Before you read
Test yourself first: 5 questions
Question 1 of 5
Which statement BEST describes the duties a Wisconsin licensee owes to a 'customer' (a party the licensee does not represent) as opposed to a 'client'?
Answer: C. In Wisconsin, even a non-represented party (customer) is owed core statutory duties: honesty, fair dealing, good faith, and disclosure of material adverse facts the licensee knows. What the customer does NOT receive is the full advocacy and loyalty that a client (represented party) gets.
Question 2 of 5
Under Wisconsin agency law, a licensee owes duties such as loyalty, confidentiality, and disclosure most fully to:
Answer: B. In Wisconsin, the heightened agency duties of loyalty and confidentiality run to the client the licensee represents, while customers receive fair and honest treatment but not full fiduciary-type duties.
Question 3 of 5
In Wisconsin, before providing brokerage services that create agency, a licensee is generally required to:
Answer: A. Wisconsin requires licensees to give consumers a written disclosure explaining the brokerage relationship and the duties owed before agency-level services are provided.
Question 4 of 5
In Wisconsin real estate practice, the firm and its licensees owe certain baseline duties to ALL parties in a transaction, including those who are not clients. These obligations are commonly known as:
Answer: B. Wisconsin imposes broker duties owed to all persons in a transaction (such as honesty, fair dealing, and disclosure of material adverse facts), which apply even to customers who are not the firm's clients.
Question 5 of 5
Under Wisconsin's agency model, what is the default relationship a firm establishes with a buyer or seller who has signed an agency agreement?
Answer: B. In Wisconsin, when a person signs an agency agreement, the firm acts as that person's agent and owes the statutory duties a firm owes to its client. Subagency, neutral non-agency, and automatic dual agency are not the default; they require specific circumstances or disclosure and consent.
Keep the streak going with more questions like these, each with a full rationale.
What you need to know
Licensees have an independent duty to disclose to all parties any material adverse facts they know about the property or transaction, and to timely communicate them. Federal lead-based-paint disclosure also applies to housing built before 1978, in addition to Wisconsin's state-law requirements.
Wisconsin Seller and Licensee Disclosure Duties: FAQs
Is Wisconsin Seller and Licensee Disclosure Duties on the real estate exam?
Yes. State License Law is a scored domain on the Wisconsin real estate licensing exam, and this topic appears in the state license-law portion.
Is this cheat sheet free?
Yes — every page on Cinna RE's resource library is free to read, print and share. The app adds practice questions, mock exams and a readiness score.
Does Wisconsin test this differently?
Wisconsin applies its own license law on top of the national portion. This page covers the Wisconsin rules specifically, which is what the state section of your exam tests.
