Real Estate Tests
 The outline

Arkansas has its own
answers. Learn those.

Thirty scored questions taken at the same sitting as the national portion and scored separately from it. Two of the five content areas carry twenty-two of the thirty, and this page is weighted the same way: the three-day trust fund rule and what actually starts the clock, the two agency disclosure timings that are not the same as each other, the advertising rule that reaches a licensee selling their own house, why Arkansas requires no seller disclosure form when almost every other state does, and why unlicensed activity here is a felony.

Read this part
This is the Arkansas state portion. It assumes you are also working through the national portion, which is a separate 80 questions scored separately and covered on the other pages of this set. Arkansas law changes: the Commission amends its regulations, and the figures below were checked in August 2026. Before you rely on any deadline here, check it against the current regulations on arec.arkansas.gov. This is study material, not legal advice.
ON THIS PAGE
Thirty questions, and two headings carry twenty-two of them Trust funds: three days, three destinations, one person accountable Agency: two different disclosure clocks, and a duty nobody can waive Advertising, self-dealing and who may work without a license The Commission, its sanctions, and the Recovery Fund
START HERE

Thirty questions, and two headings carry twenty-two of them

The Arkansas state portion is 30 scored questions with 10 unscored pretest items mixed in, so you answer 40 and are marked on 30. It is taken at the same sitting as the 80-question national portion, and the two are scored separately. A scaled score of 70 passes each one.

Pass one portion and fail the other and you retake only the part you failed — but the clock matters. You have six months to pass the outstanding portion. Let six months go by and you sit the whole examination again, national portion included.

SCORED QUESTIONS OUT OF 30 Statutory Requirements Governing Licensees Area III 14 (47%) Agency Relationships and Disclosures Area V 8 (27%) Duties and Powers of the Commission Area I 4 (13%) Licensing Requirements Area II 2 (7%) Other Statutory Requirements Area IV 2 (7%) Two of the five areas are 22 of the 30 questions. Trust funds, broker responsibility and agency carry the Arkansas state portion. Licensing requirements, which is what most people revise first, is 2 questions out of 30. There are also 10 unscored pretest items mixed in that you cannot identify, so you answer 40 questions on the state portion and are marked on 30. A scaled score of 70 passes. The national and state portions are scored separately, and if you pass one and fail the other you retake only the failed part - but you have six months to do it, and after six months you sit the whole examination again.
The published Arkansas outline. Area III alone is nearly half the state portion, and it is the least glamorous material on the list: trust accounts, advertising, record keeping and what a broker is responsible for.
Where to spend the evening
Areas III and V are 22 of the 30 questions. If you have one evening, spend it on the three-day trust fund rule, the advertising requirements, and the two agency disclosure timings — and leave the composition of the Commission until last. It is four questions, and three of them you can reason your way to.

A last piece of housekeeping: pay the license fee and the recovery fund fee within 90 days of passing. That is Regulation 4.3(c), and it is a different clock from the six-month one above and from the one-year window you get to make your exam attempts.

AREA III

Trust funds: three days, three destinations, one person accountable

This is where the state portion is won or lost, and it is also where a candidate who studied a national textbook is most likely to answer from habit and be wrong. The national habit is "three banking days from receipt". Arkansas says neither of those things.

Regulation 10.8(g)(1), in its own words
"No later than three (3) days following the execution of a real estate contract by both seller and buyer, all trust funds delivered to the principal broker shall be either deposited in the trust account, delivered to an escrow agent, or deposited pursuant to a written agreement by the seller and buyer." Three things follow: the clock starts at execution by both parties rather than at receipt of the check, the days are calendar days rather than banking days, and there are three permitted destinations rather than one.

The one concession to the calendar is that if the third day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the third day extends to the next day that is none of those.

The rule What Arkansas requires Where it says so
Commingling A principal broker shall not commingle trust funds with personal or other non-trust funds, and shall not put them in any account except a specifically designated trust account. Reg 10.8(b)
The broker's own money Two exceptions only, both clearly identified as the broker's: whatever minimum balance the bank requires to keep the account open, and a reasonable amount for service charges not exceeding six months' worth. Reg 10.8(d)
The account itself Its name must include the word trust or the word escrow, and it must sit in an institution insured by the FDIC or another federal insuring agency. Reg 10.8(c)
Who is accountable The principal broker is solely responsible and accountable for all trust funds received by the firm and for every deposit and disbursement. A salesperson never holds them. Reg 10.8(c)
Reconciliation In writing, at least monthly, balanced to the undisbursed trust funds. Copies kept at least three years. Reg 10.8(g)(2)
Records generally Transaction records kept three years or longer if some other law requires it, and open to Commission investigators. Reg 10.7(b)(3)
Security deposits Rental and lease security deposits go into the principal broker's trust account — including on property a licensee owns — unless the licensee-owner has a written agreement with the tenant allowing separate holding, a copy of which goes to the broker. Reg 10.8(h)
Interest Trust accounts do not bear interest by default. Interest is permitted only where some law requires it, or under the Arkansas brokers' trust account interest program. Reg 10.8(i)

The broker also has to tell the Commission about the account — its name and number, the bank, the date opened — and must notify it immediately if the firm name changes, a new principal broker is designated, or the account is changed in any respect or closed.

AREA V

Agency: two different disclosure clocks, and a duty nobody can waive

Arkansas did not replace the common law of agency with a statutory scheme the way Tennessee did. Arkansas Code 17-42-316 begins by saying the common law of agency, as supplemented by this section, applies. What the section supplements it with is a list of duties, and one sentence that matters more than the list.

The duties owed to a client may not be waived by the client
A client can end the relationship. A client cannot sign away one of the duties and keep the rest, however willing they are and however clearly it is written. The duties are absolute fidelity to the client's interest, reasonable efforts to further it, reasonable skill and care, disclosure of material facts, timely accounting for money and property, and confidentiality.
The two disclosure clocks are not the same, and that asymmetry is the exam item
Buyer's agent Discloses the agency relationship to the seller, the lessor, or their agent at first contact — and in any event before the seller signs any document. Reg 8.2
Seller's agent Discloses in a timely manner under the particular circumstances, and before the buyer or lessee signs any document. Reg 8.1
Both The disclosure shall be in writing, but may initially be made orally and reduced to writing at a convenient time. Regs 8.1, 8.2

So "it must always be in writing at first contact" is wrong twice over: wrong about the seller's agent, and wrong about the form. And failing to disclose in the required time and manner is itself the violation under Regulation 8.4 — nobody has to prove they were harmed by it.

Dual agency is permitted in Arkansas. Every party must give written consent prior to or at the time of execution of the agency, listing, management, lease, rental or offer and acceptance contract. Consent gathered later, however freely given, is late consent. That is 17 CAR 220-803.

Arkansas does not require a seller property condition disclosure form
AREC puts the question and answers it in one line: is there a state law requiring every property owner to disclose the condition of the property when selling it? "The answer is no." Most states go the other way, which is exactly why this one gets missed. The widely used Arkansas REALTORS Association form is a trade association document used by custom, not a state mandate. But do not overcorrect: the duty that does exist sits on the licensee, who must exert reasonable efforts to ascertain the facts material to the value or desirability of every property they take the agency on, and who risks sanction for staying quiet about a material defect they know of.
AREA III

Advertising, self-dealing and who may work without a license

Arkansas has no Commission rule on teams and none on unlicensed assistants. What exists on teams is AREC guidance rather than a numbered regulation. What governs unlicensed help is instead the exemption list at Arkansas Code 17-42-104, read together with the definition of real estate activity.

DO
  • Owners of a freehold or leasehold interest, and the members, managers, partners or officers of an entity holding one, making management decisions
  • An attorney in fact under a duly executed and recorded power of attorney, who receives no compensation
  • Attorneys at law in the performance of their duties
  • Receivers, trustees in bankruptcy, administrators, executors and guardians, and anyone acting under a court order
  • Resident managers who live on the premises and lease that property
  • Employees paid only a salary or an hourly rate to engage in leasing
DO NOT
  • The same leasing employee, the moment they are paid a commission
  • An officer or employee of a company dealing in the company's own property, if they take commission compensation
  • A friend or neighbour paid a finder's fee for sending a buyer over — and paying them is a ground for discipline under 17-42-311
  • Anyone who merely offers to do licensed work: the offer is prima facie evidence of unlicensed activity
In Arkansas, unlicensed real estate activity is a Class D felony
Arkansas Code 17-42-105(d) says it in five words: "A violation of this chapter is a Class D felony." Most states make unlicensed practice a misdemeanor, so this is the Arkansas answer a nationally-trained candidate reliably gets wrong. Two more things in the same section are unusual: any licensee residing in the county where the violation occurred may institute criminal proceedings by affidavit and without posting a bond for costs, and the county prosecuting attorney is required to prosecute. Separately, the Commission may impose a civil penalty of up to 5,000 dollars for unlicensed activity and make the person repay everything they collected.
AREAS I AND IV

The Commission, its sanctions, and the Recovery Fund

Five members, appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, each serving three years. Three are licensed brokers or salespersons with at least five years of experience. The other two are not in the business: one represents consumers, and one must be sixty or older and represents the elderly.

What the Commission can do The limit Citation
Suspend, revoke or deny a license or its renewal No stated cap 17-42-312(a)(4)
Fine a licensee 1,000 dollars for each violation 17-42-312(a)(4)
Order education, or order the licensee to sit the exam again — 17-42-312(a)(4)
Put conditions or restrictions on the license or the practice — 17-42-312(a)(4)
Order restitution, damages or other appropriate penalties Actual compensatory damages only 17-42-312, 17-42-407
Issue a citation for missed education Up to 100 dollars, 30 days to pay or dispute 17-42-312(d)
Issue a citation for expired-license practice or bad advertising Up to 250 dollars, 30 days to pay or dispute 17-42-312(d)
Impose a civil penalty for unlicensed activity Up to 5,000 dollars, plus repayment of what was collected 17-42-109

Appeals from a final order go to circuit court under the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act. Taking the appeal automatically stays the part of the order directing payment of damages — it does not stay a suspension.

The Real Estate Recovery Fund
Funded by a fee licensees pay at renewal. The Commission first finds the violation, fixes the damages and orders the licensee to pay. Only if the licensee has not paid within 30 days of the final order, and the order has not been appealed, does the fund pay. It will not pay more than 25,000 dollars for any one violation or continuing series of violations, and will not obligate itself beyond 75,000 dollars for the acts of any one licensee. Damages are limited to actual, compensatory damages, and 17-42-407 goes further than most states: the circuit court itself has no authority to assess punitive or exemplary damages under this subchapter. The fund is subrogated and the licensee's license is suspended.
Education The requirement The deadline
Pre-license, salesperson 60 classroom hours, at least 30 in basic principles Before the exam. Note the statute's "shall not exceed ninety (90) hours" is a ceiling on the Commission, not the requirement
Post-license, salesperson 18 classroom hours Certificate must reach the Commission by the end of the month six months following the initial license — so 15 January runs to 31 July, not 15 July
Post-license, broker 30 classroom hours, Commission-developed Same end-of-month deadline. A new broker cannot advance to executive or principal broker until it is documented
Continuing education 7 classroom hours a year, one of which must cover limiting risk to preserve personal safety Renewals filed by 30 September; licenses expire 31 December
Missing post-license education makes you inactive, not expired
The license is placed on inactive status until the completion documents are filed. That is a different thing from expiring, and the exam tests the difference. An inactive license still exists and still pays its annual fee, but the holder may not practice. A license not renewed by 31 December expires: reinstate within a year with fees and CE, and after a year you are treated as an original applicant and start over. Note also that Arkansas mandates a personal safety hour and no fair housing hour — many states do the opposite, which is how that one gets missed.