North Dakota Mineral vs Surface Rights Trips Up Candidates

Fewer people sit for the North Dakota real estate exam than most other states. That means fewer practice resources, fewer prep courses built specifically for this market, and a higher chance of walking in without knowing the state specific material.

The NDREC administers a PSI exam with 50 state specific questions alongside 80 national questions, requiring 70% to pass. Agricultural land sales requirements, mineral rights severance, and agency disclosure timing are three areas where North Dakota's law differs from what general study materials describe. Each one is tested on the state portion.

Agricultural Land Laws

North Dakota's statutory framework for agricultural land sales includes registration and disclosure rules built for a rural economy, rules that simply don't exist in more urbanized states and that national prep courses never cover. A lot of national prep treats agricultural land as a footnote. In North Dakota, it's the chapter.

In a state where agriculture dominates, the exam tests specific statutory requirements governing subdivided and out of state land sales, including registration and disclosure rules that don't exist in more urbanized states.

Know which types of agricultural land sales require registration, what disclosure is owed to out-of-state buyers, and what triggers the statutory requirements. The NDREC exam tests each of these thresholds specifically.

Mineral Rights vs. Surface

In North Dakota, mineral rights and surface rights can be held by different owners, and the Bakken oil boom made this one of the most consequential distinctions in the state's real estate market. The NDREC tests it directly because the default assumption candidates bring into the exam is wrong. Here's the thing most people miss: a deed that doesn't specifically include mineral rights doesn't transfer them. Silence on mineral rights means they stay with whoever severed them.

North Dakota allows mineral rights to be severed from surface ownership, with the Bakken oil boom, the exam heavily tests that mineral rights do not automatically transfer with a deed unless specifically included.

The exam will test whether mineral rights transfer with a deed by default, what language is required to include or reserve them, and what a licensee must disclose when mineral rights have already been severed from the parcel being sold.

Mineral rights separation from surface rights is a major testing area in the Northern Plains. South Dakota tests mineral rights disclosure under seller property condition rules, and Montana addresses surface-mineral severance under its water rights adjudication framework. North Dakota's specific rules on disclosure when mineral rights have been severed are what the state exam tests.

Agency Disclosure Timing

North Dakota requires written brokerage disclosure before a buyer or seller signs any document, and the specific trigger point differs from what general agency law materials describe. Candidates who memorized a generic timeline get this section wrong.

Students fail because North Dakota's rules on when and how to disclose brokerage relationships differ from the national norms taught in the general portion, the specific written timeline catches candidates off guard.

Know when the written disclosure must be provided, what must be included in it, and whether oral disclosure is ever an acceptable substitute under North Dakota's brokerage relationship statute. The NDREC tests each element.