What is tested in State Laws and Rules?
| Official PSI area | State Laws and Rules |
|---|---|
| Exam portion | Georgia supplement |
| Published weight | 16 of the 52 Georgia questions |
| Published branches | 8 |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
| Last verified | August 2, 2026 |
The Rule
PSI publishes 16 items for the group but no subtopic counts. A claim that a fixed number will cover advertising, trust funds, discipline, or any other branch is not supported by the public outline.
Why this area matters
This area tests regulator logic. Ask who is acting, whether a license or broker authority is required, what conduct threatens the public, and whether the facts describe investigation, hearing, sanction, recovery, or ordinary compliance.
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. Unfair Practices
Recognize conduct for which GREC may discipline a licensee.
- Misrepresentation and misleading advertising
- Disclosure failures and undisclosed interests or compensation
- Improper handling of transactions or funds
- Conduct demonstrating incompetence, unworthiness, or bad faith
B. Substantive Regulations
Apply Chapter 520-1 rules to daily brokerage conduct.
- Broker supervision and firm responsibilities
- Advertising and internet communication
- Trust accounts, records, transaction handling, and required documentation
- License status and permitted activity
C. Qualifications and Fees
Separate eligibility, education, examination, application, and renewal requirements.
- Age and education qualifications
- Prelicense and postlicense requirements
- Application timing and fees
- Active and inactive status
D. Fair Housing Laws
Apply federal and Georgia antidiscrimination duties without guessing at unstated facts.
- Protected-class decisions
- Discriminatory advertising or service
- GREC discipline for discriminatory practice
- Fair and consistent brokerage conduct
E. Education, Research and Recovery Fund
Know the fund's public-protection purpose and the difference between a claim process and licensee discipline.
- Purpose and funding framework
- Who may seek recovery
- Judgment and collection conditions
- Effect of payment and recovery rights
F. Investigation and Hearing Process
Follow a complaint from inquiry through notice, hearing, decision, and available sanction.
- Complaint and investigation
- Evidence and notice
- Administrative hearing
- Disciplinary outcomes and review
G. Commission Organization and Procedures
Know GREC's regulatory role rather than assigning it the duties of PSI, a court, or a brokerage.
- Commission authority
- Rulemaking and licensing administration
- Public protection
- Records and procedural functions
H. Required Licensure
Decide whether the activity, compensation, exemption, and supervision facts require a Georgia license.
- Brokerage activities requiring licensure
- Statutory exemptions
- Unlicensed support-personnel boundaries
- Firm, broker, salesperson, and community-association roles
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 120
Purpose, Scope, and Structure of Georgia Real Estate License Law
Identify the actor, the real estate activity, the source of authority, and the public-protection risk before choosing an answer.
Lesson 121
Activities Requiring a Georgia Real Estate License
Ask what the person actually did, for whom, and with what compensation expectation. Apply an exemption only after all its facts are present.
Lesson 122
Georgia Real Estate License Exemptions
Match every fact to the current text of Section 43-40-29, including the 2025 amendment, and reject the exemption if a required fact is missing.
Lesson 123
Georgia Salesperson, Associate Broker, Broker, CAM, and Firm Licenses
Name the individual category, active or inactive status, affiliated broker, firm license, and qualifying-broker responsibility.
Lesson 124
Georgia License Qualifications, Education Routes, Experience, and Fees
Identify the requested license, then check education, experience, evidence, examination fee, and licensing fee as separate columns.
Lesson 125
Original Georgia License Issuance, Activation, Inactivation, and Deadlines
Anchor every deadline to the examination date or issuance date stated by the controlling source, not to the candidate's course-completion date.
Lesson 126
Georgia Post-License and Continuing-Education Rules
Write the license type, original-issuance date, renewal period, status, and required course category before calculating hours.
Lesson 127
Georgia Real Estate Commission Organization and Powers
Name the task in the question, then choose the institution that legally owns that task rather than the institution the candidate happens to interact with.
Lesson 128
Georgia Complaints, Investigations, Hearings, Appeals, and Discipline
Ask whether the facts describe an allegation, investigation, notice, hearing, final order, or appeal, then choose only the authority available at that stage.
Lesson 129
Georgia Unfair Practices and Grounds for Discipline
Translate the story into a precise violation label and check every element before selecting the sanction or ground.
Lesson 130
Georgia Real Estate Education, Research and Recovery Fund
Ask whether there is a qualifying licensee act, final judgment, unsuccessful collection effort, timely notice and application, and a loss within statutory coverage.
Lesson 131
Georgia Fair Housing Law and Federal Overlap
Run the federal Fair Housing Act test first, then ask whether the Georgia licensee rule independently prohibits or disciplines the conduct.
Lesson 132
Georgia Broker and Qualifying-Broker Supervision
Ask who held the license, who controlled the firm, who delegated the task, and what written supervision or review the rule required.
Lesson 133
Georgia Real Estate Advertising Rules
Review the advertisement as the public sees it and verify each required element instead of relying on a logo, profile link, or broker approval outside the ad.
Lesson 134
Georgia Trust Accounts and Trust Funds
Trace every item of value from receipt through broker custody, deposit, ledger, cleared funds, and an authorized disbursement ground.
Lesson 135
Georgia Licensees Acting as Principals
Treat licensed status as a material fact: disclose it to the broker, in the advertisement, and in the transaction wherever the rule requires.
Lesson 136
Maintaining, Renewing, Reinstating, and Changing a Georgia License
Identify the exact status, lapse reason, elapsed time, education history, affiliation, and event date before selecting the remedy.
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 227
Georgia Salesperson Versus Associate Broker Versus Broker Versus CAM
Separate qualification level from current capacity, then identify affiliation, permitted services, firm authority, and supervision responsibility.
Comparison 228
Active Versus Inactive Georgia Real Estate License
Identify status, affiliation, brokerage activity, renewal, post-license timing, missed continuing education, and the requirements for reactivation.
Comparison 229
Commingling Versus Conversion
Trace whose money it is, where it was deposited, how the ledger identifies it, whether a rule permits the broker funds, and whether anyone used or disbursed trust money without authority.
Georgia-specific distinction
Worked example: Permitted clerical help or licensed activity?
Scenario. An unlicensed assistant schedules an inspection and sends the confirmed date, then the buyer asks the assistant to explain an inspection contingency in the contract.
Reason it through. Scheduling can be a permitted support task. Explaining the contract requires judgment and crosses into licensed or legal activity, so the assistant should refer the buyer to the affiliated licensee or appropriate professional. The question changes at the moment discretion and explanation enter the facts.
Common exam traps
- Treating an exemption as permission to perform every brokerage act
- Assuming broker approval cures unlicensed activity
- Confusing the Recovery Fund claim process with GREC discipline
- Choosing PSI when the question asks who regulates licensees
- Using good intentions as a substitute for a required disclosure or written approval
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 1Which organization regulates Georgia real estate licensees?
- A. PSI
- B. Georgia Real Estate Commission
- C. Georgia Department of Revenue
- D. Federal Trade Commission
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: B. Georgia Real Estate Commission
GREC licenses and regulates Georgia brokers, salespersons, and community association managers. PSI administers examinations under the state program.
Question 2An unlicensed assistant is asked to interpret a purchase contract for a customer. What is the best response?
- A. Interpret it if the broker is busy
- B. Read only the sections favorable to the firm
- C. Refer the question to a licensee or attorney
- D. Charge a separate clerical fee
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: C. Refer the question to a licensee or attorney
Contract explanation requires judgment and is outside permitted clerical support. Broker supervision does not turn an unlicensed person into a licensee.
Question 3Which statement best separates an investigation from a hearing?
- A. An investigation gathers facts; a hearing adjudicates noticed issues
- B. An investigation imposes the final sanction
- C. A hearing is conducted by PSI
- D. They are the same procedural stage
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. An investigation gathers facts; a hearing adjudicates noticed issues
The investigation develops evidence. A hearing is a later adjudicative process with notice and an opportunity to address the allegations.
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
Georgia license path
Review qualifications, application, and license status.
Trust accounts and earnest money
Apply the funds-handling rules.
How Georgia rules are verified
See the primary-source and correction policy.
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Real Estate Practice in Georgia. Apply the law to contracts, agency, management, and brokerage work.