Pennsylvania Real Estate Broker Licensing Examination

The listing broker assumes escrow duty when the buyer tenders the deposit directly to the listing broker; the selling broker retains escrow duty when the buyer was never given prior written notice that the deposit would be forwarded to the listing broker.

Sales-transaction deposits must go into an escrow account, while rents collected as a property manager must be deposited into a separate rental management account that is distinct from both the escrow and general business accounts.

Routine inspections are limited to no more than four per year per office, while both routine and special inspections require the inspector to advise the broker or licensee in charge that the inspection is being conducted under § 35.246 and is limited in scope by that section.

A standard license requires passing both parts of the broker's examination and maintaining a Pennsylvania main office, while a reciprocal licensee (actively licensed in another state within the last 5 years) need only pass the Pennsylvania portion of the examination.

A broker of record is an individually licensed broker designated by a corporate, partnership, or association entity to supervise its real estate activities, while an associate broker is an individual licensee who may direct and supervise one or more offices under a broker.

A main office license is held in the broker's name and must be maintained within Pennsylvania (unless equivalent out-of-state licensure exists), while a branch office license is issued in the same name as the main office license and terminates automatically if the main office license is suspended, revoked, or discontinued.

A broker may grant written authority to deposit escrow funds to any employee (licensed or unlicensed), but written authority to withdraw escrow funds may only be granted to a licensed employee.

Both require 14 hours of Commission-approved continuing education, but reactivation requires those hours to be completed within the 2-year period preceding the reactivation application and the coursework must differ from that used for the most recent renewal.

When funds are expected to be held in escrow for more than 6 months, a broker is encouraged—but not required—to use an interest-bearing account; interest earned is then held and disbursed pro rata in the same manner as the principal unless the parties agree otherwise.

An applicant with no active out-of-state broker license within the last 5 years must pass all parts of the examination, while an applicant who has been actively licensed as a broker in another state within the last 5 years need only pass the Pennsylvania portion.

A genuine power of attorney grants management authority for legitimate reasons, but granting a power of attorney to a property manager solely to avoid the requirement that the property be managed by a licensed real estate broker is considered a circumvention of RELRA.

After revocation, an individual must wait at least 5 years before petitioning the Commission for relicensure and must then comply with current licensure requirements; after simply remaining inactive for 5 years without renewing, the licensee must pass the applicable licensing examination before a license will be reissued.