The broker whose uninterrupted efforts led to the successful completion of a real estate transaction, relevant to commission disputes.
Why Procuring Cause matters on the exam
This term belongs to Agency. The questions below are real items from Freehold's bank that use it - each one cites its source.
Exam questions using Procuring Cause
Every Freehold question shows why the right answer is right — and cites its source.
'Procuring cause' is a concept most often used to resolve disputes over:
Trust account shortages discovered during a routine regulatory audit of the brokerage's escrow and operating records
Property tax assessment appeals filed by an owner with the county review board
Which agent or brokerage was the primary cause of a completed sale for purposes of commission entitlement
Zoning variance applications heard by the local board of adjustment
Show answer & explanation
Which agent or brokerage was the primary cause of a completed sale for purposes of commission entitlement — Procuring cause determines which broker or agent was the effective, primary cause of bringing about a sale, which matters for allocating commission, especially in cooperating-broker disputes.
Source: PSI National Real Estate Exam Content Outline — Broker Supplement
A buyer's agent shows a home and negotiates extensively with a buyer, then leaves the brokerage. The buyer later closes on that same home represented by a different agent at the same brokerage. Who is generally entitled to the commission share for procuring the buyer?
Always the new agent, regardless of any prior involvement
Always split evenly between the two agents with no analysis required
The brokerage keeps the full amount, and neither agent is compensated
It depends on procuring cause analysis of which agent's efforts were the primary cause of the eventual sale
Show answer & explanation
It depends on procuring cause analysis of which agent's efforts were the primary cause of the eventual sale — Procuring cause disputes are resolved by examining whose efforts were the primary, uninterrupted cause of the completed transaction, not automatically by who happened to close it.
Source: PSI National Real Estate Exam Content Outline — Broker Supplement
A commission dispute arises after an agent departs mid-transaction. Which body most commonly resolves inter-office procuring cause disputes between cooperating brokers?
A state court of general jurisdiction, exclusively and in every single instance without exception
The buyer's mortgage lender, as a condition of funding the loan at closing
Arbitration through the applicable multiple listing service or Realtor association procedures
The federal government, through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's enforcement division
Show answer & explanation
Arbitration through the applicable multiple listing service or Realtor association procedures — Procuring cause and commission disputes between cooperating member brokers are commonly resolved through MLS or Realtor association arbitration procedures rather than litigation.
Source: PSI National Real Estate Exam Content Outline — Broker Supplement
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