Texas Broker Exam Case Studies: How the 10 Case Items Work and How to Approach Them

Short answer: The Texas Broker State portion includes 10 case-study items, a section of its own on the outline (VII, Case Studies). Pearson describes two kinds. Narrative cases require you to read a case study and respond to multiple associated items. Contract cases require you to respond to items based on use of TREC-promulgated contracts. Treat each case as a short file: read the question first, mark every person, role, date and dollar figure, decide which rule each item tests, and check each answer choice against that rule alone.

What the outline says

Section VII of the Texas Broker State Law outline is Case Studies, with two topics: Narrative Cases and Contract Forms and Addenda. The State portion has fifty (50) scored items, so the case items are a large block of the score, as large as Agency & Brokerage. On the exam, "the Act" means the Real Estate License Act in Texas, and "TREC Rules" means the rules adopted by the Texas Real Estate Commission.

Narrative cases: brokerage management fact patterns

Pearson does not say which sections narrative cases draw on. Fact patterns can pull in rules from other sections; useful ones to drill include Agency & Brokerage (broker-sales agent relationships, the broker's responsibility for acts of sales agents, unlicensed assistants, enforcing compensation) and Standards of Conduct (trust accounts, fee splitting, rebates, advertising). Rules that turn facts into answers:

• Trust money is deposited not later than the close of business of the second working day after receipt, unless the principals agreed otherwise in writing.
• Money the broker comes to own leaves the trust account not later than the 30th day; a written demand is paid not later than the 30th day.
• A broker or delegated supervisor responds to sponsored agents within two calendar days and passes on TREC mail within three calendar days.
• A team leader must be a delegated supervisor, in writing.
• A sales agent is paid only through the sponsoring broker, or the broker who sponsored the agent when the compensation was earned.
• A showing-only buyer agreement may not be exclusive or run more than fourteen days.
• A commission suit needs a writing signed by the party being sued.

Contract cases: TREC-promulgated forms

Pearson says only that contract cases require you to respond to items based on use of TREC-promulgated contracts; it does not publish the item format. The Contracts section of the outline lists promulgated contracts, forms and addenda, the statute of frauds and seller disclosure requirements. Read the actual promulgated forms during your prep, paragraph by paragraph, and practice answering several items about one filled-in contract: who must act, by when, and what happens if they do not. Count days exactly as the item tells you to, and write the dates down before you look at the choices.

A method for every case

1. Read the item stem first. Know what you are hunting for before you read the case.
2. Cast the roles. Who is the sponsoring broker, the designated broker, a delegated supervisor, a sales agent, a client, an unrepresented party? Most wrong answers give a duty to the wrong person.
3. Write the timeline. Note each date and whether the rule counts working days, calendar days or a set day such as the 30th day.
4. Name the rule. Each item usually tests one rule. If two seem to apply, look for the fact the case added to separate them.
5. Test every choice. Eliminate choices built on a relationship Texas does not permit, such as dual agency. Eliminate rules that no longer apply, such as subagency or the old 360-point minimum (now 720 points). Watch for the sales agent version of a broker rule.
6. Do not let one item answer another. Items in a case are separate; answer each from the case facts and its own stem.

Pearson's National outline classifies items as knowledge, application or analysis. An analysis item requires you to use your knowledge and examine a fact pattern in order to draw a conclusion or make a decision, which is exactly what a case asks.

How to practice

Build your own case drills from the lessons: take one rule set, such as trust accounts and conduct or broker supervision, and write a short fact pattern with dates. Then answer three questions about it without looking back at the rule. Pair this with the study plan by outline weight.

Independent exam-prep guide. Not affiliated with the Texas Real Estate Commission or Pearson VUE. Always confirm current requirements with TREC.