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Georgia curriculum lesson · Real Estate Practice in Georgia

Georgia Practice Boundaries and Unauthorized Practice of Law

Georgia licensees may complete transaction forms when the forms and activity fit O.C.G.A. Section 43-40-25.1, follow client instructions, explain real estate concepts within competence, and recommend professional advice. They may not give legal opinions, resolve disputed legal rights, draft novel legal provisions beyond authorized practice, or conduct a closing reserved to a Georgia lawyer. The safest exam answer identifies the issue and refers legal judgment to an attorney.

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

What is the exam-ready answer?

Georgia licensees may complete transaction forms when the forms and activity fit O.C.G.A. Section 43-40-25.1, follow client instructions, explain real estate concepts within competence, and recommend professional advice. They may not give legal opinions, resolve disputed legal rights, draft novel legal provisions beyond authorized practice, or conduct a closing reserved to a Georgia lawyer. The safest exam answer identifies the issue and refers legal judgment to an attorney.
Official syllabus mapping for Georgia Practice Boundaries and Unauthorized Practice of Law
Official syllabus topicReal Estate Practice in Georgia: Real Estate Practice; Sales Contracts
Official PSI groupReal Estate Practice in Georgia
Published group count21 of the 52 Georgia questions
Exam portionGeorgia salesperson supplement
Source editionPSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 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.

The lesson

Georgia questions reward the Georgia rule. A national rule that sounds right can still be the wrong answer when the question names a Georgia statute, document, role or procedure.

Authorized forms

The statute protects completion of specified forms under its conditions; it does not turn a real estate license into a law license.

Factual explanation

A licensee may explain business terms and known facts within competence while avoiding conclusions about legal effect or enforceability.

Attorney referral

Questions about title, legal rights, custom clauses, remedies, or disputed interpretation should go to a Georgia lawyer.

Closing boundary

Georgia treats conveyancing and real estate closing as legal work. The lawyer must control the closing, not merely appear as a witness for a process run by others.

Decision rule

Ask whether the requested act needs legal judgment or creates legal language. If it does, stop and refer rather than improvise.

Georgia rule and national contrast

Georgia's statute and State Bar authorities define the form-completion and attorney-closing boundary. National material that treats a title company as the universal closer can give the wrong Georgia answer.

Worked Georgia example

Scenario. A buyer asks a salesperson to draft a clause guaranteeing the right to cancel if a future zoning change reduces value.

Reason it through. The request needs custom legal drafting and analysis beyond ordinary form completion. The licensee may document the concern and recommend counsel but should not invent the clause.

Answer. Refer the buyer to a Georgia attorney for the provision.

Common exam traps

  • Calling every explanation legal advice
  • Treating every blank form as safe to alter
  • Giving a title opinion
  • Using an attorney as a witness-only closer

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 1

A buyer asks a salesperson to write a custom clause letting the buyer cancel if a future zoning change lowers the home's value. What should the salesperson do?

  1. A. Draft the clause, since licensees may complete sales contracts.
  2. B. Adapt a similar clause from another state's contract form.
  3. C. Note the concern and refer the buyer to a Georgia attorney.
  4. D. Tell the buyer that such a clause would not be enforceable.
Show answer and explanation →

Answer: C. Note the concern and refer the buyer to a Georgia attorney.

Georgia law lets licensees complete lawyer-prepared forms with facts such as price, dates and required stipulations, but not draft new legal provisions. A custom cancellation right needs legal drafting, so the licensee records the concern and refers the buyer. Telling the buyer the clause is unenforceable looks cautious, but it is itself a legal opinion.

Question 2

Who must conduct a residential real estate closing in Georgia?

  1. A. A Georgia attorney who controls the closing
  2. B. A title company escrow officer acting alone
  3. C. The listing broker, with an attorney as a witness
  4. D. Any licensee the brokerage has trained to close
Show answer and explanation →

Answer: A. A Georgia attorney who controls the closing

Georgia treats conveyancing and closing as the practice of law, so a Georgia attorney must control the closing. An attorney who only watches while others run it does not meet that standard. The title-company answer comes from national material where escrow closings are common.

Question 3

Which of these acts is within a Georgia salesperson's role?

  1. A. Telling a seller whether a neighbor's easement is still valid
  2. B. Giving a buyer an opinion on whether the title is marketable
  3. C. Deciding which party is right in a contract dispute
  4. D. Filling in the price and dates on a lawyer-prepared contract form
Show answer and explanation →

Answer: D. Filling in the price and dates on a lawyer-prepared contract form

A licensee may complete listing and sales contracts prepared by legal counsel, filling in facts like property, price, payment terms and dates. Judging an easement's validity, title, or a contract dispute calls for legal judgment. The title-opinion choice looks plausible because licensees handle title facts, but rendering an opinion on title is legal work.

Ready to move on?

You are ready for the next lesson when all of these are true.

  • Explain Georgia Practice Boundaries and Unauthorized Practice of Law in one clear answer without notes.
  • Separate Authorized forms from Factual explanation using a fresh example.
  • Apply the decision rule to a new fact pattern and name the fact that controls the result.
  • State the Georgia-specific point or explain why the national rule applies unchanged.
  • Answer every practice question and explain the rule each rejected option misapplies.
  • Revisit this topic later in mixed practice without category labels.

Recommended next lesson

Continue with BRRETA Complete Exam Guide. The BRRETA guide pulls the Georgia agency rules behind these limits onto one page, so you can review client and customer duties, dual and designated agency, and transaction brokerage in one sitting.

Return to the Real Estate Practice in Georgia hub for the complete official branch and the full lesson list for this Georgia group.

Georgia Practice Boundaries and Unauthorized Practice of Law questions

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

Is Georgia Practice Boundaries and Unauthorized Practice of Law on the Georgia real estate exam?

Yes. It maps to PSI's Real Estate Practice in Georgia group, which has 21 of the 52 Georgia questions. PSI does not publish a guaranteed question count for this individual lesson.

What is the main Georgia rule for Georgia Practice Boundaries and Unauthorized Practice of Law?

Ask whether the requested act needs legal judgment or creates legal language. If it does, stop and refer rather than improvise.

How is this different from a national real estate rule?

Georgia's statute and State Bar authorities define the form-completion and attorney-closing boundary. National material that treats a title company as the universal closer can give the wrong Georgia answer.