The law of agency and fiduciary duties

Question 1

In general agency law, which statement best describes the principal-agent relationship?

Accepted Answer

The agent acts on behalf of the principal and subject to the principal’s control.

Answer

The principal acts on behalf of the agent in conducting the agent’s business.

Answer

The agent has the same authority as the owner merely by holding a license.

Answer

The person receiving services becomes an agent of the person providing them.

Question 2

An owner tells an agent, “You may advertise my property at $420,000.” What type of authority does that statement create for advertising at that price?

Accepted Answer

Express authority communicated by the principal

Answer

Apparent authority based on a third party’s assumption

Answer

Implied authority derived from an unstated incidental task

Answer

General authority to conduct all of the owner’s business

Question 3

Which general agency concept covers unstated acts reasonably necessary to carry out an authorized task?

Accepted Answer

Implied authority

Answer

Express authority

Answer

Apparent authority

Answer

Undivided loyalty

Question 4

An agent claims to have authority to accept a purchase offer for an owner. The owner has made no representation to the buyer supporting that claim. Which analysis is best under general agency principles?

Accepted Answer

The agent’s statement alone does not establish apparent authority from the owner.

Answer

The agent’s license supplies apparent authority to accept the offer.

Answer

The buyer’s wish to complete the sale supplies express authority.

Answer

The agent’s statement alone establishes apparent authority.

Question 5

A broker is authorized to market one parcel for a single sale, with no continuing authority over the owner’s other affairs. In general agency terminology, what is the broker?

Accepted Answer

A special agent for a limited task

Answer

A general agent managing the owner’s continuing business

Answer

A universal agent authorized over the owner’s affairs

Answer

A principal directing the owner’s decisions

Question 6

A property manager is authorized to handle recurring leasing and operating activities for an owner’s apartment business. Which general agency classification best fits that scope?

Accepted Answer

General agent for a continuing range of activities

Answer

Special agent limited to a single sale

Answer

Principal because the manager makes daily decisions

Answer

Apparent agent solely because tenants see the manager

Question 7

An owner authorizes a broker to advertise a property and locate buyers, but grants no authority to execute a sale contract. A buyer asks the broker to sign the owner’s acceptance. What should the broker conclude?

Accepted Answer

The marketing authorization does not itself authorize signing for the owner.

Answer

Advertising authority includes power to execute the owner’s acceptance.

Answer

The buyer may expand the broker’s authority by requesting a signature.

Answer

A proposed full-price offer supplies the missing signing authority.

Question 8

Under Florida’s brokerage definitions, who is a principal?

Accepted Answer

The party with whom the licensee has entered into a single agent relationship

Answer

Any person who pays part of a brokerage commission

Answer

Any buyer assisted by a transaction broker

Answer

Any member of the public who asks about a listing

Question 9

A Florida seller pays the commission received by a broker who assists a buyer. What can be concluded from payment alone?

Accepted Answer

Payment alone does not determine the brokerage relationship.

Answer

The seller is the broker’s single agent principal.

Answer

The buyer has no brokerage relationship with the broker.

Answer

The broker becomes a fiduciary for both parties.

Question 10

A Florida broker has no written single agent or no brokerage relationship with a customer. Which role is presumed under Chapter 475?

Accepted Answer

Transaction broker

Answer

Single agent

Answer

Disclosed dual agent

Answer

No brokerage relationship

Question 11

Which relationship involves fiduciary representation of one side under Florida law?

Accepted Answer

Single agency

Answer

Transaction brokerage

Answer

No brokerage relationship

Answer

A compensation arrangement standing alone

Question 12

A Florida buyer and seller both sign a document consenting to have one broker represent both as fiduciaries in their sale. Which conclusion is correct?

Accepted Answer

The proposed dual agency remains prohibited despite consent.

Answer

The signatures authorize disclosed dual agency.

Answer

The arrangement is permitted if the commission is divided equally.

Answer

The arrangement is transaction brokerage because both sides consented.

Question 13

A Florida transaction broker assists both buyer and seller without representing either as a fiduciary. How should that role be classified?

Accepted Answer

Permitted limited representation of both parties

Answer

Prohibited dual agency because two parties receive assistance

Answer

Single agency for whichever party first contacted the broker

Answer

No brokerage relationship because neither party receives fiduciary representation

Question 14

Which duty most directly requires a Florida single agent to put the principal’s interests ahead of the agent’s competing personal interests?

Accepted Answer

Loyalty

Answer

Accounting

Answer

Confidentiality

Answer

Obedience

Question 15

A Florida seller’s single agent learns that the agent’s own investment company wants to buy the listing. What should the agent do before asking the seller to evaluate that company’s offer?

Accepted Answer

Disclose the personal interest so the seller can make an informed decision.

Answer

Withhold the ownership interest because the offer price is competitive.

Answer

Treat the company as unrelated because it has a separate name.

Answer

Reduce the commission instead of revealing the personal interest.

Question 16

A Florida seller’s single agent learns that the seller would accept less than the listed price. Without authorization, the agent tells a buyer to offer that lower amount. Which duty is most directly breached by revealing the negotiating limit?

Accepted Answer

Confidentiality

Answer

Accounting for entrusted funds

Answer

Presenting offers promptly

Answer

Disclosing latent residential defects

Question 17

A Florida buyer instructs a single agent not to submit an offer above $350,000. The instruction is lawful. The agent submits a $360,000 offer on the buyer’s behalf without further authority. Which duty is most directly implicated?

Accepted Answer

Obedience to lawful instructions

Answer

Accounting for deposits

Answer

Disclosure of property defects

Answer

Limited confidentiality of a transaction broker

Question 18

A Florida seller directs a single agent to conceal a known, nonobservable condition that materially affects the home’s value. How should the agent resolve the instruction?

Accepted Answer

Disclose the condition as required; obedience does not authorize unlawful concealment.

Answer

Follow the instruction because obedience outranks disclosure.

Answer

Treat the condition as confidential negotiating information.

Answer

Conceal the condition if the seller offers a price reduction.

Question 19

Which Florida single agent duty most directly concerns tracking money entrusted to the licensee and accurately reporting its handling?

Accepted Answer

Accounting for all funds

Answer

Loyalty

Answer

Full disclosure of conflicts

Answer

Obedience

Question 20

A Florida single agent carelessly misses a known response deadline after agreeing to handle a buyer’s negotiations. No confidential information or funds are mishandled. Which duty best addresses the careless performance?

Accepted Answer

Skill, care, and diligence

Answer

Confidentiality

Answer

Accounting

Answer

Disclosure of the agent’s financial interest

Question 21

A Florida seller’s single agent receives a low offer. The seller has given no written instruction limiting offer presentation. The agent thinks the offer will offend the seller. What is required?

Accepted Answer

Present the offer to the seller in a timely manner.

Answer

Hold the offer until a higher offer arrives.

Answer

Reject the offer on the seller’s behalf to protect the seller’s feelings.

Answer

Present it only if the buyer increases the deposit.

Question 22

Which circumstance fits Florida’s stated exception to timely presentation of all offers by a transaction broker?

Accepted Answer

The party previously directed the broker otherwise in writing.

Answer

The broker believes a proposal is unlikely to be accepted.

Answer

The proposal would yield a smaller commission.

Answer

The other party asks the broker to wait without the represented party’s direction.

Question 23

A Florida transaction broker knows a seller will accept less than the asking price. The seller has not waived confidentiality in writing. What should the broker do with that information?

Accepted Answer

Keep the seller’s negotiating limit confidential.

Answer

Disclose it to the buyer because transaction brokers owe no fiduciary duties.

Answer

Disclose it after the buyer promises to submit an offer.

Answer

Disclose it if the seller pays the broker’s commission.

Question 24

A Florida transaction broker learns that a buyer must relocate urgently for a new job. No written confidentiality waiver exists. The seller asks why the buyer is so motivated. What is the best response?

Accepted Answer

Decline to disclose the buyer’s protected motivation.

Answer

Reveal the reason because it is not the buyer’s maximum price.

Answer

Reveal the reason because the broker assists both parties.

Answer

Reveal the reason if it would speed the closing.

Question 25

A Florida buyer tells a transaction broker orally, “You may reveal my higher budget.” No written waiver is given. Which conclusion follows from the statutory limited-confidentiality rule?

Accepted Answer

The waiver must be in writing before relying on it to disclose the protected budget.

Answer

The oral statement satisfies the statutory waiver requirement.

Answer

The seller may supply the needed waiver instead.

Answer

The broker may treat the buyer’s initial offer as a confidentiality waiver.

Question 26

A Florida transaction broker assists both parties. The seller asks the broker to exploit the buyer’s confidential urgency to pressure the buyer for a higher price. Which analysis best fits the broker’s role?

Accepted Answer

Limited representation does not authorize advancing one party’s interests to the other’s detriment through protected information.

Answer

The broker owes undivided loyalty to the seller because the seller owns the property.

Answer

The broker owes undivided loyalty to whichever party pays the larger fee.

Answer

Assisting both parties permits sharing their confidential motivations to reach agreement.

Question 27

Which set of duties is owed under Florida’s no brokerage relationship provisions?

Accepted Answer

Honesty and fairness, required residential material-fact disclosure, and accounting for entrusted funds

Answer

Loyalty, obedience, and full fiduciary disclosure

Answer

Limited confidentiality, undivided loyalty, and obedience

Answer

Timely presentation of all offers, fiduciary confidentiality, and loyalty

Question 28

A Florida licensee with no brokerage relationship to a buyer knows of a concealed structural condition materially affecting the home’s value. The buyer cannot readily observe it. What is the licensee’s duty?

Accepted Answer

Disclose the known condition to the buyer.

Answer

Wait until the buyer establishes single agency.

Answer

Disclose it only if the buyer pays for representation.

Answer

Treat the absence of representation as eliminating the disclosure duty.

Question 29

A customer entrusts funds to a Florida licensee with whom the customer has no brokerage relationship. What follows?

Accepted Answer

The licensee must account for the entrusted funds despite the absence of representation.

Answer

Receiving the funds converts the licensee into a single agent.

Answer

Accounting becomes required only if the transaction closes.

Answer

The customer must establish transaction brokerage to obtain an accounting.

Question 30

A Florida seller’s single agent wants to transition to transaction brokerage to assist both parties. What must happen before the change?

Accepted Answer

The agent must obtain the seller-principal’s prior written consent.

Answer

The buyer must pay half the commission.

Answer

The seller must receive oral notice after negotiations begin under the new role.

Answer

The broker must relabel the file without changing the seller’s fiduciary rights.

Question 31

A Florida single agent begins acting as a transaction broker on Monday and obtains the principal’s written transition consent on Friday. Which conclusion is best?

Accepted Answer

The Friday consent did not satisfy the requirement to obtain written consent before Monday’s change.

Answer

Consent is timely because it was obtained within the same week.

Answer

The statutory transaction broker presumption displaced the existing single agency on Monday.

Answer

The change was authorized when the other party agreed to work with the broker.

Question 32

After a valid Florida transition from single agency to transaction brokerage, which statement best describes the former principal’s position?

Accepted Answer

The customer gives up undivided loyalty but continues to receive transaction broker duties.

Answer

The customer retains undivided loyalty while receiving limited representation.

Answer

The customer loses the protection of accounting for funds.

Answer

The customer now has no brokerage relationship.

Question 33

Which statement accurately describes a “customer” under Florida’s brokerage definitions?

Accepted Answer

A customer may be a buyer or seller and may be represented or unrepresented.

Answer

A customer is necessarily an unrepresented buyer.

Answer

A customer is necessarily a seller represented by a single agent.

Answer

A customer is a person who has already paid a brokerage fee.

Question 34

A Florida broker says, “I keep client money accurately accounted for, so I must be acting as a single agent.” What is the strongest evaluation?

Accepted Answer

Incorrect, because accounting is also required in transaction brokerage and no brokerage relationships.

Answer

Correct, because accounting is exclusive to fiduciaries.

Answer

Correct, because receiving money establishes single agency in writing.

Answer

Incorrect, because single agents owe confidentiality instead of accounting.

Question 35

A Florida buyer’s single agent proposes to become the seller’s fiduciary in the same transaction while retaining the buyer as a fiduciary principal. The broker calls this “balanced single agency.” How should the proposal be evaluated?

Accepted Answer

It is prohibited dual agency regardless of the label used.

Answer

It is permitted if the agent promises equal effort to each party.

Answer

It is transaction brokerage because both parties receive help.

Answer

It becomes permitted if both parties pay separate fees.

Question 36

A Florida seller’s single agent withholds a competing offer so the agent can buy the property cheaply through a personal company. Which assessment best captures the combined problem?

Accepted Answer

The agent puts personal interests first and fails the duty of timely offer presentation.

Answer

The agent fulfills loyalty by reducing the number of offers the seller must review.

Answer

The agent avoids a conflict because a company would be the named purchaser.

Answer

The agent may withhold the offer because a lower purchase price reduces the commission.

Question 37

An owner directly authorizes a broker to negotiate but expressly reserves signing decisions. The broker tells a buyer, without any supporting manifestation from the owner, “My authority to negotiate includes authority to sign.” Which analysis best applies general agency principles?

Accepted Answer

The reserved signing decision limits actual authority, and the broker’s claim alone does not establish apparent authority.

Answer

Negotiation authority necessarily includes execution authority.

Answer

The broker’s statement expands express authority from the owner.

Answer

Apparent authority follows from the broker’s unsupported statement.

Question 38

A Florida transaction broker knows both that a seller will accept less than the list price and that the home has a hidden defect materially affecting value. No confidentiality waiver exists. Which approach correctly separates the duties?

Accepted Answer

Protect the negotiating limit and disclose the known material nonobservable defect.

Answer

Disclose both because all information must be shared equally.

Answer

Conceal both because the seller supplied both facts privately.

Answer

Disclose the negotiating limit but protect the defect as confidential information.

Question 39

Two Florida buyers each receive honest treatment and accurate accounting. One has a single agent; the other has no brokerage relationship. Which additional protection distinguishes the single agent’s role?

Accepted Answer

Fiduciary loyalty to the buyer-principal

Answer

The right to have entrusted funds accounted for

Answer

The right to honest and fair dealings

Answer

Disclosure of known material residential facts not readily observable to the buyer

Question 40

A Florida broker wants a lawful role that can provide representation to both buyer and seller in an ordinary home sale without promising fiduciary loyalty to either. Which arrangement fits?

Accepted Answer

Transaction brokerage providing limited representation

Answer

Single agency simultaneously for both parties

Answer

No brokerage relationship described as representation

Answer

Disclosed dual agency supported by written consent

In general agency law, which statement best describes the principal-agent relationship?

An owner tells an agent, “You may advertise my property at $420,000.” What type of authority does that statement create for advertising at that price?

Which general agency concept covers unstated acts reasonably necessary to carry out an authorized task?

An agent claims to have authority to accept a purchase offer for an owner. The owner has made no representation to the buyer supporting that claim. Which analysis is best under general agency principles?

A broker is authorized to market one parcel for a single sale, with no continuing authority over the owner’s other affairs. In general agency terminology, what is the broker?

A property manager is authorized to handle recurring leasing and operating activities for an owner’s apartment business. Which general agency classification best fits that scope?

An owner authorizes a broker to advertise a property and locate buyers, but grants no authority to execute a sale contract. A buyer asks the broker to sign the owner’s acceptance. What should the broker conclude?

Under Florida’s brokerage definitions, who is a principal?

A Florida seller pays the commission received by a broker who assists a buyer. What can be concluded from payment alone?

A Florida broker has no written single agent or no brokerage relationship with a customer. Which role is presumed under Chapter 475?

Which relationship involves fiduciary representation of one side under Florida law?

A Florida buyer and seller both sign a document consenting to have one broker represent both as fiduciaries in their sale. Which conclusion is correct?

A Florida transaction broker assists both buyer and seller without representing either as a fiduciary. How should that role be classified?

Which duty most directly requires a Florida single agent to put the principal’s interests ahead of the agent’s competing personal interests?

A Florida seller’s single agent learns that the agent’s own investment company wants to buy the listing. What should the agent do before asking the seller to evaluate that company’s offer?

A Florida seller’s single agent learns that the seller would accept less than the listed price. Without authorization, the agent tells a buyer to offer that lower amount. Which duty is most directly breached by revealing the negotiating limit?

A Florida buyer instructs a single agent not to submit an offer above $350,000. The instruction is lawful. The agent submits a $360,000 offer on the buyer’s behalf without further authority. Which duty is most directly implicated?

A Florida seller directs a single agent to conceal a known, nonobservable condition that materially affects the home’s value. How should the agent resolve the instruction?

Which Florida single agent duty most directly concerns tracking money entrusted to the licensee and accurately reporting its handling?

A Florida single agent carelessly misses a known response deadline after agreeing to handle a buyer’s negotiations. No confidential information or funds are mishandled. Which duty best addresses the careless performance?

A Florida seller’s single agent receives a low offer. The seller has given no written instruction limiting offer presentation. The agent thinks the offer will offend the seller. What is required?

Which circumstance fits Florida’s stated exception to timely presentation of all offers by a transaction broker?

A Florida transaction broker knows a seller will accept less than the asking price. The seller has not waived confidentiality in writing. What should the broker do with that information?

A Florida transaction broker learns that a buyer must relocate urgently for a new job. No written confidentiality waiver exists. The seller asks why the buyer is so motivated. What is the best response?

A Florida buyer tells a transaction broker orally, “You may reveal my higher budget.” No written waiver is given. Which conclusion follows from the statutory limited-confidentiality rule?

A Florida transaction broker assists both parties. The seller asks the broker to exploit the buyer’s confidential urgency to pressure the buyer for a higher price. Which analysis best fits the broker’s role?

Which set of duties is owed under Florida’s no brokerage relationship provisions?

A Florida licensee with no brokerage relationship to a buyer knows of a concealed structural condition materially affecting the home’s value. The buyer cannot readily observe it. What is the licensee’s duty?

A customer entrusts funds to a Florida licensee with whom the customer has no brokerage relationship. What follows?

A Florida seller’s single agent wants to transition to transaction brokerage to assist both parties. What must happen before the change?

A Florida single agent begins acting as a transaction broker on Monday and obtains the principal’s written transition consent on Friday. Which conclusion is best?

After a valid Florida transition from single agency to transaction brokerage, which statement best describes the former principal’s position?

Which statement accurately describes a “customer” under Florida’s brokerage definitions?

A Florida broker says, “I keep client money accurately accounted for, so I must be acting as a single agent.” What is the strongest evaluation?

A Florida buyer’s single agent proposes to become the seller’s fiduciary in the same transaction while retaining the buyer as a fiduciary principal. The broker calls this “balanced single agency.” How should the proposal be evaluated?

A Florida seller’s single agent withholds a competing offer so the agent can buy the property cheaply through a personal company. Which assessment best captures the combined problem?

An owner directly authorizes a broker to negotiate but expressly reserves signing decisions. The broker tells a buyer, without any supporting manifestation from the owner, “My authority to negotiate includes authority to sign.” Which analysis best applies general agency principles?

A Florida transaction broker knows both that a seller will accept less than the list price and that the home has a hidden defect materially affecting value. No confidentiality waiver exists. Which approach correctly separates the duties?

Two Florida buyers each receive honest treatment and accurate accounting. One has a single agent; the other has no brokerage relationship. Which additional protection distinguishes the single agent’s role?

A Florida broker wants a lawful role that can provide representation to both buyer and seller in an ordinary home sale without promising fiduciary loyalty to either. Which arrangement fits?

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