Texas State Law cheat sheet
Texas Contracts and Promulgated Forms Texas Real Estate Exam Cheat Sheet
This Texas area tests when license holders must use promulgated forms, how they may complete them, which addenda fit a transaction, and how Texas option and disclosure rules work.
Identify the transaction, choose the approved form or addendum, and stay inside the blanks. If the requested change requires legal drafting, the client needs an attorney.
What Pearson tests
- TREC-promulgated contracts, forms, addenda, required use, and permitted completion
- Statute of Frauds, offer and acceptance, earnest money, option fees, notices, and deadlines
- Seller's Disclosure Notice and the distinction between disclosure notices and contract forms
Three traps to catch
- The Broker-Lawyer Committee drafts recommended forms. TREC promulgates the forms.
- Earnest money supports the transaction but is not required consideration for every valid sales contract.
- The termination option depends on the contract language, timely payment, and the deadline. Do not rely on a memorized generic clock when the form supplies the terms.
Essential vocabulary
Texas Contracts and Promulgated Forms terms to know
- Promulgated form
- A form adopted by TREC for required use by license holders when the rule applies.
- Addendum
- A document added to a contract to address extra terms or required subject matter.
- Amendment
- A later agreement that changes an existing contract.
- Earnest money
- Money delivered under the contract as evidence of the buyer's intent and handled under the contract terms.
- Option fee
- The separately stated payment tied to the buyer's unrestricted termination right under the contract terms.
- Termination-option period
- The contractual period during which the buyer may terminate under the option provision.
- Seller's Disclosure Notice
- The Texas statutory property-condition notice required in covered residential transfers.
- Statute of Frauds
- The rule requiring specified contracts, including most real estate sale agreements, to be written and signed.
Check your recall
Can you answer these without notes?
1Who promulgates the standard contract forms used under TREC rules?
TREC.
2Who drafts the forms recommended to TREC?
The Broker-Lawyer Committee.
3May a license holder write a custom legal clause for a party?
No. That can be unauthorized practice of law.
Use the sheet, then retrieve
Test the rules while they are still fresh.
Read the full lesson when a definition is fuzzy. Then answer the topic questions without looking back at this sheet.
Primary sources
- Pearson VUE Texas Real Estate Content Outlines
- TREC Rules, Chapter 537 Professional Agreements and Standard Contracts
- Texas Property Code Chapter 5
This is exam-prep education, not legal, tax, or transaction advice. Confirm the current law, form, and official exam materials before relying on a rule in practice.