General powers and duties of the Real Estate Commission 9
A broker's license is revoked. What happens to the licenses of the associate brokers and salespersons affiliated with that broker?Answer: They are automatically suspended, and replacements are issued to a new broker without charge. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-19(e)
A licensee is charged in a complaint. How far may the Commission's examination of the licensee's books and records go?Answer: Not beyond the specific violation charged in the complaint. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-7(k)
The Commission sends a licensee a copy of a complaint. Within how many days of service must the licensee file an answer?Answer: 20 days. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-20(c)
How soon after notice of hearing is given may a disciplinary hearing be held?Answer: No less than 30 days after the notice. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-21(b)
The West Virginia Real Estate Commission has five members. How many must hold a license under the Real Estate License Act?Answer: Four. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-6(b)
What is the criminal penalty for an individual convicted of a first violation of the Real Estate License Act?Answer: A fine of $1,000 to $2,000, up to 90 days in jail, or both. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-22(a)
What is the largest administrative fine the Commission may impose on a licensee?Answer: $1,000 per day per violation. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-7(l)
Where is the money from administrative fines deposited?Answer: The General Revenue Fund of the State Treasury. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-9(c)
Where no fraud, deceit or misrepresentation is alleged, how long after the acts complained of may a complaint still support disciplinary action?Answer: Two years. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-20(a)
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Licensing 14
A broker licensed by examination in another jurisdiction applies for a comparable West Virginia license under section 30-40-15. Which examination must the applicant pass?Answer: The West Virginia state law portion. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-15(b)
A broker's unlicensed clerical employee may accept and process rental reservations in a manner the broker has set in advance. For stays of what length?Answer: Not more than 30 consecutive days. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-5(c)(10)
A license expired on June 30 and has not been renewed by December 31 of that year. What is its status, and what must the former licensee do?Answer: It is cancelled; all requirements for a new license apply, the examination included. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 8.3
A licensee on inactive status applies to return to active status. What must the licensee show?Answer: The continuing education that active status would have required. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-16(c)
A licensee's personal address changes in March. By when must the Commission be notified in writing?Answer: Within 30 days of the change. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 9.6
A salesperson wants to move to another responsible broker. What must the application for change include from the new broker?Answer: A sworn statement confirming the transfer. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 9.5
After passing the required examinations, within what time must an applicant pay the license fee and submit all supporting documents?Answer: Within three months of passing. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 4.7
An unlicensed person arranges one sale of a house for a neighbor and is promised a fee. How does the act treat that single act?Answer: It makes the person subject to the act as a broker or salesperson. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-23
Besides education and the examination, what experience must an applicant for a broker's license show from the two years before the application?Answer: A minimum of 20 closed transactions as a licensed salesperson. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-12(a)
For how long is an approval to take the licensing examination valid?Answer: Three months from approval, for no more than two attempts. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 4.3
How many clock-hours of approved courses must an applicant for a broker's license complete if the applicant already holds a West Virginia salesperson's license?Answer: An additional 90 clock-hours. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-14(a)
Of the seven hours of continuing professional education a broker completes for each fiscal year, how many must come from the broker-level curriculum?Answer: Three. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-16(a)
Which of these persons needs no real estate license under the exceptions in section 30-40-5?Answer: A person employed only as rental agent for the real estate of one owner. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-5(c)
Within what period before the date of application must the prelicense courses have been completed?Answer: The three-year period before it. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-14(c)
Real estate practice 11
A licensed salesperson passes the broker examination and applies for a broker's license. What does the rule say about the fee already paid for the salesperson's license?Answer: No credit is given for it. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 3.2
A salesperson is owed a commission on a closed sale. Against whom may the salesperson bring suit in his or her own name?Answer: The affiliated broker. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-25
A salesperson wants to offer buyers a rebate. Which of these does the rule require?Answer: Written disclosure of the terms and fair market value, with the written permission of the responsible broker. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 18.1
A seller wants $150,000 and offers the broker, as commission, whatever the sale brings above that figure. What does the act call this, and what is its status?Answer: A net listing, a ground for discipline. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-19(a)(40)
A team advertises a listing on social media. How close to the post must the required brokerage information be?Answer: Accessible with no more than two mouse clicks. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 17.4
A team's advertisement names a member who holds no license. How must that member be identified?Answer: By the term "Non-Licensed". Source: 174 CSR 1, section 17.1
Before a broker pays part of his or her compensation to a broker representing another party to the transaction, what does the rule require?Answer: Written notice to all parties. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 10.5
From whom may a salesperson accept compensation for an act the license act covers?Answer: Only his or her broker. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-19(a)(16)
In an advertisement, how large must the company name, the responsible broker's name and the term "Broker" be?Answer: No less than half the size of the agent or team names. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 17.1
Which item may be left off a for sale sign placed in a yard, though other advertisements of a property must show it?Answer: The licensed office's address. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 17.1
Which of these is outside the practice of real estate brokerage as section 30-40-5 defines it?Answer: The work a home inspector normally performs in a transaction. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-5(b)
Agency relationships 4
A licensee's agency status changes and the form signed earlier is now inaccurate. What must the licensee do?Answer: Prepare a corrected form and immediately present it to all parties. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 16.3
A member of a team signs a Notice of Agency Relationship form with a seller. What must the form show about the team?Answer: Every member of the team. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 16.1
By when must a licensee disclose in writing, on the notice of agency relationship form, whom the licensee represents?Answer: Before any person signs a contract for representation or a contract for the sale or purchase of real estate. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-26(d)
What must a licensee have before acting as the agent of both the buyer and the seller?Answer: The written consent of both the buyer and the seller. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 16.2
West Virginia fair housing 4
A licensee urges owners to sell by telling them that people of a particular religion are moving into the neighborhood. What does the act say about doing this for profit?Answer: It is unlawful. Source: W. Va. Code 16B-18-5(e)
A local multiple listing service refuses a broker membership because of the broker's national origin. What does the act say?Answer: That is unlawful discrimination in the provision of brokerage services. Source: W. Va. Code 16B-18-7
A tenant with a disability asks to install grab bars at his own expense. What may the landlord do, where it is reasonable?Answer: Condition permission on the tenant restoring the interior afterward, reasonable wear and tear excepted. Source: W. Va. Code 16B-18-5(f)
Which of these is among the grounds on which the West Virginia Fair Housing Act forbids refusing to sell or rent a dwelling?Answer: Blindness. Source: W. Va. Code 16B-18-5(a)
Broker management 18
A broker appoints a salesperson to manage a branch office. What must the appointee have?Answer: An active license and at least two years of actual experience. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 14.2
A broker moves the company office. By when must the Commission be notified?Answer: Before the change or within 10 days after it. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-17(a)(3)
A broker opens a new trust fund account. Within how many days must the Commission be notified?Answer: Within 10 days. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-18(k)
A broker's office is in Charleston and one of the firm's salespersons works alone from Morgantown. What does that distance do to the broker's duty to supervise?Answer: Nothing; the duty is not affected. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 21.2
A brokerage is a corporation, and its trust account checks need one signature. Besides the broker, who may be authorized to disburse funds from the account?Answer: Only one other member or officer who is licensed under the act. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-18(g)
A licensee affiliated with the firm is named as a defendant in a criminal proceeding. Within how many days of notice of the offense must the licensee send the Commission a copy of the charging document?Answer: 30 days. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 20.3
A salesperson separates from the firm. What must the responsible broker do with the salesperson's license certificate?Answer: Immediately return it to the Commission and notify the salesperson. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 9.3
A seller refuses to close, through no fault of the purchaser. What right does the broker have to the earnest money the purchaser paid?Answer: None, except by agreement of the parties or by court order. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 10.6
A sole proprietor broker dies. For how long may the Commission permit an associate broker or designated salesperson of that broker to complete and close the existing business?Answer: A temporary period of not more than six months. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 11.1
For how long must a broker keep the records the Commission requires?Answer: A minimum of five years. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 10.3
How much of the broker's own money may be kept in a trust fund account to maintain a minimum balance?Answer: A maximum of $100. Source: W. Va. Code 30-40-18(f)
In whose name, and with whose consent, may a salesperson collect money in a real estate transaction?Answer: The responsible broker. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 15.2
Unless the signed purchase agreement directs otherwise, how soon must a broker deposit trust funds in the trust account?Answer: Immediately or by the next business day following receipt. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 15.3
What does a broker need before moving trust funds into an interest-bearing trust account?Answer: A written agreement from all parties to the transaction. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 15.4
What must the governing body of a corporation execute to make one of its officers the designated broker?Answer: A subordination resolution, sworn to and notarized, on the Commission's form. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 10.1
What must the sign at the entrance of a broker's principal office display?Answer: The name of the broker, the term "Broker" and the company name, in lettering at least 1 inch high. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 13.1
Which location does not need a branch office license?Answer: A temporary shelter in a subdivision the broker is selling, where no transactions are closed and no licensees are permanently assigned. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 14.1
Whose responsibility is it to confirm, before renewal applications go in, that the licensees under a broker's supervision have completed their continuing education?Answer: The broker's. Source: 174 CSR 1, section 8.4
How this list was compiled: Written from the West Virginia Real Estate License Act, W. Va. Code chapter 30, article 40, and the West Virginia Fair Housing Act, W. Va. Code chapter 16B, article 18 (sections 16B-18-5 and 16B-18-7), as published by the West Virginia Legislature at https://code.wvlegislature.gov/30-40/, and from the Real Estate Commission's legislative rule, Title 174, Series 1, effective April 7, 2026, as filed with the Secretary of State at https://apps.sos.wv.gov/adlaw/csr/readfile.aspx?DocId=58845&Format=PDF, all read 2026-10-13. The spread of topics follows the West Virginia Real Estate Broker Licensing Examination Content Outline, effective January 1, 2024, published with the West Virginia Real Estate Commission Candidate Handbook of February 2026 (outline: https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/094905.pdf), for the West Virginia Real Estate Commission, whose law page is https://rec.wv.gov/law. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site from the statute and rule text; nothing is copied from another practice test, a prep book or the state exam. Short quotations from the statutes and rules are marked.
How it works
This unofficial study guide for the West Virginia state broker exam is 60 practice questions of our own, most from the Real Estate License Act and the Commission's rule. It is not affiliated with the West Virginia Real Estate Commission.
Read the full guide
The state broker exam, section by section
The content outline in the Candidate Handbook, effective January 1, 2024, has 60 scored questions for brokers: powers and duties of the Commission 9, licensing 14, real estate practice 11, agency relationships 4, West Virginia fair housing 4, broker management 18. The bank matches those counts.
Broker management, the broker's own section
The salesperson outline has no broker management section. Its 18 questions cover trust funds, place of business and brokerage operation: the next-business-day deposit, the $100 of the broker's own money, office signs, branch managers, five years of records.
West Virginia real estate broker simulation practice test
The handbook describes no simulation for West Virginia: both broker exams are question counts, 80 national and 60 state. Practice here is one right answer among four.
Trust funds go into the trust account immediately or by the next business day after receipt (174 CSR 1, section 15.3).
A broker applicant shows 20 closed transactions in the last two years, or 40 in all (W. Va. Code 30-40-12).
A license not renewed by December 31 is cancelled, and the examination must be passed again (174 CSR 1, section 8.3).
Questions and answers
How many questions are on the West Virginia broker exam?
The Candidate Handbook lists 80 national questions in 150 minutes and 60 state questions in 90 minutes, with unscored pretest questions mixed in. The timed test on this page asks 60 in 90 minutes.
What is the passing score for the West Virginia broker exam?
The handbook gives brokers a passing score of 75, on a scale of 0 to 100 that it says is neither the number nor the percentage of questions answered correctly. So this page counts right answers and names no pass mark.
What experience do you need for a West Virginia broker license?
W. Va. Code 30-40-12 asks for 20 closed transactions as a licensed salesperson in the two years before applying, or 40 whatever the years, with the prelicense courses of 30-40-14 and the examination.
Are these the real West Virginia broker exam questions?
No. They were written for this page from the West Virginia Code and the Commission's rule, and the real exam is closed. No West Virginia broker or attorney has reviewed them. The national exam is not on this page.