Chapter 1: Georgia Law Flashcards
The purpose of the Georgia real estate law, first passed by the state legislature in ____ is to?
1925; protect the public against incompetent and dishonest real estate agents.
The laws are also designed to…?
Protect real estate agents from unfair competition and lay out the standards by which licenses are expected to abide.
Real Estate Commission is comprised of ___ members? These members are appointed by the _____ and then confirmed by the _____.
6
Governor
State Senate
The following are true of the Georgia Real Estate Commission
- Five of the six members must be real estate licensees, who have been actively licensed for a minimum of 5 years and must have been residents of Georgia for at least 5 years.
- The sixth member must have an interest in consumer affairs, but must not have any interest in the real estate industry.
- All members terms are 5 years each.
- The members terms are staggered, only one Licensee member’s term can expire each year.
The purpose of the real estate license law and the members of the commission who enforce it is…?
- Protect the public fro any harmful acts of people acting as real estate licensees by assuring that licensees meet a basic level of competency.
- To create a regulatory environment for the real estate industry that is reasonable ad allows licensee to attain economic success.
The Georgia real estate commission has five focal points of responsibility.
- Developing a spirit of cooperation and unity among commission members.
- Evaluating staff operations
- Establishing a fair qualifying process.
- Establishing a fair and un-biased hearing process
- Communicating with the industry and the public.
The authority of the Georgia Real Estate Commission is based upon
Statutory law. The license law gives the Real Estate Commission the authority to adopt rules and regulations, which have been designed to clarify sections of the law.
The Georgia real estate commission’s authority involves four separate categories:
- Issuing licenses
- Taking disciplinary Action
- Passing rules and Regulations
- Establishing Fees
Rules and regulations may only be adopted if they…?
Fall under the umbrella of license law in Georgia.
A non-resident who is licensed in another state must meet these requirements:
- Submission of satisfactory proof of current licensure in the applicants state of residence.
- Payment of any required fees.
- A signed statement stating that the applicant has read the Georgia real estate license laws and it’s rules and regulations and has agreed to abide.
- Affiliation with a resident or non-resident broker if the applicant is an individual community association manager, salesperson or associate broker.
Anyone caught practicing real estate without a license may…
- Impose a fine of up to 1,000 per day.
2. This could be considered a misdemeanor meaning a jail sentence of one year or less.
According to Georgia Law, an individual is not required to have a real estate license if they are…?
- An owner of real estate, the spouse of an owner, a general partner of a limited partnership, a landlord or a prospective purchaser or their regular employees or spouses.
- An attorney in fact or an attorney at law.
- Any person acting as a receiver trustee in bankruptcy, administrator, executor or guardian.
- Any officer or employee of a government agency
- Any person employed full-time by a public or private utility.
- A manager of residential properties.
- Full time employees of the property owner.
- Any person acting as a referral agent who is not involved in the actual negotiations.
Additionally,
- Any individual employed by a broker to assist in property management services on residential property.
Innkeeper’s exemption
Any person who provides property management services on properties available for 90 days or less is exempt from license law.
Salesperson License Requirements:
- Be 18 years or older
- Be a resident of the state of Georgia
- Be a high school graduate or hold a certificate of equivalency.
- Furnish 75 hours of in-class hours in a salesperson course or approved course or complete 10 quarter hours or 6 semester hours in real estate at an accredited college or university.
- Take and and pass a real estate examination administered by or approved by the commission.
Broker or Broker Associate License Requirements:
- Be 21 years of age or older
- Have served actively for three years as a licensee.
- Furnish evidence of completion of 60 in class hours in a broker’s course approved by commission.
- Take and pass a real estate examination administered by or approved by the commission.
Once a salesperson has ben issued his original license, he must complete..?
25 hour course of study. Post- license educational requirement. This must be completed with ONE YEAR of licensure.
In the event a sales person does not complete this…?
His license will be considered lapse and given immediately to the commission.
The license period in Georgia is…? And renews when?
4 Years, the licensee renews on the last day of the applicants birth month.
___ hours of continuing education must be completed within each __ year license period.
36 hours; 4 years
Inactive status..?
Not permitted to practice.
Must take 25 hour post license course for new licensees and to pay the same renewal fees as active license. It is invalid indefinitely and 9 hours of continuing education per year.
Real estate licenses may be issued to the following entities in Georgia:
- Sole proprietorships
- Partnerships
- Corporations
- Limited Liability Companies (LLC)
In order to be issued a license for entities…?
One person who actually holds a Georgia brokers license and this individual must be designated as the company’s qualifying broker.
Non-resident brokers must meet three conditions:
- Non-resident must have a written agreement with a Georgia Broker to conduct the real estate brokerage business in Georgia.
- Georgia must have a written reciprocity agreement with the state in which the broker has his or her license.
- If the licensed broker of another state is acting as a referral agent, the licensed broker in Georgia is permitted to divide a real estate commission with, or pay a referral fee to, the out-of-state broker.
All applicants must..?
- Apply to take the license exam and pay the non-refundable fee.
- Achieve a 75% or higher.
Requirements for salesperson or community association manager license applicants are:
- The applicant must apply for the license within 3 months of the date of the exam and pay the fee. After 3 months of the exam date but before 13 month with a double fee.
- An application must include the signature of the applicant’s employing broker; or if there isn’t an employing broker, the applicant may apply for an inactive license.
The requirements for a broker license applicant are as follows:
- The applicant must apply for the broker license within one year of the exam date.
- If the broker applicant does not apply for license within that time frame, the exam is considered null and the applicant must retake the exam.
What extra qualifications are required for a broker’s application of a community association manager?
The individual must complete an additional 75 in-class hours of approved courses.
Signing a Consent to Jurisdiction form relates to
qualifying for non-resident licensure in another state.
If a nonresident licensee terminates the affiliation with a Georgia broker, what occurs with the license?
The license will automatically be terminated.
If a licensee’s license has lapsed for 18 months, what must the licensee do to have it reinstated?
Pay the required fees.
A licensee who wants to activate a lapsed license which has been on inactive status for a less than two years may do so by
paying the required fees.
If a licensee fails to meet the terms of the written transfer agreement, the broker
must sign the release but may file a complaint with the Commission.
A licensee on inactive status who changes his or her address must notify the Commission of the new address
within 30 days.
Under which of the following circumstances is it allowed under Georgia law that a licensee can keep his own wall license?
When he is retiring after at least 20 years of active licensure
A salesperson can begin working as a real estate licensee
once the employing broker receives her wall license.
Which of the following is correct concerning record-keeping requirements of the Commission?
They must retain original licensure records for 15 years
Must retain recovery fund records for 40 years
Under which condition might the Commission choose to extend a renewal without the licensee having to pay the required fees?
A licensee living in a designated disaster area suffers uninsured damage to his home.
Which of the following is true concerning the qualifying broker’s death?
The entity must secure a new qualifying broker within 60 days.
Applications for licensure, renewal of license, transfer of license, changes in the status of a license, or change in the name of a firm must be on?
Commission-approved forms.
Which is correct concerning an original license activation?
Individual and firm applicants must pay an activation fee and renewal fee.
Within 60 days of making application, each applicant for a license or for an instructor approval must obtain - at his or her own expense
a certified criminal history report.
ny license or approval which lapses solely because the licensee failed to pay the renewal fee may be reinstated if it is within two years of the date of the lapsing..?
(Considering education requirements are met) The licensee must pay the total amount of all renewal fees and late charges which would have been due during the period that the license was lapsed, plus a reinstatement fee.
If the license has lapsed for a period longer than two years and less than ten years due solely to a failure to pay a renewal fee, the licensee may reinstate that license by doing all of the following:
Paying the total amount of all renewal fees and late charges that would have been due during the period when the license was lapsed.
Paying a reinstatement fee.
Completing successfully any educational course or courses that the Commission requires.
If the license has lapsed for longer than ten years for failure to pay a renewal fee?
licensee must meet the education and examination requirements of a new licensee.
A nonresident licensee whose license lapses for failure to pay a renewal fee may reactivate that license by paying the fee required of an original applicant if:
That nonresident licensee has maintained an active license in his or her state of residence during the period that his or her license lapsed; AND
Has met the continuing education requirements of his or her state of residence.
In the case of either a real estate broker who doesn’t wish to be actively engaged in the brokerage business, or a licensee who is temporarily not engaged on behalf of a broker, that licensee may continue a license by making a
written request within 30 days of ceasing work that the license be placed on inactive status.
A licensee who wants to activate a lapsed license which has been on inactive status for less than two years may reinstate the license to active status by
paying the required fees.
A licensee who wants to activate a lapsed license which has been on inactive status for two years or longer may reinstate the license to active status by
Paying the required fees & taking 9 hours of continuing education.
A license can be surrendered to the Georgia Real Estate Commission either voluntarily OR involuntarily
When surrendering a license, the licensee must forward his or her wall license and pocket card to the Commission immediately.
In the event that the qualifying broker of a partnership, limited liability company, or corporation dies, resigns or is discharged unexpectedly, this partnership
must secure a new qualifying broker within 60 days. If it does not do so, then it must cease all real estate brokerage activity until a new qualifying broker is secured.
An inactive license is valid for how long?
Indefinitely, provided educational requirements are met
Under BRRETA, which of the following is true concerning confidential information disclosed to the broker by a designated agent?
The broker may not share this information with other agents.
BRRETA sets forth which of the following broker duties to the landlord?
Complying with fair housing and civil rights statutes
According to BRRETA, a broker engaged by the seller is required to make timely disclosures to the buyer regarding all material facts pertaining to existing adverse physical conditions in the immediate neighborhood within how many miles of the property?
One mile
Which of the following are BRRETA facts that apply to the liability of brokers engaged by landlords?
A broker does not have a duty to discover any potential adverse facts affecting either the neighborhood or subject property.
Which of the following is true concerning a broker’s responsibility related to purchase offers from a buyer?
The broker is not required to find other listed properties for a buyer under contract unless so stipulated in the brokerage agreement.
Examples of readily available public records for review by prospective renter would include
plat maps, zoning ordinances, and flood maps.
Which statement is correct concerning responsibility for discovering and divulging adverse material facts?
Obtaining information about the physical condition of the property rests with the broker, landlord, and tenant.
A broker providing MLS listings to a tenant
is a legal ministerial act.
Aspects of brokerage engagement requirements include
broker disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest.
Any person, firm, or corporation that is a source, compiler, or supplier of information regarding real estate for sale or lease and other data, and includes but is not limited to multiple listing services, is known as
a common source information company.
It is the prospective tenant’s obligation to
disclose to the prospective landlord his/her financial qualifications.
Georgia law defines a transaction broker by which of the following?
A broker who performs ministerial acts for one or more of the parties to a transaction
Which of the following are duties owed by the broker after completion of the engagement?
An accounting of all monies and property relating to the engagement
Agency confidentiality may terminate when
specific information present within the current relationship becomes public record.
Which of the following is true concerning brokerage engagement requirements?
A broker may receive compensation only from the engaged client.
A broker may share compensation with other brokers.
The trust account must be maintained in
separate, federally-insured bank checking account in Georgia.
Under Georgia law, a broker who does not accept trust funds in real estate brokerage transactions is..?
not required to maintain a designated trust or escrow account.
However if such a broker later receives trust funds in a real estate transaction, that broker must?
open the designated trust or escrow account within one business day of the receipt of those trust funds.
Georgia Code allows brokers to maintain ?
more than one designated trust or escrow account. The brokers must notify the Commission of the name of the bank in which each account is maintained and each account’s name or number within one month of opening each account.
A licensee must place all cash, checks or other items of value he or she receives in a ?
brokerage capacity into the custody of the employing broker as soon as possible after receipt.
A licensee must place all cash, checks or other items of value he or she receives when acting as a principal in the sale of property he or she owns and all security deposits received on rental property he or she owns in?
into the custody of the employing broker or in a trust account approved by that broker as soon as possible after receipt.