What is the exam-ready distinction?
| Roadmap post | 210 of 500 |
|---|---|
| Official syllabus topic | Agency: Duties Owed to Clients, Customers, and Transaction Parties |
| Official PSI area | Agency |
| Published weight | 13% of the 100-question national portion |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
| Content checked through | August 2, 2026 |
The Rule
PSI publishes a weight for the complete official area, not a guaranteed count for this individual comparison. Use the source, document, actor, event, and timing stated in the question before applying a memorized definition.
Side-by-side comparison
Read across each row. The terms are deliberately compared on identical dimensions so the difference remains clear when the exam hides the vocabulary inside a scenario.
| Decision dimension | Client duties | Customer duties |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship | Written brokerage engagement with the broker | No brokerage engagement with that broker |
| Service level | Role-specific BRRETA duties plus signed additional duties | Ministerial assistance and applicable statutory transaction duties |
| Advice and advocacy | Within lawful authority and the engagement | No representation or discretionary advocacy for the customer |
| Duties that still matter | Honesty, accounting, confidentiality, care, and role-specific disclosure as applicable | Honesty, accounting, offer presentation, and specified adverse-fact disclosure as applicable |
Decision rule
Georgia-specific distinction
Worked example
Scenario. A listing broker gives an unrepresented buyer a blank form, published tax data, and access for an inspection, but no buyer engagement exists.
Reason it through. The buyer may receive ministerial assistance while remaining a customer. The listing broker must not turn that help into undisclosed buyer advocacy.
Answer. The buyer is a customer, not the listing broker's client.
Common exam traps
- Calling customers clients because they receive help
- Saying a broker owes customers nothing
- Importing automatic fiduciary terminology into BRRETA
- Giving a customer discretionary advice that implies representation
Original practice questions with detailed explanations
These are original instructional questions mapped to the July 1, 2026 PSI outline. They are not copied from PSI or any live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.
Question 1What fact most clearly separates a BRRETA client from a customer?
- A. Who first called the licensee
- B. Who pays a commission
- C. A written brokerage engagement with the broker
- D. Who attends the closing
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: C. A written brokerage engagement with the broker
A written brokerage engagement with the broker is correct. A client has a written brokerage engagement and receives the duties BRRETA assigns to that role plus agreed written duties. A customer has no engagement and may receive ministerial assistance without representation. Customer status does not authorize deception, mishandling money, hiding required adverse facts, or failing to present offers. The remaining options, Who first called the licensee; Who pays a commission; Who attends the closing, do not match the controlling category or fact.
Question 2A listing broker gives an unrepresented buyer a blank form, published tax data, and access for an inspection, but no buyer engagement exists.
- A. The inspection automatically creates buyer agency.
- B. The buyer receives no honesty or disclosure protections.
- C. The listing broker may advise both sides confidentially without consent.
- D. The buyer is a customer, not the listing broker's client.
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: D. The buyer is a customer, not the listing broker's client.
The buyer may receive ministerial assistance while remaining a customer. The listing broker must not turn that help into undisclosed buyer advocacy. The supported conclusion is: The buyer is a customer, not the listing broker's client. The other choices replace those controlling facts with a neighboring concept or an unsupported absolute rule.
Question 3What should a candidate identify first when comparing Duties to Clients Versus Duties to Customers?
- A. Find the written brokerage engagement first, then identify the exact statutory duty instead of applying a memorized fiduciary list to everyone.
- B. The option with the longest definition, without classifying the facts.
- C. A memorized Georgia rule, even when the question asks for a national concept.
- D. The answer that sounds most favorable to one party, regardless of the document or event.
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. Find the written brokerage engagement first, then identify the exact statutory duty instead of applying a memorized fiduciary list to everyone.
Find the written brokerage engagement first, then identify the exact statutory duty instead of applying a memorized fiduciary list to everyone. That sequence identifies the legal category before the label. Definition length ignores the facts, jurisdiction confusion answers a different question, and sympathy cannot replace the document, event, calculation, or governing rule.
Mastery tracking
Mark this distinction mastered only when every statement is true.
- Define every compared term without using the other term as the definition.
- Rebuild the comparison table from memory.
- State the decision rule and Georgia distinction without notes.
- Solve the worked example after changing one controlling fact.
- Explain why every trap and distractor is tempting but wrong.
- Answer all three original questions correctly in mixed practice on a later day.
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Listing Agreement Versus Buyer Brokerage Agreement. Continue to roadmap comparison 211.
Return to the complete exam-concept library or the Agency hub.