What Is Puffing in Real Estate?

Every puffing question, answered

Every question above with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Read the explanations for the ones you answered correctly too. A lucky guess and knowing the rule look identical on a score report. These are sample questions from our larger bank.

1. 1. Which of the following statements by a licensee would be actionable misrepresentation rather than puffing?

   • A"You will love the light in this kitchen."
   • B"This is the finest neighborhood in the city."
   • C"The furnace was replaced two years ago," when it is nineteen years oldcorrect
   • D"This home is a spectacular value at the price."

   Why: A specific, verifiable and false factual claim about equipment age is misrepresentation, and the buyer's reliance on it makes it actionable. Superlatives and predictions about how someone will feel are opinion, which the law treats as puffing.

   Agency

2. 2. Which of the following is NOT one of the four antitrust violations most tested on the licensing exam?

   • AGroup boycott
   • BPuffingcorrect
   • CPrice fixing
   • DMarket allocation

   Why: The four are price fixing, market allocation, group boycott and tie-in arrangements. Puffing is exaggerated sales talk — a misrepresentation issue, not an antitrust one.

   Practice of real estate

3. 3. An agent tells buyers, "This is the most charming street in the whole county." This statement is:

   • AA material fact requiring written support
   • BPuffing, which is generally not actionablecorrect
   • CNegligent misrepresentation
   • DFraud, because it cannot be verified

   Why: Obvious opinion or sales enthusiasm that no reasonable buyer would treat as a statement of fact is puffing. It becomes actionable only when it crosses into a specific factual assertion the buyer relies on, such as a square footage or a roof age.

   Agency

4. 4. Asked about water, an agent replies, "This basement has never taken on a drop," although she never asked the seller and had no information either way. The basement floods annually. The agent has most likely committed:

   • ANegligent misrepresentationcorrect
   • BNothing actionable, since she was repeating a belief
   • CA breach of confidentiality
   • DPuffing

   Why: Stating as fact something she had no basis to assert is careless rather than deliberately dishonest, which is the definition of negligent misrepresentation. It is not puffing, because a buyer reasonably treats a statement about flooding as verified fact.

   Agency

5. 5. A licensee tells a prospect, "This is the most charming kitchen on the whole street." This statement is best characterized as:

   • Apuffing, a non-factual opinion that is generally not actionablecorrect
   • Ban implied warranty of habitability
   • Cactionable fraud, because the comparison to other homes on the street cannot be objectively proven
   • Da latent defect disclosure

   Why: Non-factual sales talk that no reasonable buyer would rely on as a statement of fact is puffing and is generally not actionable. A false statement about a verifiable fact, such as the age of the roof, would instead be misrepresentation.

   Property disclosures

6. 6. A licensee tells a buyer, "This is the most charming street in the whole county." This statement is best characterized as:

   • AActual fraud, because charm cannot be measured
   • BA material misrepresentation requiring written correction
   • CPuffing, an opinion no reasonable buyer would treat as a factcorrect
   • DNegligent misrepresentation, because the licensee did no research

   Why: Vague, subjective praise of charm is puffing, which is not actionable because no reasonable buyer relies on it as a statement of fact. It is not negligent misrepresentation, since that requires a false statement of fact made carelessly rather than an obvious opinion.

   Agency