The unfair trade practice list
O.C.G.A. 43-40-25(b) is a numbered catalogue of prohibited conduct, and questions turn on matching conduct to the right paragraph.
- (b)(4) Commingling — mixing the money or property of the licensee's principals with the licensee's own.
- (b)(5) Failure to deposit trust funds into a separate federally insured account, unless every interested party agrees otherwise in writing.
- (b)(9) Acting as agent and undisclosed principal, which requires a hidden ownership interest in the deal.
- (b)(10) Guaranteeing future profits from resale — a promise about value, not funds.
- (b)(24) Filing a listing or lien document with no valid claim, casting a cloud on title.
A broker who puts earnest money into the operating account violates (b)(4) and (b)(5) at once.
Signs
O.C.G.A. 43-40-25(b)(11) makes it an unfair trade practice to place a sign on property without the written consent of the owner or the owner's authorized agent, and to fail to remove the sign within ten days after expiration of the listing.
State the trap plainly: oral consent is not enough, and thirty days doubles the removal window the statute allows. A sign still standing three weeks after expiration is a violation. Leaving it until the property sells ignores that the broker's authority ended with the listing. Three business days is a trust fund deposit benchmark and has nothing to do with signs.
Paying unlicensed persons
Compensation may flow only to licensees, with narrow exceptions. O.C.G.A. 43-40-25(b)(17)(C) permits a brokerage firm to pay an unlicensed firm in which an affiliated licensee owns more than a 20 percent interest, provided the licensee earned the commission for the brokerage firm, the unlicensed firm performs no brokerage activity, a written agreement authorizes the payment, and written evidence of the ownership interest is retained.
An unlicensed assistant who hosts open houses and shows property may not be paid; those acts exceed the ministerial tasks support personnel may perform under Rule 520-1-.07(6)(f). The deceased-licensee exception in (b)(17)(A) requires a valid Georgia license both when the commission was earned and at death.