Massachusetts Real Estate Exam Prep

The Real Estate Board licenses only those candidates who meet the statutory and regulatory requirements for real estate brokers and salespersons. The Board regulates real estate schools and agent curriculum and contracts with a testing vendor to provide the agent examination. The Board also seeks to protect consumers by investigating and disciplining those real estate agents who violate licensing laws and regulations.

escheat definition: a : the reversion of lands in English feudal law to the lord of the fee when there are no heirs capable of inheriting under the original grant b : the reversion of property to the crown in England or to the state in the U.S. when there are no legal heirs Plainly put, if an individual dies without any living heirs, and no directives, the land reverts to the state.

Essential elements of a valid deed: Competent grantor. Execution by the grantor. Identifiable grantee. Delivery to and acceptance by the grantee. Legal description of the land. Consideration. Words of conveyance. Novation is the substitution of a new contract in place of an old one and not considered an element of a deed.

A landlord may give a Massachusetts tenant at will who has received a second notice to pay rent or quit within 12 months an unconditional quit notice that gives the tenant 14 days to move out before the landlord can file for eviction.  Massachusetts Chapter 186  Section 12. ...Every notice to determine an estate at will for nonpayment of rent shall contain the following notification to the tenant: ''If you have not received a notice to quit for nonpayment of rent within the last twelve months, you have a right to prevent termination of your tenancy by paying or tendering to your landlord, your landlord's attorney or the person to whom you customarily pay your rent the full amount of rent due within ten days after your receipt of this notice.'' If any notice to determine an estate at will for nonpayment of rent shall fail to contain such notification, the time within which the tenant receiving the notice would be entitled to pay or tender rent pursuant to this section shall be extended to the day the answer is due in any action by the landlord to recover possession of the premises. Failure to include such notice shall not otherwise affect the validity of the said notice. ... All states allow landlords to use unconditional quit notices when a tenant has repeatedly violated a lease clause, has substantially damaged the rental unit, is dealing drugs, or for other specified reasons. EVICTION Notice to Quit: When you decide to start eviction by giving a tenant notice to quit, you may enter a minefield of delays and surprise costs. Talk to an attorney if you are not familiar with this process. Types of Forms: Which form you use depends on whether you have a lease or a tenancy-at-will. Leases have a fixed term. Tenancy-at-will is also known as “month to month”. If you don’t have a written agreement, you have a “tenant at sufferance” and should get an attorney (the rules may be simpler in some ways but they’re less commonly practiced). Notice to Quit with a Lease: When dealing with a lease, you have two choices: evict for non-payment or evict for any other reason (“cause”). To evict for non-payment of rent, you can use a 14-day notice to quit. This the shortest legal notice, even if your lease specifies a shorter period. Don’t use less than a 14-day notice for non-payment. If your lease specifies a longer period, you must use the longer period specified. To evict for cause, you cannot use the 14-day notice. You must go with what the lease says. The most common lease that follows common conventions calls for a 7-day notice. You must indicate which specific part of the lease has been breached. Collect your evidence. If your lease doesn’t say anything about the notice period, contact an attorney. Please note: courts have tended not to grant 7-day notice except in cases of illegal firearms, illegal use of firearms, or drugs. Notice to Quit with a Tenancy at Will: You can use a 14-day notice for non-payment of rent. For anything else, you must give what’s called the “30-day notice.” Really it’s 30 days or “one full rental period.” This has implications for the month of February: you have to give notice before January 28 if you want the tenant out by March 1. What if the Tenant Pays but you Still Want Them Out?: If the tenant pays you fully after you issue their first notice to quit, and it was notice for nonpayment, you’re both back in business together. You cannot refuse the money because the tenant has the right to cure. Be nice when you give notice because they might cure. Depending on the type of business you operate, anywhere from zero to 100 percent will cure. If you issue multiple notices to quit, the judge will have to determine which set of case law they want to follow. Suppose you issue one 30-day notice that you think was ignored, so you issue a second one. Well, the tenant might have seen both and can ask to have the later one reset the clock. The same goes if you issue a 14-day and a 30-day. The judge might decide to disallow the 14-day notice and go with 30 days. Or if the judge thinks you were trying to deceive the tenant out of their right to proper notice, the judge might decide to disallow both notices. Attorneys familiar with your courts can advise you about your specific jurisdiction. It is recommended to pick one notice, serve it properly, and stand behind it. What if the Tenant Neither Pays Nor Quits?: If the tenant ignores your notice and continues to occupy the premises on the 7th, 14th, or 30th day after the date of the notice, depending, you will have to seek to enforce the notice by filing for eviction in court. Make sure to count whole days. The day after the day you give notice is day one, not day two. Delivery: Once you’ve filled out the form, you must serve the notice to the tenant. You can attempt to do this in a variety of ways: • Hand deliver it • Hire a constable to hand deliver it You must prove that the tenant actually received the notice. For this reason, you cannot tape a notice to a door in Massachusetts (no proof of receipt). You can attempt to mail it, but if the tenant knew what was good for them, they would say they never got it. Even if you require a signature, the savvy tenant can refuse to sign for it. Even if you send it certified, that’s only proof of mailing and not proof of lawful delivery. The only option we can recommend is hand delivery, face-to-face. You can do it yourself or hire a constable or sheriff (typically around $50) to provide a third party witness.

Salesperson first license fees due to the state are between $103-$150, and brokers fees are between $142-$200. Massachusetts license renewal fees for a two-year period are $142 for a broker license, $142 for an associate broker, and $103 for a salesperson. There is a $57 late renewal fee in addition to the regular fee. All fees must be paid at the license center. The cost to sit for the salesperson exam is $85. PSI is the testing vendor and their phone number is 1-800-733-9267.

All individuals licensed as real estate agents in the Commonwealth must demonstrate that they have completed the 12-hour continuing education requirement as a prerequisite to renewing their license as "active" (so they can work as agents). An "active" license entitles you to work. If you do not complete the 12-hour continuing education requirement by your scheduled license renewal date then the Board must, by law, renew your license as "inactive". You cannot work as an agent with an "inactive" license, though you may receive referral fees. Pre-licensure education cannot be used to satisfy continuing education. The new continuing education statute establishes one exemption from the new requirement. The exemption provides that Massachusetts attorneys who are currently licensed in good standing (not under any disciplinary action) and who are also real estate brokers are exempt from the continuing education requirement. Aside from this, a Massachusetts salesperson or broker who obtained his/her license in Massachusetts without examination based upon his/her licensure in another state (commonly referred to as reciprocity or reciprocal licensure) is exempt from the Massachusetts continuing education requirement, provided such agent completes his/her own state's continuing education requirement (regardless of how may hours the other state requirement contains). If such agent fails to complete their own states requirement or there is no such requirement then they must complete the Massachusetts continuing education requirement to renew their license as "active" in order to work as an agent. A corporate or partnership broker is not considered an individual and, therefore, there is no continuing education requirement for these entities. However, the continuing education requirement does apply to the individual real estate salespeople and brokers affiliated with corporate and partnership brokers unless one of the two exemption noted herein apply to the individual licensee. Lastly, if you were originally grandfathered into licensure in Massachusetts you still must complete the 12-hour continuing education requirement to renew your license as "active" (so you can work as an agent). If you obtained licensure as a salesperson or broker in Massachusetts without examination (usually referred to as reciprocity or reciprocal licensure) based upon your license in the other state and you complete the approved continuing education requirement of that other state (regardless of how many hours that state requires) then you have also satisfied the continuing education requirement in Massachusetts and will indicate as much, under the pains and penalties of perjury, on your Massachusetts license renewal application. Obviously, if you do not complete the other state's approved continuing education requirement, if the other state has no such requirement or you did not obtain your Massachusetts license without examination based upon your licensure in the other state you would then have to complete the continuing education requirement in Massachusetts. (You must complete the approved continuing education requirement in the other state -even if you are exempt- in order for it to satisfy the Massachusetts requirement). Whether or not your Massachusetts continuing education as a real estate agent can be used in part or totally in satisfaction of a continuing education requirement that you must fulfill for another type of license issued by Massachusetts or another state depends upon a determination which must be made by the licensing authority that issued your license in Massachusetts or another state. You should contact that licensing authority to determine whether they will accept all or part of the continuing education that you completed for your real estate agents license here in Massachusetts. The Board must renew your license as "inactive" (as opposed to "active"). "Inactive" means you cannot work as a real estate agent, though you may receive a referral fee from an "active broker" for those individuals you have referred to such broker who, in turn, ultimately sell or buy real property through such "active broker". If you wish to do more than just receive referral fees then you must complete the 12-hour continuing education requirement by the time you are scheduled to renew your license. It is important to also note that you must complete all twelve (12) hours by the time you are scheduled to renew your license. Doing part or most of the twelve (12) hours does not entitle you to an "active" license. You must complete all 12 hours. Brokers and/or a salespersons renewing license as "active" must complete twelve (12) hours of continuing education in different subjects that are contained in a curriculum developed by the licensing board. The continuing education MUST be completed BEFORE renewing your real estate license to active, current status (NO EXCEPTIONS). The twelve (12) hour requirement is for each license term (a license is good for two years). If you wish to renew your license as "active" so that you may work as a real estate agent you must demonstrate that you have completed the twelve (12) hour continuing education requirement anytime during the 24 months PRIOR to renewing your real estate license (license renewals are every two years on your scheduled renewal date). The license renewal application has been modified to obtain such data via a question concerning the completion of continuing education. You either answer "Yes" if you have completed the requirement or "NO" if you have not completed the requirement. If you fail to answer the question your license will be renewed as "inactive", as noted in the instructions that are mailed with the license renewal application. The answer to this question, along with all the other information that you provide on the renewal application, is done so under the pains and penalties of perjury. Providing untruthful information may result in the suspension or revocation of your license pursuant to relevant law. By regulation, the Board also requires the approved real estate schools offering the 12-hour continuing education curriculum to keep records for each individual licensee who attends such school. The 12-hour continuing education requirement consists of 12 hours of instruction in different subject matter areas (subjects) that were developed by the Board as a curriculum pursuant to the law on continuing education. The Board approved real estate schools (providers) agree to use this 12-hour subject matter curriculum to provide the information in such curriculum to licensees. Therefore the Board does not approve any courses. Rather, it has established a 12-hour subject matter curriculum to be used by the Board approved real estate schools. Please see the list of List Of Authorized Real Estate Schools on the Massachsetts web site which contains the school names, locations and telephone numbers. A number of schools have multiple locations and you should check with the school to see if there is a location close to you. You may not use correspondence courses via the mail to complete the 12-hour continuing education requirement. The Board does not approve such courses. Rather it has established a 12-hour subject matter curriculum pursuant to the continuing education statute. The Board approved schools (providers) agree to use that curriculum in covering the material in such curriculum for licensed real estate agents.

II. What is a contract? A contract is a voluntary, legally enforceable promise between two competent to perform (or not to perform) parties some legal act in exchange for consideration. Elements of a Contract: The requisite elements that must be established to demonstrate the formation of a legally binding contract are (1) offer; (2) acceptance; (3) consideration; (4) mutuality of obligation; (5) competency and capacity; and, in certain circumstances, (6) a written instrument. In Massachsetts, the following areas pertain to contract law in a real estate transaction. 1. Voluntary agreement or promise 2. Parties to the Contract 3. Requirement of competency of parties a. Age of Majority b. Mentally competent or other disability limiting comprehension c. Influence of drugs or other 4. Must be for legal purposes 5. Consideration 6. Offer and Acceptance (required) 7. Executed vs. Executory 8. Equitable Title (Equitable Conversion) vs. Legal Title 9. Statute of Limitations 10. Laches