What is the exam-ready answer?
| Official syllabus topic | Confidential Information, Privacy, and Transaction Funds |
|---|---|
| Official PSI area | Practice of Real Estate |
| Published area weight | 12% of the 100-question national portion |
| Exam portion | National salesperson portion |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
The Rule
PSI publishes the weight for the complete content area, not a fixed question count for this lesson. Learn the rule well enough to apply it when PSI changes names, numbers, or parties in a new scenario.
The lesson
These ideas work together. On the exam, the wrong answers usually describe a nearby concept, so learn where each one stops.
Confidential versus material
A client's urgency or maximum price can be confidential, while a known material property defect may require disclosure. Confidentiality cannot be used to facilitate fraud.
Data minimization
Collect only what the transaction and law require, restrict access, use secure approved systems, avoid unnecessary attachments, and follow retention and disposal policy.
Transaction funds
Earnest money, deposits, rents, and closing funds have different owners and instructions. Receipt, custody, notice, ledger, reconciliation, dispute, and release procedures must be followed exactly.
Wire and account security
Use multifactor authentication, strong unique credentials, verified contacts, and independent callback procedures. Never rely on last-minute emailed wire changes without trusted-channel confirmation.
Decision rule
Georgia-specific distinction
Worked example
Scenario. A message that looks like the closing attorney changes the wire account two hours before closing.
Reason it through. Urgency and changed instructions are common fraud signals, and email identity can be spoofed or compromised.
Answer. Stop, use a previously verified phone number to confirm with the closing office, and alert the broker under the incident plan.
Common exam traps
- Emailing sensitive data casually
- Sharing a client's bargaining limit
- Disbursing disputed earnest money unilaterally
- Trusting changed wire instructions
Original practice questions with detailed explanations
These questions were written for instruction and mapped to the current outline. They are not copied from PSI or any live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.
Question 1A buyer client tells the agent they will pay up to $420,000 but want to offer $395,000. The listing agent asks whether the buyer would go higher. What should the buyer's agent do?
- A. Reveal the $420,000 limit to keep the deal moving
- B. Keep the limit confidential unless the buyer authorizes sharing
- C. Share the limit because the listing agent asked directly
- D. Disclose the limit because price is a material fact
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: B. Keep the limit confidential unless the buyer authorizes sharing
A client's maximum price is a bargaining limit that can hurt the client if shared, so it stays confidential unless the client authorizes disclosure. Treating it as a material fact is the common mix-up: material-fact disclosure is about things like known property defects, not a client's negotiating position.
Question 2After a contract fails, both the buyer and the seller demand the $5,000 earnest money held in the brokerage's trust account. What should the salesperson do?
- A. Release it to whichever party has the stronger claim
- B. Return it to the buyer, since the buyer deposited it
- C. Report the dispute to the broker and follow the contract
- D. Split it evenly between the parties to end the dispute
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: C. Report the dispute to the broker and follow the contract
Disputed trust funds move only under the contract, the parties' agreement, a court order or another lawful procedure, and a Georgia salesperson should report the dispute to the broker at once rather than improvise. Returning the money to the buyer looks plausible, but the salesperson has no authority to decide who is entitled to it.
Question 3The day before closing, a buyer receives an email that appears to come from the closing attorney with new wiring instructions. What should the buyer do first?
- A. Call the attorney's office at a number from a trusted source
- B. Reply to the email and ask the sender to confirm
- C. Wire the funds, since the email came from the attorney's address
- D. Forward the email to the lender and wire if no one objects
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. Call the attorney's office at a number from a trusted source
Changed wire instructions must be confirmed through an independent, trusted channel, such as a phone number the buyer already has, because email accounts can be spoofed or compromised. Replying to the same email is the classic mistake: if the account is compromised, the fraudster is the one who answers.
Ready to move on?
You are ready for the next lesson when all of these are true.
- Explain Confidential Information, Privacy, and Transaction Funds in one clear answer without notes.
- Separate Confidential versus material from Data minimization 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 Due Diligence and the Boundaries of Real Estate Practice. Due Diligence and the Boundaries of Real Estate Practice takes the same verify-before-acting habit from data and money to property facts, showing which questions belong to a surveyor, attorney, inspector or tax adviser and why a referral must land before the contingency deadline.
Return to the Practice of Real Estate hub to see every official branch and the complete lesson sequence for this content area.