What is tested in Agency?
| Official PSI area | Agency |
|---|---|
| Exam portion | National portion |
| Published weight | 13% of the 100-question national portion |
| Published branches | 3 |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
| Last verified | August 2, 2026 |
The Rule
The national 13% area and Georgia's BRRETA material overlap in vocabulary but are not interchangeable. Answer the national rule unless the question supplies a Georgia fact or asks about the Georgia supplement.
Why this area matters
Agency errors come from answering the duty before identifying the relationship. Decide who is represented, how the relationship arose, whose confidential information is at stake, and whether informed consent is required.
Complete official content outline
These are all branches named in PSI's current salesperson outline. The teaching points below unpack each branch so you can move from recognition to application.
A. Agency and non-agency relationships
Identify the relationship, its source of authority, and how it ends.
- How agency relationships are established
- Types of listing contracts
- Buyer brokerage and tenant representation
- Transaction brokers, facilitators, and other non-agency roles
- Powers of attorney and assignments of authority
- Termination of agency and brokerage-service agreements
B. Agent duties
Separate duties to a principal or client from duties owed to customers and non-clients.
- Fiduciary duties of agents
- Honesty and good faith toward customers
- Accounting, disclosure, confidentiality, obedience, loyalty, and reasonable care
- Duties that survive termination
C. Agency disclosures
Disclose the relationship and any conflict or self-interest at the time required by the governing rule.
- Disclosure of agency or representation
- Conflicts of interest
- Licensee ownership or self-interest
- Consent where one broker or firm works with opposing parties
Complete lesson sequence
Work in order the first time. Each page connects the official topic to a full lesson, Georgia distinction, worked example, exam traps, original questions, mastery check, and recommended next lesson.
Lesson 90
Creation and Types of Agency
Identify the principal, the source and scope of authority, and every required disclosure and consent.
Lesson 91
Brokerage Representation Agreements
Read the specific agreement for exclusivity, trigger, term, protected prospects, payment source, and termination effect.
Lesson 92
Non-Agency, Customers, Ministerial Acts, and Authority
Ask who made the representation of authority and whether the conduct requires judgment for one party's benefit.
Lesson 93
Agent Duties to Clients and Customers
Classify the duty, then test whether the client's instruction is lawful and consistent with required disclosure.
Lesson 94
Agency Disclosures, Dual Agency, and Conflicts
Disclose the relationship and conflict before the party relies on advice or gives the required informed consent.
Lesson 95
Termination of Agency
Separate the end of authority from contractual liability and duties that survive.
High-value distinctions and exam traps
Use these after the complete lesson sequence. Each comparison puts easily confused terms into the same decision table, then tests the controlling fact in a new scenario.
Comparison 209
Agent Versus Broker Versus Transaction Broker
Separate license status from transaction relationship, then identify the client, brokerage engagement, authority, and services actually performed.
Comparison 210
Duties to Clients Versus Duties to Customers
Find the written brokerage engagement first, then identify the exact statutory duty instead of applying a memorized fiduciary list to everyone.
Comparison 211
Listing Agreement Versus Buyer Brokerage Agreement
Identify the client and objective, then read scope, property coverage, duration, exclusivity, compensation, conflict consent, protection period, and ending terms.
Georgia-specific distinction
Worked example: Identify status before assigning a duty
Scenario. A listing agent gives an unrepresented buyer the seller's disclosure form, provides a list of inspectors, and answers a factual question about school locations. No buyer engagement exists.
Reason it through. The buyer remains a customer. Those acts can be ministerial and do not, by themselves, create representation. The agent must remain honest and disclose required material facts but must protect the seller client's confidential negotiating information.
Common exam traps
- Assuming repeated assistance creates a Georgia client relationship
- Giving a customer the same loyalty owed to a client
- Confusing designated agency with one person's dual agency
- Disclosing client motivation as if it were a property defect
- Assuming confidentiality ends with the engagement
Original practice questions with explanations
Answer each question before opening the explanation. These are original instructional questions mapped to the official outline. They are not copied from PSI or a live exam.
Question 1What fact most clearly establishes a Georgia buyer as a client?
- A. Attending three showings
- B. Receiving a lender list
- C. Signing a written brokerage engagement
- D. Asking an agent for advice
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: C. Signing a written brokerage engagement
BRRETA ties agency to written authority. Time, helpful conduct, and conversation do not substitute for the written brokerage engagement.
Question 2A broker represents both buyer and seller personally in the same transaction. What is generally required in Georgia?
- A. Oral notice to the buyer only
- B. Written informed consent of all clients
- C. Approval from PSI
- D. Automatic designated agency
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: B. Written informed consent of all clients
Georgia permits dual agency only with written informed consent from all clients. Designated agency is a different arrangement using separate agents.
Question 3Which duty is owed to a customer as well as a client?
- A. Undivided loyalty
- B. Obedience to every instruction
- C. Honesty
- D. Advocacy in negotiation
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: C. Honesty
A customer is owed honesty and required material-fact disclosure, but not client-level loyalty, obedience, confidentiality, or advocacy.
Mastery tracking
Mark this area mastered only when every statement below is true.
- I can explain every official branch in plain English without notes.
- I can identify the Georgia distinction before reading the answer choices.
- I can solve a new scenario and state which fact controlled the answer.
- I can explain why each tempting distractor is wrong.
- I meet my accuracy target in mixed practice on at least two different days.
- I know which lesson to reopen when this area weakens.
Related lessons
BRRETA complete guide
Study client, customer, dual, designated, and ministerial-act scenarios.
Agency and fiduciary duties
Strengthen the national foundation.
Dual versus designated agency
Remove the Georgia consent trap.
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Property Disclosures. Apply agency status to material-fact and confidentiality decisions.