Virginia Broker Flashcards
Become a Virginia Broker
Describe active status.
Broker or salesperson legally engaged in regulated acts of real estate brokerage. Things such as continuing education can differ between active and inactive licenses.
What is actively engaged?
With an active license is engaged in at least 40 hours per week in regulated real estate activity.
What is broker experience requirement?
Must be a salesperson actively engaged in 36 of 48 months.
What is an applicant?
Someone who applies to the Board for a real estate license.
What is an associate broker?
A licensed broker other than the person designated as principal broker at a firm.
Describe a broker agreement.
Written agreement establishing the brokerage relationship between a client and a licensee, which must state whether the licensee will represent the client as an agent (standard or limited service) or as an independent contractor.
Describe a brokerage relationship.
The contractual relationship between a client and a licensee.
What is a client?
Person who has entered into a brokerage relationship with a licensee.
Describe a firm.
Partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company, or sole proprietorship (principal broker owner) engaged in the sale of real estate on behalf of others for profit. Firms must be licensed (unless the firm is a sole proprietor-principal broker owner).
Describe inactive status
a broker or salesperson who is not under the supervision of a principal or supervising broker, not active with a firm, and prohibited from performing any acts of brokerage (compare this to active status, above).
Describe an independent contractor.
Licensee who enters into a brokerage agreement with a client, which specifically states that the licensee is acting as an independent contractor and not as an agent. An independent contractor has the obligations agreed upon by the parties in the brokerage agreement, as well as some of the duties (but not all) that a standard agent has towards a client.
What is a limited services agent?
Licensee who acts for a client pursuant to a brokerage agreement in a residential transaction, which states that the agent will not provide one or more of the duties that a standard agent is required to provide. A limited service agent has the obligations agreed upon by the parties in the brokerage agreement, as well as some disclosure obligations required by law.
What is a principal broker?
Individual broker who must be designated by each firm to ensure compliance with the Virginia License Law, to receive communications from the Board, and to supervise affiliated licensee and firm activity.
What is a principal to a transaction?
A party to a real estate transaction, including without limitation a seller or buyer, landlord, tenant, or optionor or optionee. For the purposes of Virginia License Law, the listing or selling broker, or both, are not principals to the transaction by virtue of their brokerage relationship.
What is a Sole Proprietor (Principal Broker Owner)?
Brokerage firm that does not require a firm license, as long as the individual broker/owner is licensed. Principal broker owners may operate under legal or fictitious names as approved by the Board.
What is a standard agent?
Licensee who acts for or represents a client in an agency relationship (other than as a limited service agent) in a residential transaction.
What is a supervising broker?
Either the broker appointed by the principal broker to supervise associate brokers and salespersons (could be the principal broker), or the broker appointed by the principal broker to supervise a designated agent/representative.
Virginia Real Estate Board Composition
Nine members: 7 licensed brokers or salespersons with 5 years experience and 2 citizens.
What are the primary powers of the real estate board?
Rulemaking, licensing, enforcement (can suspend, deny, or revoke licenses) education (regulates education requirements as well as schools.)
Who can sell real estate but be exempt from licensing requirements?
Individual selling their own property; act without compensation under a power of attorney; resolve client issues as a licensed attorney; follow a court order (bankruptcy, wills, trusts, estates); auction property (auctioneers); orshow rental property (rental agents). Also, sole proprietor-broker owned firms with a single location do not require a firm license (but the principal broker owner must be licensed).
What are qualifications for licensee and broker?
Licensee: Must have a high school diploma or its equivalent, at least 18 years old, in good standing in all other jurisdictions where licensed, and be reputed to act honestly, truthfully, fairly, and competently. Broker candidates must have experience as licensed active salespersons for 36 of the preceding 48 months before application.
Rules on prior convictions?
Candidates must disclose convictions of certain misdemeanors that occurred within 5 years of application (moral turpitude, sexual offense, drug distribution, physical injury) and must also disclose any felony convictions that occurred within the candidate’s lifetime. Candidates must also submit a set of fingerprints to the Virginia Central Criminal Records Exchange so the Board may procure a state and national fingerprint-based criminal history record. Additionally, candidates must not have had a license suspended, revoked, or surrendered in any state.
What kind of prelicense education must candidates complete?
Candidates for a real estate license must pass an approved pre-license education course. Candidates must also sit for and pass the state examination (National and State portions) following successful completion of their pre-license education. Salesperson need 60 hours of prelicensing. Brokers need 180 hours of prelicensing.
What are requirements for reciprocity?
Must be 18, HS diploma, similar licensing from another jurisdiction, sign statement saying understands VA license law, passed Virginia license law exam withing previous 12 months, must be in good standing in all other jurisdictions, paid all fees, etc., honesty, truthfulness, fair dealing. All misdemeanor convictions involving moral turpitude, sexual offense, drug distribution or physical injury within five years of the date of the application., disclose felony convictions in lifetime.
What is a broker-owned sole proprietorship?
Firms owned by a single licensed broker (sole proprietor) with a single location (no branch offices) do not need a firm license.
What does a broker-owned sole proprietorship branch office need?
All branch offices must be licensed (and supervised by a broker), even if owned by a single licensed broker. Branch licenses must be posted at the licensed branch office.
Requirements to operate under fictitious name for broker-owned sole proprietorship ?
Firms may operate under fictitious names. However, licensed (single) broker owners must first register their legal name w/Board along with fictitious name, and residential and business addresses.
What must firms owned by multiple brokers have?
Firms owned by multiple brokers, non-brokers, or organized as a corporation, partnership, association, or LLC must have a firm license (in addition to individual licenses). Firm must also be authorized to do business in Virginia by the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
How many pre-licensing hours must salesperson have
60 hours.
What is personal property?
Personal property Personal property is generally moveable and unattached to land–cars, boats, jewelry, horses, and cattle, or intangible like stocks, bonds, notes, and mortgages, trade fixtures, leases, and fructus industriales (emblements). It is also known as personalty and chattel.
What is real property?
Real Property: Includes land, improvements (valuable additions to land such as buildings and infrastructure development), and real estate (land plus improvements). Houses are a common improvement. Other improvements include:
What are rights in real property?
Rights in Real Property: Includes ownership rights in the surface of land, airspace above land, space below the surface (mining rights), any easements (use of land), and use of appurtenant (adjoining) land.
What is bundle of Legal Rights?
In short, these rights are: possess, control, enjoy, exclude, encumber, and dispose.
Water Rights
riparian (reasonable use for those with property bordering moving water), littoral (reasonable use for those with property bordering non-moving water), and prior appropriation (owner who first diverts water has superior rights to all others).
Common types of real property uses?
Commonly available property uses include: residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational, specific purpose (churches, hospitals, colleges, cemeteries), and public (state, federal, and municipal land).
Assemblage
how combining two or more contiguous parcels of real estate into a single parcel under the same ownership can increase its overall value. Assemblage is viable when the combined property will be more valuable than the sum of the individual parcels. Any increase in value resulting from assemblage is known as plottage value.
Types of legal property descriptions?
The three principal methods of legally describing real property are: metes and bounds; government survey; and lot, block, and subdivision.
metes and bounds description
Identifies the outer edges of a parcel by establishing a well-marked starting point, called a point of beginning or POB, then describing in which direction and how far the property boundary runs from the POB. For easier locating, POBs are usually marked by permanent artificial monuments, like a survey stake. A legal metes and bounds description must start and finish at the POB or the description is defective. Metes and bounds is well suited for identifying irregularly shaped parcels
Government Survey description
Adopted 1785, also known as the geodetic or rectangular survey system, and it is used in more than 30 states, mostly in the mid-west. This method employs the use of imaginary lines running north/south and east/west. These lines form a checkerboard pattern as they intersect, which are further divided into smaller units. This method works well for identifying large parcels, but not so well for describing small or irregularly shaped lots.
Lot, Block, and Subdivision (Recorded Plat):
legally describing property, which begins with a large tract of land known as a subdivision plat. Subdivision plats are initially located by either metes and bounds or government survey. A subdivision plat is a large map which notes the layout of lots and their numbers. Once established and named, subdivision plats are further divided into blocks and lots. Before they may be recorded, subdivision plats must be pre-approved by local governmental units in charge of zoning. Each recorded plat receives a book and page reference number, and all plat books are available for public inspection. If a parcel of real property is part of a recorded plat, the legal description need only include the lot and block number, tract name, map book reference, county, and state.
ENCUMBRANCES
Interest in land held or asserted by someone other than the landowner, which may diminish its value. Encumbrances can affect rights to use, as well as rights to convey property. These limitations may be created by both individual and government action. In order to protect the purchaser of property, as well as the person benefiting from the encumbrance (mortgagor, lienholder, etc.), encumbrances should be noted in deeds and in the public record.
Liens
Encumbrance on property to guaranty payment of debts by using property as collateral. If a borrower defaults on a loan secured by a lien, creditor can seek his share of the collateral to satisfy the debt. Liens always create an impediment to clear title. There are two types: voluntary (created through an agreement) and involuntary (created by operation of law). Satisfying a lien implicates three basic concepts: priority, satisfaction, and enforcement. The priority of a lien is determined by law (tax lien), the date it was recorded, or by the date it attached to the property (collateral).
Lien Priority
Generally, lien priority follows the following order: tax liens, mortgages, mechanic’s liens, other liens in the order they were recorded, and unrecorded liens.
Satisfying a Lien
Pay it off. Ensure lien holder removes lien. Evidence of satisfaction is usually in the form of an instrument called a “quitclaim deed.”
Lien enforcement
Typically requires a court order. Creditor typically must take legal action.
Lis Pendens:
Latin, means “action pending” – the concept of providing notice of a possible future lien. It provides constructive notice that an action affecting particular real estate has been filed and is, or is about to become, involved in a lawsuit. If the suit is successful, the priority of the lien dates back to the date the lis pendens was filed (not the date of the final court decision).
Scope of Liens
General liens apply to the individual and all of his personal and real property (like federal tax liens and some judicial liens). Specific liens apply to specific property of the debtor only (like mortgages, property tax liens, and mechanic’s liens).
Common Liens
Mechanic’s liens (specific, statutory, and involuntary; generally effective when work begins), judgment liens (general, equitable, and involuntary), and attachment liens (property seized and held pending a lawsuit).
Property Tax Lien
Specific (attaches to a specific parcel of real estate), statutory (arising from legislation), and involuntary (created by operation of law) typically filed at the beginning of each tax year (usually January 1). The effective date of property tax liens is the date taxes are assessed. Property tax liens are superior and take priority over other liens, regardless of when they were recorded. Overdue property taxes become liens automatically, without a requirement to file or record the lien.
Seisin
the possession and ownership of a freehold estate.
Remainder Estate
Estate that automatically arises after an existing estate terminates. The remainder estate converts from a future estate to a possessory estate automatically upon the termination of the prior estate.
How many years does a new builder home warranty cover for structural issues?
?
How many feet in an acre
43,560
Accrued expenses
Accrued expenses are expenses that are paid in arrears—that is, paid after they have been earned by the creditor. Accrued expenses include such items as property taxes that are paid in arrears, water bills and interest on assumed mortgages. The seller pays the buyer for the seller’s share of these expenses at closing.
Blake is allowed to use his property in a way that’s prohibited under current zoning ordinances, because those ordinances would cause undue hardship for him. What gives him this permission?
This is a use variance. In contrast, an applicant for a special use permit doesn’t have to show hardship, simply that the proposed use meets the conditions already contained in the ordinance (e.g., change in setback).
What is the difference between a use variance and a special use permit?
A use variance is granted in cases of hardship. In contrast, an applicant for a special use permit doesn’t have to show hardship, simply that the proposed use meets the conditions already contained in the ordinance (e.g., change in setback).
