Arkansas Disclosure Timing Differs From Every Other State.

Arkansas issues fewer new real estate licenses than almost any other state, but the exam draws from a regulatory framework that demands state specific preparation no national course provides. Here's the thing most people miss: fewer candidates doesn't mean an easier exam. It means less study material exists to help you prepare for it.

The Arkansas Real Estate Commission governs licensing in the state. Pearson VUE administers the exam: 50 state specific questions and 80 national questions, with a 70% minimum to pass. Agency disclosure timing, the Recovery Fund's prerequisite process, and the Time-Share Act's registration requirements are the three topics most likely to cost you points, because each one operates under an Arkansas-specific rule that national materials teach incorrectly or ignore entirely.

Agency Disclosure Timing

Arkansas ties agency disclosure to a Commission-defined trigger that isn't "first contact," and that distinction is exactly what the Pearson VUE exam tests.

Agency disclosure timing rules vary significantly across neighboring states. Louisiana imposes its own disclosure requirements under civil law, and Oklahoma uses OREC-mandated contract forms that set different timing expectations than Arkansas requires.

Arkansas requires licensees to clearly disclose which party they represent, but the Commission sets the specific timing and method, students lose points because they assume disclosure must happen at first contact when the actual trigger is defined by Commission regulation.

The exam will test the specific trigger the AREC has defined for disclosure, not the general "first substantial contact" rule from national prep. Know when Arkansas law says disclosure must occur, and know what happens if a licensee waits too long.

Recovery Fund Payouts

The Arkansas Recovery Fund has a prerequisite that catches every candidate who thinks any aggrieved consumer can file a claim: a formal Commission disciplinary finding must come first.

Arkansas's Recovery Fund compensates the public for monetary losses caused by licensee violations, but payouts only happen after the Commission finds a violation in a formal disciplinary hearing, students miss this because they think any aggrieved consumer can file a direct claim.

The AREC exam will test the sequence: what must happen before a Recovery Fund claim is valid, who can file, and what the Fund's payment limits are. Candidates who treat the Recovery Fund as a simple consumer protection mechanism miss every question on this topic. Think of it like a two-step process: you can't skip step one no matter how sympathetic the claimant is.

Time-share Regulations

Arkansas's Time-Share Act has a principal broker registration requirement that no national prep course covers, and it's the detail that produces the most missed questions on this topic.

The Arkansas Time-Share Act requires developers to register every time-share plan with the Commission and post a bond of up to $25,000, students get burned because they don't realize a principal broker selling time-shares must independently register unless the developer has already filed.

Know the registration trigger, the bond amount, and the specific condition under which a principal broker must file independently. The Pearson VUE exam tests this at the level of "who must register and when," not just the general principle that time-share plans require oversight. Why did the Arkansas broker register the time-share plan separately? Because the developer didn't. Now they both know who's liable. (Feel free to not laugh at that one.)