (b).

A Wyoming seller fails to give the required property disclosure statement. The consequence is that:

• a.the transfer is void at the buyer's option
• b.the transfer stands, but the seller is liable for the buyer's actual damages✓
• c.the county clerk must refuse to accept the deed for recording until it is cured
• d.the listing licensee's license is automatically suspended

No transfer is invalidated solely because of a failure to comply, but a person who willfully or negligently violates the duty is liable in the amount of actual damages suffered by the buyer. Cite: Wyo. Stat. §34-1-151(c).

When a deed is presented to a Wyoming county clerk for recording, it must be accompanied by:

• a.a sworn statement of consideration disclosing the actual amount paid for the property✓
• b.documentary stamps purchased from the county treasurer
• c.a transfer tax payment computed on the sale price
• d.an appraisal prepared within the previous six months

The clerk may not accept the instrument for recording until the completed sworn statement is received, though failure to comply does not affect the instrument's validity between the parties. The statements feed county sales-price ratio studies rather than any tax computed at recording. Cite: Wyo. Stat. §34-1-142(a), (b), (d).

A Wyoming statement of consideration filed with a deed is:

• a.indexed and open to public inspection
• b.published annually by the department of revenue
• c.available to any licensee on written request
• d.confidential and not a public record✓

It is held confidential by the county clerk, county assessor, the boards of equalization and the department of revenue, is not subject to discovery in other proceedings, and may be shown only to a person reviewing or contesting his own assessment. Cite: Wyo. Stat. §34-1-142(e).

Wyoming law declares the ownership of all pore space in the strata below the surface to be vested in:

• a.the owners of the severed mineral estate
• b.the owners of the surface above✓
• c.the state of Wyoming as trustee
• d.the holder of the most recent oil and gas lease

A conveyance of the surface carries the pore space unless it was previously severed or is explicitly excluded. For priority of subsurface uses, however, the severed mineral estate stays dominant whoever owns the pore space. Cite: Wyo. Stat. §34-1-152(a)-(b), (e).

Before beginning oil and gas operations on a Wyoming split estate, the operator must give the surface owner written notice of the proposed operations:

• a.at least 10 days before operations commence
• b.no more than 60 days nor less than 14 days before operations commence
• c.no more than 180 days nor less than 30 days before operations commence✓
• d.at any time before the drilling permit is approved

The notice must disclose the plan of work well enough for the surface owner to evaluate its effect, and must include proposed dates, facility locations and access routes, operator contact information, an offer to negotiate in good faith, and a copy of the act. A separate five-day notice applies to nonsurface disturbing activities. Cite: Wyo. Stat. §30-5-402(b), (e).

When a Wyoming oil and gas operator posts a surety bond instead of obtaining the surface owner's consent or a surface use agreement, the bond must be at least:

• a.$1,000 per well site
• b.$25,000 per well site
• c.$100,000 for the whole field
• d.$10,000 a well site✓

A blanket bond covering operations on one surface owner's land is also permitted, but it too must be at least $10,000 per well site, and the minimum is expressly not a measure of reasonable and foreseeable damages. Cite: Wyo. Stat. §30-5-404(b).

Wyoming's surface damage and disruption payments to a surface owner:

• a.may not be severed from the land surface✓
• b.may be assigned to the mineral lessee at closing
• c.may be sold separately as a royalty interest
• d.pass to the operator once reclamation is complete

The payments cover loss of production and income, loss of land value and loss of the value of improvements on land directly affected by the operations. An operator who misses an installment under an annual damage agreement owes twice the unpaid installment if it stays unpaid 60 days after notice. Cite: Wyo. Stat. §30-5-405(a)(iii), (b).