Wyoming Bans Dual Agency and Requires Intermediary Status

Wyoming was the first state to constitutionally codify prior appropriation for water rights, in 1869 before statehood, and the WREC exam tests that legal history directly, including the consequence that no riparian rights have ever existed in this state.

The WREC regulates real estate licensing in Wyoming. The Pearson VUE exam covers 50 state specific questions and 80 national questions. You need 70% to pass. Three topics account for most of the state-portion difficulty: Wyoming's constitutionally embedded prior appropriation doctrine, the dual land description system used for rural parcels, and the state's complete ban on dual agency with mandatory intermediary status. Let me break this down: Wyoming's intermediary rule is one of the most distinctive agency structures in the country, and it won't appear anywhere in your national prep materials.

Wyoming Water Rights

Wyoming's prior appropriation doctrine is constitutionally grounded, not just statutory. The 1869 Wyoming Constitution declared all water state property before Wyoming was even a state, and the exam tests that all diversion requires a State Engineer permit regardless of whether the property borders the water source.

Wyoming was the first state to constitutionally codify prior appropriation, where all water is state property and a permit from the State Engineer is required for any diversion, the exam tests that water rights do not transfer with land and that no riparian rights exist.

The Pearson VUE exam tests what happens when a property is sold without an explicit conveyance of its associated water rights. Know that water rights don't transfer with the deed in Wyoming. They must be conveyed separately, and the exam presents transaction scenarios where you must determine whether the buyer acquired water rights based on the terms of the contract. Wyoming has never recognized riparian rights, not for a single day. The exam tests that zero-exception rule directly.

Land Description (Survey)

Wyoming uses PLSS rectangular survey and metes and bounds descriptions on the same parcel, especially for rural ranch land where government lots don't follow standard aliquot parts, and the exam requires working through fractional section calculations that most national prep courses skip entirely.

Wyoming uses both PLSS rectangular survey and metes and bounds, often combined for rural parcels, the exam requires calculating acreage from fractional sections and tracing descriptions back to the point of beginning.

The Pearson VUE exam tests acreage calculations from fractional section descriptions (e.g., the NE1/4 of the SW1/4) and metes-and-bounds tracing to the point of beginning. Know how to calculate acreage from fractional sections and understand that a description that does not close back to the point of beginning is legally invalid. These calculations appear on the Wyoming exam in scenarios involving ranch transfers and rural land sales.

The WREC tests land description calculation because Wyoming's large rural parcels frequently use both systems in a single legal description. A candidate who can recite the PLSS system but cannot calculate acreage from a fractional description will fail these questions.

Agency Disclosures

Wyoming prohibits dual agency entirely. When a licensee would otherwise represent both parties, Wyoming law requires the agent to become an intermediary, a distinct status with its own duties and its own required disclosures that no national prep course covers.

Agency disclosure requirements in Wyoming follow their own statute. Montana uses its statutory agency law to define when and how agency must be disclosed, and North Dakota tests agency disclosure timing under its own rules. Wyoming's specific form, timing, and content requirements for agency disclosures are what the state exam covers.

Wyoming requires written disclosure of all available relationships before any transaction discussion, and a second notice when a specific relationship is established, Wyoming prohibits disclosed dual agency entirely, funneling agents into intermediary status.

The Pearson VUE exam tests both the two-stage disclosure requirement (initial notice before any transaction discussion, then a second notice when the specific relationship is formed) and the intermediary's duties to both parties. Know that an intermediary cannot advocate for either party's negotiating position, that both parties must consent in writing, and that the intermediary role is not a watered-down version of dual agency but a legally distinct status under Wyoming statute.

Wyoming's total prohibition on dual agency is the detail candidates most often miss. Know that there's no consent mechanism that allows dual agency in Wyoming. The only option when representing both parties is intermediary status. I know, I know. A complete ban sounds extreme. But this one actually matters on the exam, and there are no workarounds.