Idaho License Law, Brokerage Practice, and State Property Issues
The Commission and the designated broker
The Idaho Real Estate Commission administers licensing, education, and discipline under Idaho Code Title 54, Chapter 20, and its administrative rules. Every brokerage operates through a licensed designated broker who supervises affiliated licensees and signs listing and buyer-brokerage agreements on behalf of the firm.
Trap: stems that let a salesperson associate with more than one broker or sign a listing agreement in her own name.
Brokerage relationships and disclosure
Idaho requires licensees to disclose in writing, and early, whom they represent. Limited dual agency is allowed only with the written, informed consent of both buyer and seller, and confidentiality continues after the relationship ends.
Trap: assuming a licensee may "work with both sides" without both written consents.
Seller property condition disclosure
Idaho's Seller Property Condition Disclosure Act (Idaho Code 55-2501 et seq.) requires a written statement of known material defects for most residential transfers of one to four units, delivered so the buyer can review it before becoming obligated. Exemptions include court-ordered and foreclosure transfers, gifts, transfers between co-owners, and new homes never occupied.
Trap: assuming a statutory rescission period; Idaho relies on the contract's inspection contingency instead.
Trust funds, community property, and water
Earnest money goes into a brokerage trust account; commingling or conversion is disciplinable. Idaho is a community property state, so property acquired during marriage is presumed community, while premarital property, gifts, and inheritances stay separate. Water follows prior appropriation - first in time, first in right - administered by the Idaho Department of Water Resources; a deed saying "together with water rights" does not itself complete the transfer.
Worked example: on a June 15 closing, property taxes are paid in arrears, so the seller is debited for January 1 through the closing date and the buyer credited, using the actual bill and the contract's proration convention.