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BRRETA practice question 5 of 31 · Clients, customers, and transaction brokers

Which of these is not a ministerial act under BRRETA?

A listing agent is helping an unrepresented buyer, who is a customer. The buyer asks the agent for four kinds of help.

Facts checked against the current PSI Candidate Information Bulletin and GREC sources.

Which request goes beyond a ministerial act?

  1. AFilling in the blanks of a preprinted purchase contract as the buyer dictates
  2. BGiving the buyer the names of three local home inspectors
  3. CTelling the buyer how much to offer to beat the competition
  4. DSharing recent sales statistics for the neighborhood

Pick an answer before you read on.

Answer: C

Telling the buyer how much to offer to beat the competition. Section 10-6A-14 lists ministerial acts, including identifying property, sharing statistics and property information, supplying preprinted forms, acting as a scribe on them, and locating inspectors, lenders, and other professionals. BRRETA defines ministerial acts as acts that do not require the broker's professional judgment or skill. Advising what to offer is professional judgment, and this agent's client is the seller.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  1. A. Filling in the blanks of a preprinted purchase contract as the buyer dictates

    Acting as a scribe on a preprinted form is a listed ministerial act when the buyer supplies the terms. Choosing those terms would require a different analysis.

  2. B. Giving the buyer the names of three local home inspectors

    Locating inspectors and other professionals is on the statutory list. Supplying names does not mean the agent is advising the buyer on an offer price.

  3. C. Telling the buyer how much to offer to beat the competitionCorrect answer

    Choosing a competitive offer price calls for professional judgment. That goes beyond recording facts or supplying forms for a customer.

  4. D. Sharing recent sales statistics for the neighborhood

    Sharing sales statistics is a listed ministerial act. Recommending what the buyer should pay based on those figures is the step that requires judgment.

The trap

Filling in a contract sounds like advice. As a scribe recording the buyer's own terms, it is ministerial. Choosing the terms for the buyer is not.

The Rule

Ministerial acts need no professional judgment. Advice does.

What would change the answer

  • If the buyer has a buyer brokerage engagement with their own broker, that broker can and should advise on price, because promoting the buyer's interests is part of the engagement.
  • Pointing out nearby schools, shopping, and places of worship is also on the statute's list of ministerial acts.

Where the rule comes from

  • O.C.G.A. § 10-6A-14, Ministerial acts and transaction brokers. A transaction broker may perform ministerial acts without a client relationship and must timely account for money and property, disclose specified actually known adverse material facts, and avoid knowingly giving false information.
  • O.C.G.A. § 10-6A-3, BRRETA definitions. Defines client, customer, brokerage engagement and ministerial acts. A customer is someone the broker is not representing in an agency capacity but may perform ministerial acts for.

This is an original teaching question written from the statute. It is not a PSI exam item, and it is not copied or reconstructed from one. On the exam, BRRETA sits inside the Georgia agency and listing content. The BRRETA guide covers the client and customer table and the dual and designated agency rules in one place.

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