Idaho Requires Separate Signatures for Limited Dual Agency

Idaho has added more new residents per capita than almost any state over the past decade, and real estate license applications have followed. The exam tests a set of rules that most new candidates, especially those who moved here from other states, have never encountered. Here's the thing most people miss: moving to Idaho doesn't mean Idaho law moves with your prior license knowledge.

The IREC oversees real estate licensing in Idaho. The Pearson VUE exam covers 50 state specific questions alongside 80 national questions. You need at least 75% to pass. Limited dual agency, water rights transfers, and psychologically impacted property each operate under Idaho-specific rules that national prep materials either misstate or skip entirely. These three areas are where the state portion score is won or lost.

Limited Dual Agency

Idaho's "limited" dual agency designation carries a specific signature requirement, separate written consent from every client, that is more demanding than what most national prep materials describe as standard dual agency consent. I know, I know: another dual agency variation. But this one actually matters on the exam because the word "separate" is doing real legal work.

Limited dual agency rules differ across western states. Wyoming allows dual agency with written consent but doesn't use Idaho's specific "limited" designation, and Nevada permits designated agency as an alternative. Both test different consent and disclosure mechanics than Idaho requires.

Idaho permits limited dual agency only with separate written signatures from every client, and the agent cannot advocate for one client over the other or disclose confidential price/motivation information without specific written permission, a nuance most candidates confuse with full representation.

The Pearson VUE exam will present a dual agency scenario and ask whether the consent process was completed correctly. Know that separate signatures are required, not a single joint consent document, and know what the agent is prohibited from sharing even after consent is obtained. The IREC tests both conditions together, and missing either one fails the question.

Water Rights Transfers

Water rights in Idaho are governed by prior appropriation, but the exam doesn't just ask what the doctrine means. It tests whether water rights follow a parcel automatically and whether they can be severed and sold as a standalone asset, two questions that candidates trained on eastern water law answer backwards.

Idaho follows prior appropriation ("first in time, first in right"), and the exam tests whether water rights transfer automatically, whether they can be severed and sold separately, and why a parcel on a river may have zero legal water rights.

A seller with a 1910 water right holds senior priority over a neighbor with a 1970 right; the neighbor may receive nothing in a drought year. Know that water rights can be severed from the land and sold separately, that a riverfront parcel doesn't automatically carry water rights, and that the priority date determines who gets water when supply is limited. The IREC tests these mechanics because they govern a large share of Idaho agricultural and rural transactions.

Psychologically Impacted Property

Idaho's psychologically impacted property statute protects sellers and agents from disclosure liability, but only for unprompted situations. The written request requirement is where most candidates get the rule exactly backwards.

Idaho law says sellers and agents have no duty to disclose murders, suicides, felonies, or HIV status UNLESS the buyer submits a written request, the exam tests whether a verbal question triggers the same obligation (it doesn't).

A buyer who asks verbally whether anyone died in the home hasn't triggered the disclosure obligation under Idaho law. The written request requirement is the controlling condition. Know that verbal questions don't create a duty to disclose, that written requests do, and that intentional misrepresentation in response to any inquiry, written or verbal, remains a violation. The Pearson VUE exam will test all three conditions against each other in a single scenario. The exam doesn't reward overthinking here. Just get the sequence right: verbal = no duty, written = duty, lie in response to either = violation.