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            As used in this Chapter the following words have the meaning ascribed to them in this Section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

            (1) “Active licensee” means any currently licensed person whose license has not been transferred to inactive status and who is authorized to act in the capacity of a real estate broker or salesperson as provided for in this Chapter.

            (2) “Agent” means a licensee acting under the provisions of this Chapter in a real estate transaction.

            (3) “Associate broker” means a person who holds a broker’s license and who is exclusively affiliated with and sponsored by another licensed real estate broker to participate in any activity described in this Section.

            (4) “Broker” or “real estate broker” means a licensed real estate broker performing activities as an individual real estate broker, a sponsoring broker or designated qualifying broker, or a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company which has been granted a real estate license through a designated qualifying broker.

            (5) “Buyer” means the transferee in a real estate transaction, and includes a person who executes an offer to purchase or lease real estate from a seller, whether alone or through an agent, or who seeks the services of an agent with the object of entering into a real estate transaction. “Buyer” includes a lessee.

            (6) “Buyer’s agent” means a licensee who is employed by and represents only the buyer in a real estate transaction, regardless of whether such agent’s compensation is paid by the buyer directly or by the seller through a commission split with the listing agent.

            (7) “Client” means one who engages the professional advice and services of a licensee as his agent and whose interests are protected by the specific duties and loyalties imposed by that relationship.

            (8) “Commingling” means putting personal funds and funds belonging to other persons in one mass or mixing the funds together so they cannot be identified or differentiated.

            (9) “Commission” means the Louisiana Real Estate Commission.

            (10) “Dealing in options” means a person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, or corporation directly or indirectly taking, obtaining, or using an option to purchase, exchange, rent, or lease real property or any interest therein with the intent or for the purpose of buying, selling, exchanging, renting, or leasing said real property or interests therein to another or others, whether or not said option is in his name and whether or not title to said property passes through the name of said person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, or corporation in connection with the purchase, sale, exchange, rental, or lease of such real property in interest.

            (11) “Franchise agreement” means an agreement whereby one party, the franchisor, authorizes a real estate broker, the franchisee, to use registered trademarks or other advertising tools to create a common identity among several brokers nationally or regionally for marketing purposes.

            (12) “Inactive licensee” means any currently licensed person whose license has been transferred to inactive status and who is not authorized to act in the capacity of a real estate broker or salesperson as provided for in this Chapter.

            (13) “Individual real estate broker” means an individual person licensed as a real estate broker and does not mean a licensed corporation, limited liability company, or partnership licensed as a real estate broker.

            (14) “Licensee” means any person who has been issued a license by the commission to participate in any activity described in this Section.

            (15) “Listing agent” means a licensee who has obtained a listing of real estate to act as an agent for compensation.

            (16) “Listing agreement” means a written document signed by all owners of real estate or their authorized attorney in fact authorizing a broker to offer or advertise real estate described in such document for sale or lease on specified terms for a defined period of time. A listing agreement shall only be valid if signed by all owners or their authorized attorney in fact.

            (17) “Mold” means any form of multicellular fungi that live on plant or animal matter and in indoor or outdoor environments. Types of mold often found in water-damaged building materials include but are not limited to cladosporium, penicillium, alternaria, aspergillus, fuarim, trichoderma, memnoniella, mucor, and strachybotrys chartarum.

            (18) “Net listing agreement” means a listing agreement that authorizes a broker to take as his commission the difference between the higher sale price at which the real estate property is sold and the stipulated net price agreed upon to be received by the seller.

            (19) Repealed by Acts 1995, No. 1207, §2.

            (20) “Property management” means the marketing, leasing, or overall management of real property for others for a fee, commission, compensation, or other valuable consideration.

            (21) “Property manager” means one who, for a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration, manages real estate, including the collection of rents, supervision of property maintenance, and accounting for fees received for another.

            (22) “Qualifying broker” means the sponsoring broker for a licensed corporation, limited liability company, or partnership and is the individual real estate broker designated by a licensed corporation, limited liability company, or partnership, by resolution, as its representative in all matters relating to its real estate business activities in Louisiana and in administrative and regulatory matters before the commission.

            (23) “Real estate” shall mean and include condominiums and leaseholds, as well as any other interest in land, with the exceptions of oil, gas and other minerals and whether the real estate is situated in this state or elsewhere.

            (24) “Real estate activity” means any activity relating to any portion of a real estate transaction performed for another by any person, partnership, limited liability company, association, or corporation, foreign or domestic, whether pursuant to a power of attorney or otherwise, who for a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration or with the intention, in the expectation, or upon the promise of receiving or collecting a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration:

            (a) Sells, exchanges, purchases, manages, rents, or leases or negotiates the sale, exchange, purchase, rental, or leasing of real estate.

            (b) Offers or attempts or agrees to negotiate the sale, exchange, purchase, management, rental, or leasing of real estate.

            (c) Lists or offers or attempts or agrees to list for sale or lease any real estate or the improvement thereon.

            (d) Buys or offers to buy, sells or offers to sell, or otherwise deals in options on real estate or the improvements thereon.

            (e) Advertises or holds himself, itself, or themselves out as engaged in the business of selling, exchanging, purchasing, managing, renting, or leasing real estate.

            (f) Assists or directs in the procuring of prospects or the negotiation or closing of any transaction, other than mortgage financing, which results or is calculated to result in the sale, exchange, managing, leasing, or renting of any real estate, other than a provider of information, ideas, and materials to guide homeowners in the sale of their own property.

            (g) Is engaged in the business of charging an advance fee or contracting for collection of a fee in connection with any contract whereby he undertakes primarily to promote the sale, exchange, purchase, rental, or leasing of real estate through its listing in a publication issued primarily for such purpose, or for referral of information concerning such real estate to brokers, or both.

            (h)(i) Sells or attempts to sell or offers or attempts to negotiate the sale of any business whose assets include real estate or leases of real estate.

            (ii) Lists or offers or attempts or agrees to list for sale any business whose assets include real estate or leases of real estate.

            (25) “Real estate continuing education vendor” means any school, place, individual, or institution certified by the Louisiana Real Estate Commission which offers courses or seminars in real estate and related subjects to fulfill continuing education requirements for license or certificate renewal purposes.

            (26) “Real estate salesperson” means a person, other than an associate broker, sponsored by a licensed real estate broker to participate in any activity described in this Section.

            (27) “Real estate school” includes any place or institution certified by the commission which is open to the public for the instruction or training of individuals to engage in the selling of real estate.

            (28) “Real estate transaction” means the selling, offering for sale, buying, offering to buy, soliciting for prospective purchasers, managing, offering to manage, leasing, offering to lease, renting, or offering to rent any real estate or improvements thereon, or any business or other entity whose assets include real estate or leases of real estate.

            (29) “Seller” means the transferor in a real estate transaction, and includes an owner who lists real estate with an agent, whether or not a transfer results, or who receives an offer to purchase or lease real estate property of which he is the owner from an agent on behalf of another. “Seller” includes a lessor.

            (30) “Sponsoring broker” means any individual real estate broker who sponsors associate brokers or real estate salespersons who participate in any activity described in this Section.

            (31) “Subagent” means a licensee, other than a listing agent or a buyer’s agent, who acts in cooperation with a listing agent in a real estate transaction.

            (32) “Timeshare developer” means an individual, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, or other legal entity, or the successor or assignee thereof, who creates a timeshare plan or who is in the business of making sales of timeshare interests which it owns or purports to own.

            (33) “Timeshare interest salesperson” means a person who directly sells or offers to sell any timeshare interest.

            (34) “Timeshare registrant” means timeshare interest salespersons or timeshare developers registered by the commission.

            Acts 1978, No. 514, §1; Acts 1979, No. 404, §1; Acts 1981, No. 309, §1; Acts 1983, No. 381, §1; Acts 1983, No. 380, §1; Acts 1983, No. 270, §1; Acts 1983, No. 552, §2; Acts 1986, No. 841, §1; Acts 1989, No. 655, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1990; Acts 1990, No. 893, §1; Acts 1991, No. 354, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 1995, No. 1207, §§1, 2; Acts 1997, No. 845, §1; Acts 2003, No. 1123, §1, eff. July 2, 2003; Acts 2006, No. 351, §1; Acts 2015, No. 81, §1.