Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 16 - DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS › Chapter 99 - REAL ESTATE BROKERS AND SALESPERSONS › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 16-99-2 - Definitions

Current through June, 2024
As used in this chapter:
"Approved curriculum" means the curriculum or courses
				  approved by the commission as satisfying the education requirements established
				  for real estate broker and salesperson license examination applicants.
"Branch office" means a place of business other than the
				  principal place of business from which real estate business is conducted.
				  Branch offices located on an island different from the principal place of
				  business shall be registered with the commission. Branch office registration
				  shall not be required for places of business located on the same island as the
				  principal place of business and registration shall not be required for any
				  additional place of business from which real estate broker activities are
				  engaged in exclusively relative to a condominium project, real estate
				  subdivision, larger community development developed by a single developer, time
				  share project, new or existing shopping center, or other commercial
				  building.
"Brokerage firm" or "firm" means a sole proprietor broker
				  licensee, or a partnership, corporation, or limited liability company licensed
				  as a broker.
"Broker-in-charge" means an individual broker licensee
				  designated by the principal broker as the broker directly in charge of and
				  responsible to the principal broker for the real estate operations conducted at
				  the principal place of business or a branch office. The principal broker may
				  designate one or more brokers-in-charge of the principal place of business or
				  branch office, provided that there shall be at least one broker-in-charge of
				  each branch office. A broker-in-charge may be designated to more than one
				  branch office.
"Broker-salesperson" means an individual broker licensee who
				  associates that individual's own license with a brokerage firm as an employee
				  or independent contractor.
"Commingling" means to mingle or mix, such as a deposit of
				  client's funds in the broker's personal account.
"Inactive" means the status of a current license that is not
				  forfeited, suspended, revoked, or terminated, the holder of which cannot
				  transact any real estate business until the license status is changed to
				  "active" status.
"Involuntary inactive" means the status of a current license
				  resulting from the forfeiture, suspension, revocation, termination, or inactive
				  status of a principal broker, broker-in-charge, branch office, or brokerage
				  firm, as the case may be.
"Licensee" means the person in whose name the commission
				  grants a license.
"Place of business" means the physical place where business
				  is conducted other than a post office box, telephone, telephone answering
				  service, letter or mail drop service, or motor vehicle within the State, and
				  may include a home occupation office. The place of business shall conform with
				  the permitted use under the zoning code of the county in which the place of
				  business is situated and with any declarations, bylaws, house rules, recorded
				  restrictions, or covenants that may govern the place of business. The
				  commission may use as guidelines, but is not limited to, the following factors
				  in finding that a brokerage firm is maintaining a place of business: physical
				  presence of the broker during reasonable scheduled office hours; on-site
				  maintenance of confidential clients' files which shall be immediately
				  accessible to the commission upon request; the prominent display of the
				  brokerage firm's name or trade name as licensed by the commission and the
				  listing of the brokerage firm name where permissible in the building directory;
				  the operation of the brokerage firm at a place of business directly accessible
				  to the public; and the on-site maintenance of personnel and compensation
				  records for all real estate salespersons and broker-salespersons employed by or
				  associated with the brokerage firm. Client files as used in this definition
				  include but is not limited to: real estate contracts, escrow records, trust
				  account records, and confidential client data. "Place of business" does not
				  include the operation of a place of business designed to evade the requirements
				  of the definition as set forth in this paragraph. Each brokerage firm shall
				  have one, and only one, principal place of business.
"Supervision" means the act of directing, inspecting, and
				  reviewing.
"Trust properties" includes funds in the form of cash or
				  checks, and personal property other than cash or checks, received by the
				  licensee to be held in trust for the benefit of the depositor of the property
				  or for the benefit of third persons, or both.
"Wall certificate" means a certificate of license issued by
				  the commission to a qualified person either as a salesperson or
				  broker.