Ohio Real Estate Broker Exam - State Portion

Under an exclusive agency agreement the broker is compensated unless the property is sold or leased solely through the seller's own efforts (or to specifically exempted persons), while under an exclusive right to sell the broker is compensated even if the seller personally finds the buyer.

(A)(3) covers a continued course of misrepresentation or making of false promises through agents, salespersons, advertising or otherwise, whereas (A)(1) covers a single knowing misrepresentation and (A)(6) covers dishonest or illegal dealing, gross negligence, incompetency or misconduct generally.

Civil penalties collected for unlicensed activity violations of ORC 4735.02 are deposited into the real estate operating fund, while fines imposed on licensees for disciplinary violations are credited to the real estate recovery fund.

The commission may impose a fine not exceeding $2,500 per violation as a disciplinary sanction on a licensee, but may assess a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 per violation for unlicensed activity under ORC 4735.02 or 4735.023, with each day of violation a separate violation.

A salesperson applicant must achieve a scaled score of at least 70 percent on each portion (national law and Ohio state law), while a broker applicant must achieve 75 percent.

The appointment to conclude the affairs of a deceased or revoked principal broker is subject to review by the superintendent, while the appointment to continue the affairs of a suspended principal broker is subject to approval by the superintendent; in both cases the trustee's authority is not automatically stayed.

Under OAC 1301:5-3-02(B)(1) the trustee's efforts are limited to supervision and completion of existing contracts and obligations of the deceased or revoked principal broker, and the trustee is NOT authorized to initiate new ventures, obligations, or listing agreements.

A brokerage using accounts in the owner's name must still comply with paragraphs (C) and (E) of Rule 1301:5-5-11, including providing an accounting to each owner on a regular basis but not less than quarterly.

Brokers that only collect but do not retain security deposits, first or last month's rent or other money, collect no other monthly rent or money, and have no other duties on behalf of the owner after lease execution are exempt from the property management trust account requirement of ORC 4735.18(A)(27).

Under ORC 4735.091 a broker, salesperson, foreign real estate dealer or foreign real estate salesperson may be associated with a brokerage as either an employee or an independent contractor, with no superintendent approval and no filing of the agreement with the division required.

The host is the seller's agent only if appointed to represent the seller with the seller's written agreement, assisted in establishing the agency relationship, received confidential information from the listing agent, or is a management level licensee (subject to ORC 4735.70(C)); routine hosting such as handing out brochures, answering general questions, or registering visitors does not create agency.

Rule 1301:5-6-05(D) permits the acknowledgement required by ORC 4735.56(C) and (D) to appear on a document separate from the Consumer Guide to Agency Relationships, but expressly prohibits it from being contained within any contract, agreement, or addendum to which the buyer or seller is a party.

Under ORC 4735.20(H), suspension or revocation of a broker's license automatically suspends every salesperson's license granted by virtue of association with that broker, pending a change of broker and issuance of a new license (issued without charge if granted in the same year as the original); the salesperson licenses are not revoked or placed on inactive status.