What is the exam-ready answer?
| Roadmap lesson | 139 of 500 |
|---|---|
| Official syllabus topic | Real Estate Practice in Georgia: Listings and Agency |
| Official PSI group | Real Estate Practice in Georgia |
| Published group count | 21 of the 52 Georgia questions |
| Exam portion | Georgia salesperson supplement |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
| Law checked through | August 2, 2026 |
| Last verified | August 2, 2026 |
The Rule
PSI publishes 16, 21, and 15 items for the three Georgia groups. It does not publish a guaranteed subtopic count. The statute, current GREC rule, contract, or other cited primary authority controls each lesson.
Complete lesson
Read these concepts as one Georgia decision system. A plausible national rule can still be the wrong answer when the stem supplies a Georgia statute, instrument, role, or procedure.
Client
A client is a party to a brokerage engagement with the broker. Duties depend on the seller, landlord, buyer, or tenant section and the signed engagement.
Customer
A customer has no brokerage engagement. Assistance can include ministerial acts that do not require discretion or the licensee's own judgment.
No automatic fiduciary label
BRRETA Section 10-6A-4 limits duties to the statute and agreed writing and says the broker is not deemed to have a fiduciary relationship merely from the role.
Changing relationships
When an existing relationship changes, the broker must timely disclose the new relationship to the affected brokers, customers, or clients.
Side-by-side exam comparison
Compare the roles across the same facts. The written relationship and permitted level of judgment control, not who appears friendliest or who ultimately pays compensation.
| Decision dimension | Client | Customer |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship source | Express written brokerage engagement with the broker | No brokerage engagement with that broker |
| Representation | Broker represents the client in the role created by the engagement | Broker does not represent the customer as an agent |
| Permitted help | Advice, advocacy, and services within the engagement and law | Ministerial acts that do not require discretion or independent judgment |
| Duties | Role-specific BRRETA duties plus duties expressly agreed in a signed writing | Applicable honesty, offer-presentation, accounting, and adverse-fact duties without client advocacy |
| What does not decide status | Compensation source does not replace the engagement | Showings, forms, friendliness, or repeated help do not create representation by themselves |
Decision rule
Georgia rule and national contrast
Worked Georgia example
Scenario. A listing licensee shows an unrepresented buyer three homes and provides published tax records, but no buyer engagement is signed.
Reason it through. Showings and factual assistance can be ministerial. Without a brokerage engagement, the buyer remains a customer rather than the broker's client.
Answer. The buyer is a customer unless the relationship is changed through a brokerage engagement.
Common exam traps
- Inferring agency from repeated help
- Calling every client duty fiduciary
- Assuming compensation creates the relationship
- Confusing ministerial assistance with advocacy
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 a live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.
Question 1Which statement best states the Georgia rule for Client Versus Customer Under BRRETA?
- A. Three property showings automatically create a buyer client.
- B. Every BRRETA client relationship is automatically fiduciary.
- C. Payment of compensation alone determines whether a person is a client.
- D. Find the written brokerage engagement first, then apply the statutory duties for that role without importing a generic fiduciary list.
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: D. Find the written brokerage engagement first, then apply the statutory duties for that role without importing a generic fiduciary list.
The correct choice states the controlling rule. The other choices either remove a required element, replace Georgia authority with a generic assumption, or expand an exception beyond the cited source.
Question 2A listing licensee shows an unrepresented buyer three homes and provides published tax records, but no buyer engagement is signed.
- A. The buyer is a customer unless the relationship is changed through a brokerage engagement.
- B. Ignore the Georgia-specific fact because good intentions control.
- C. Apply the nearest national rule without checking Georgia authority.
- D. Let the participant with the strongest preference decide without following the required process.
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. The buyer is a customer unless the relationship is changed through a brokerage engagement.
Showings and factual assistance can be ministerial. Without a brokerage engagement, the buyer remains a customer rather than the broker's client. The correct option follows that reasoning. The distractors ignore the controlling Georgia source, substitute intent for procedure, or give decision-making authority to the wrong person.
Question 3When solving Client Versus Customer Under BRRETA, what should a candidate identify first?
- A. The answer choice that sounds most ethical, without classifying the actor or document.
- B. Do not infer representation from showings, friendliness, forms, or compensation. Look for the brokerage engagement and then identify the exact statutory role.
- C. One familiar deadline, applied to every Georgia transaction regardless of the source.
- D. A national default, even when the stem identifies a Georgia statute or GREC rule.
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: B. Do not infer representation from showings, friendliness, forms, or compensation. Look for the brokerage engagement and then identify the exact statutory role.
The decision rule identifies the facts that control this topic. The other choices reward tone, a memorized number, or a national default while skipping the Georgia actor, document, authority, or procedure.
Mastery tracking
Mark this Georgia lesson mastered only when every statement is true.
- State the direct answer and decision rule without notes.
- Explain all four concepts and identify the controlling Georgia source.
- Solve the worked example after changing one important fact.
- Reject every listed trap and explain what makes it tempting.
- Answer all three original questions correctly and explain every distractor.
- Repeat this topic in mixed Georgia practice on a later day.
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Duties of a Georgia Broker Engaged by a Seller. Continue through the roadmap from lesson 139.
Return to the Real Estate Practice in Georgia hub for the complete official branch and every canonical lesson in this Georgia group.