Practice of Real Estate on the NJ Exam: Fair Housing, Antitrust and Duties

The short answer: Practice of Real Estate is 12% of the national content outline on New Jersey's PSI salesperson, broker and instructor exams (PSI candidate bulletin). It tests how agents must behave day to day: fair housing, antitrust, Do-Not-Call and social media rules, whether agents are employees or contractors, handling other people's money, confidentiality and due diligence. Broker candidates also get a supervision subsection.

It's one of the bigger national sections, and much of it overlaps with New Jersey law you'll study anyway. For the full exam format and every outline section, start with our NJ real estate exam guide.

What does the section cover?

PSI's outline lists four parts (PSI candidate bulletin):

Outline partItems
A. AntidiscriminationFair Housing Act principles and exemptions; protected classes; protections based on gender identity and sexual orientation; prohibited conduct (redlining, blockbusting, steering, disparate treatment); fair housing advertising; ADA accessibility and reasonable accommodations
B. Legislation and regulationsEmployee vs independent contractor status; antitrust violations and penalties; Do-Not-Call compliance; social media and internet advertising
C. Duties and responsibilitiesConfidential personal information; handling funds of others; due diligence
D. Supervisory responsibilitiesBroker only

What fair housing terms should you know cold?

Expect scenario questions that hinge on vocabulary. Each prohibited practice has a federal source:

  • Protected classes (federal): race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status and national origin (42 U.S.C. 3604).
  • Steering: restricting a buyer's or renter's choices by word or conduct because of a protected class, for example by discouraging them from a neighborhood or telling them they wouldn't be "comfortable" there (24 CFR 100.70(c)).
  • Blockbusting: for profit, trying to get people to sell or rent by talking about who is moving into the neighborhood (42 U.S.C. 3604(e)).
  • Redlining: discriminating in loans or other financial help for housing, for example by refusing or discouraging loans on a prohibited basis (42 U.S.C. 3605; 24 CFR 100.120).
  • Discriminatory statements and ads: any notice or ad that indicates a preference or limitation (42 U.S.C. 3604(c)). Owner exemptions in 3603(b) don't apply to this rule.
  • Disability: refusing reasonable accommodations in rules or policies, or reasonable modifications at the person's expense, is discrimination (42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)).

For New Jersey, add the LAD. Its housing list is broader and expressly includes affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status and source of lawful income (N.J.S.A. 10:5-12, as amended). On the federal side, HUD withdrew its 2021 memo implementing Executive Order 13988 on these protections, effective September 17, 2025 (Federal Register, April 6, 2026). The LAD's coverage didn't change. Our LAD guide for agents has the full comparison table.

Are agents employees or independent contractors?

For federal tax purposes, a licensed real estate agent is treated as not an employee when two things are true. First, substantially all of their pay is tied to sales or output rather than hours worked. Second, they work under a written contract saying they won't be treated as an employee for federal tax purposes (26 U.S.C. 3508). The IRS calls these agents "statutory nonemployees" (IRS Publication 15-A). Our 1099 tax guide covers what that means in practice.

What antitrust rules are tested?

The Sherman Act makes every contract, combination or conspiracy in restraint of trade illegal. It's a felony punishable by fines up to $100 million for a corporation, or $1 million for an individual, and up to 10 years in prison (15 U.S.C. 1). The Justice Department's primer names the most common forms (DOJ Antitrust Division):

  • Price fixing: competitors agreeing on prices, including a minimum fee schedule or a standard formula. For agents, that means commission rates.
  • Market allocation: competitors dividing customers or territories.

New Jersey ties this to advertising. Any ad that mentions a commission rate must say: "In New Jersey, broker compensation is fully negotiable and not set by law" (N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1(q), as amended).

What about Do-Not-Call and social media?

  • Do-Not-Call: the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule bars sales calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry unless there's an established business relationship or written permission. It also limits residential calls to 8 a.m.–9 p.m. local time (16 CFR Part 310). See working your sphere for how this plays out.
  • Social media: NJ's ad rule covers "electronic media, including email and the Internet" (N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.1(a)). A post with your name must show the broker's business name more prominently than yours (6.1(b)1).

What duties does part C cover?

  • Confidential information. New Jersey defines it as information from or about a principal that the firm learns in the agency relationship and knows or is told is confidential. It also has to be information that would hurt the principal if disclosed, and that the principal wouldn't have to disclose personally (P.L.2024, c.32, s.1). See agency on the exam.
  • Funds of others. Brokers keep money received in a transaction in a special account, "separate and apart" from business and personal accounts (N.J.A.C. 11:5-5.1(a)). Details are in earnest money deposits in NJ.
  • Due diligence. Firms must disclose material information they know or would have learned through a reasonable effort to find out, judged as a licensee, not a home inspector (P.L.2024, c.32, s.2).

How should you study this section?

Make a one-line definition card for every term in parts A and B, then practice telling look-alikes apart (steering vs blockbusting, accommodation vs modification). The NJ law items on the state portion repeat several of these themes, so study them together using our NJ state portion guide. For timed review, our practice exams help you find weak spots, and our tips on using practice exams well explain how to read the results.

Try these self-checks

  1. An agent tells buyers a neighborhood "is changing" to get owners to list. Which practice is that? (Blockbusting.)
  2. Two brokers agree not to go below a set commission. What's the violation? (Price fixing.)
  3. A tenant with a disability asks to install grab bars at their own expense. Is that an accommodation or a modification? (A modification.)
  4. Where must a broker deposit a buyer's earnest money? (A special account separate from business and personal funds.)

These topics start in the pre-licensing course. Business Elementary's 75-hour course covers them alongside the NJ law items.

Sources

Last reviewed: October 31, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Practice of Real Estate weighted the same on the salesperson and broker exams?

Yes, 12% on both, and on the instructor exam. Only part D, supervisory responsibilities, is broker-only (PSI candidate bulletin).

What's the difference between steering and blockbusting?

Steering limits a buyer's or renter's choices because of a protected class (24 CFR 100.70). Blockbusting pushes owners to sell or rent, for profit, by pointing to who is moving in (42 U.S.C. 3604(e)).

Does a written contract matter for an agent's tax status?

Yes. Statutory nonemployee treatment requires a written contract saying the agent won't be treated as an employee, plus pay tied to sales rather than hours (26 U.S.C. 3508).

Can a price-fixing agreement be legal if the prices were reasonable?

No. The Justice Department explains that price fixing is a per se violation, so arguments that the agreed prices were reasonable don't justify it (DOJ Antitrust Division).