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Maryland Home Improvement Salesperson (MHIC) Practice Exam

What This Practice Exam Covers

The Maryland Home Improvement Salesperson licensing exam has 35 questions and a 90-minute time limit. You need a 70% — 25 correct answers — to pass.

This practice exam comes in two versions.

Free practice exam: 10 questions per attempt, pulled from a limited pool. You can retake it as many times as you want. It costs nothing and gives you a real feel for how questions are worded and what the exam actually asks.

Full practice exam (paid): 35 questions, 90-minute timer — same format as the real thing. Questions are drawn from a pool of 194+ items, so each attempt is different. No duplicate exams. Every question is tied to the exact topic areas published by the official test provider. If you're serious about passing, this is the version that prepares you.

Start with the free exam. If the questions feel unfamiliar, that tells you where to focus before you sit for the real one.

What You'll Be Tested On

The exam covers two topic areas. Know the split. Prioritize accordingly.

Home Improvement Law — 25 of 35 questions

This is the bulk of the exam. A weak performance here cannot be rescued by a strong Door-to-Door section.

Definitions and scope (§8-101 series): You need to know what counts as "home improvement" and what doesn't. The statute draws hard lines. Routine maintenance, new construction, and certain appliance work sit outside the law's reach. The exam will give you a scenario and ask whether it's covered. Know the definition of "home improvement" under §8-101(g), and know the exclusions under §8-101(g)(2) and §8-101(g)(3). Know what a "contractor," "subcontractor," and "salesperson" mean under the statute — §8-101(k), §8-101(n), and §8-101(o) each define a different role with different legal consequences.

Commission structure and authority: The Maryland Home Improvement Commission's membership, the Executive Director's duties, staff functions, and rulemaking authority are all fair game. Know how the Commission is composed under §8-202, what the Executive Director does under §8-205, and how regulations are adopted under §8-207.

Licensing requirements: Contractor and salesperson licensing each have their own rules. Know the experience and education requirements for salesperson applicants — including how vocational training can substitute for work experience. Know what triggers an exemption from licensure and what happens if someone operates without a license.

Home Improvement Guaranty Fund: This is heavily tested. Know who is eligible to file a claim (the property must be the claimant's residence). Know the award limits, the proportionate payment rules when the Fund is short, the annual assessment cap, and what happens to a contractor's license after the Fund pays out on their behalf. The Fund also has specific rules about burden of proof at hearings and the Commission's authority to dismiss claims.

Contract requirements: A home improvement contract must contain specific elements — dates, descriptions, salesperson identification, incorporated documents. Know what belongs in the contract and what makes it defective. The rules on deposits, payment schedules, changes to contract, mandatory arbitration clauses (including the homeowner initialing requirement), and mortgage or lien disclosures are all tested.

Prohibited acts and penalties: Know the civil penalty amounts per violation under §8-620 and §8-311. Know what conduct is criminal versus what draws a civil penalty. Know what happens on a subsequent conviction. Lead paint accreditation violations and safety/labor law violations each have their own penalty provisions.

Door-to-Door Sales Act — 10 of 35 questions

Ten questions. Every point counts.

Definitions: Know what makes a transaction a "door-to-door sale" under §14-301(d). Know the definitions of "buyer" and "seller" under §14-301(h) and related provisions.

Exemptions: Not every in-home sale triggers the Act. Know which transactions are exempt — including the retail establishment exemption and the bona fide emergency waiver, which has its own specific conditions under the home improvement regulations.

Cancellation rights: A buyer generally has three business days to cancel. A buyer who is 65 or older gets an extended cancellation period. Know the exact timeframes. Know how the clock starts. Know how cancellation is made — and what the buyer can do if the seller never provided a Notice of Cancellation.

Notice of Cancellation: The notice must be in a specific form and contain required content. It must be in the same language used during the sales presentation. The seller must acknowledge receipt. Know where the buyer must send the notice.

Seller obligations after cancellation: Within 10 business days of receiving a valid cancellation notice, the seller must refund all payments, return any traded-in goods, and cancel and return any negotiable instruments — per §14-302(7). Know the seller's obligation to make goods available for pickup and what the buyer's liability looks like if the seller fails to act.

Worked Sample Questions

Question 1 — Home Improvement Law

Who qualifies as a "subcontractor" under Maryland home improvement law?

• A. An employee of the homeowner who assists with the project
• B. A person, other than a laborer or supplier of materials, who makes an agreement with a contractor or another subcontractor to perform all or part of a home improvement contract
• C. Any laborer or material supplier who works under the direction of a licensed contractor
• D. A person who enters into contracts directly with homeowners to perform part of a home improvement

Correct answer: B

The definition comes directly from §8-101(o). Two details trip candidates up. First, laborers and material suppliers are explicitly excluded from the definition — they are not subcontractors under the statute. Second, a subcontractor makes an agreement with a contractor or another subcontractor, not with the homeowner. Option D describes someone contracting directly with the homeowner, which is the definition of a contractor, not a subcontractor. Read the options carefully — the exam regularly uses near-identical language to test whether you caught the controlling word.

Source: Maryland Home Improvement Law and Regulations, §8-101(o)

Question 2 — Door-to-Door Sales Act

A homeowner mails a valid cancellation notice within the allowed timeframe. How many business days does the seller have to refund all payments?

• A. 10 business days
• B. 5 business days
• C. 15 business days
• D. 20 business days

Correct answer: A

Per §14-302(7), the seller must act within 10 business days of receiving a valid cancellation. That obligation covers three things: refund all payments, return any traded-in property, and cancel and return any negotiable instruments the buyer signed. The exam often tests this as a straight recall question. Don't confuse it with the buyer's obligation to make goods available for pickup, which has its own separate timeline. Ten business days. Lock that number in.

Source: Maryland Door-to-Door Sales Act, §14-302(7)

How to Read Your Score

Passing requires 70% — 25 out of 35 on the real exam. On the full practice exam, use the same benchmark.

Your first attempt is a diagnostic. It tells you where you stand, not whether you'll pass. If you score in the mid-60s on your first try, don't read that as failure — read it as data. Look at which topic area cost you more points. Home Improvement Law has 25 questions; missing half of them is almost impossible to survive even with a perfect Door-to-Door score.

If you're scoring right at 70% on practice, that is not comfortable margin. The real exam has different questions, and test-day pressure is real. Aim for 80% or better on practice before you schedule the real thing.

Use topic-by-topic results to prioritize. If Guaranty Fund questions are consistently wrong, go back to the Fund provisions. If Door-to-Door cancellation timelines keep tripping you up, drill those specifically. A general score hides the specific problems — find them before the exam does.

Where Candidates Lose Points

Confusing covered and excluded work. The exam gives you a scenario — painting, appliance installation, routine maintenance — and asks whether it's a home improvement under the statute. Candidates who haven't read the §8-101(g) exclusions carefully pick wrong. Maintenance versus home improvement is a direct exam distinction.

Guaranty Fund details. The Fund has multiple moving parts: eligibility rules, award caps, proportionate payment when funds run short, what triggers license suspension, and who bears the burden of proof at a hearing. Candidates treat the Fund as one concept. It isn't. Each rule is tested separately.

Mandatory arbitration clause requirements. The contract rules include specific requirements for arbitration clauses — including that the homeowner must initial and date the clause separately. Skipping that detail in a contract scenario question costs you a point.

Door-to-Door timelines. Three days to cancel. Ten business days for the seller to refund. Extended period for buyers 65 and older. Emergency waiver conditions. These are all distinct numbers with distinct triggers. Candidates who blur them together miss easy points.

Salesperson-specific rules. The single-contractor rule during a sales presentation, the certified mail notification requirement when a salesperson joins or leaves a contractor, and the dual representation requirements are tested and often overlooked during study.

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