(a) In accordance with the hearing procedures established for contested cases by Chapter 13 of Title 50, the "Georgia Administrative Procedure Act," the commission shall have the power to reprimand licensees and approved schools or instructors; to revoke or suspend any license issued under this chapter; to revoke the license of a real estate broker or qualifying broker and simultaneously issue such licensee a salesperson's license; to revoke or suspend approval of any school or instructor; to impose a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 for each violation of this chapter or its rules and regulations with fines for multiple violations limited to $5,000.00 in any one hearing; to require completion of a course of study in real estate brokerage or instruction; to require the filing of periodic reports by an independent accountant on a real estate broker's designated trust account; or to utilize any combination of these sanctions which the commission may deem appropriate whenever a license, a school approval, or an instructor approval has been obtained by false or fraudulent representation or whenever a licensee, an approved school, or an approved instructor has been found guilty of a violation of this chapter, or of the rules and regulations promulgated by the commission, or of any unfair trade practices, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin:

(A) Refusing to sell or rent after the making of a bona fide offer, or refusing to negotiate for the sale or rental of, or otherwise making unavailable or denying, real estate to any person;

(B) Discriminating against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of real estate or in the provision of services or facilities in connection therewith;

(C) Making, printing, or publishing or causing to be made, printed, or published any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of real estate, that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination or an intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination;

(D) Representing to any person that any real estate is not available for inspection, sale, or rental when such real estate is in fact so available; or

(E) Representing explicitly or implicitly that a change has or will or may occur in a block, neighborhood, or area in order to induce or discourage the listing, purchasing, selling, or renting of real estate;

(2) Intentionally advertising material which is misleading or inaccurate or which in any way misrepresents any property, terms, values, policies, or services of the business conducted;

(3) Failing to account for and remit any money coming into the licensee's possession which belongs to others; (4) Commingling the money or other property of the licensee's principals with the licensee's own;

(5) Failing to maintain and deposit in a separate, federally insured checking account all money received by said broker acting in said capacity, or as escrow agent or the temporary custodian of the funds of others, in a real estate transaction unless all parties having an interest in said funds have agreed otherwise in writing;

(6) Accepting, giving, or charging any undisclosed commission, rebate, or direct profit on expenditures made for a principal or any undisclosed commission, rebate, or direct profit for procuring a loan or insurance or for conducting a property inspection related to a real estate transaction;

(7) Representing or attempting to represent a real estate broker, other than the broker holding the licensee's license, without the express knowledge and consent of the broker holding the licensee's license;

(8) Accepting a commission or other valuable consideration by a licensee from anyone other than the broker holding that licensee's license without the consent of that broker;

(9) Acting in the dual capacity of agent and undisclosed principal in any transaction;

(10) Guaranteeing or authorizing any person to guarantee future profits which may result from the resale of real property;

(11) Placing a sign on any property offering it for sale or rent without the written consent of the owner or the owner's authorized agent and failing to remove such sign within ten days after the expiration of listing;

(12) Offering real estate for sale or lease without the knowledge and consent of the owner or the owner's authorized agent or on terms other than those authorized by the owner or the owner's authorized agent;

(13) Inducing any party to a contract of sale or lease, a listing contract, an exclusive agency contract or agreement, or a management agreement to break such contract or agreement for the purpose of substituting in lieu thereof any other contract or agreement with another principal;

(14) Negotiating a sale, exchange, or lease of real estate directly with an owner or lessor if the licensee knows that such owner has a written outstanding contract in connection with such property granting an exclusive agency or an exclusive right to sell to another broker;

(15) Indicating that an opinion given to a potential seller, purchaser, landlord, or tenant regarding a listing, lease, rental, or purchase price is an appraisal unless such licensee holds an appraiser classification in accordance with Chapter 39A of this title;

(16) Performing or attempting to perform any of the acts of a licensee on property located in another state without first having been properly licensed in that state or otherwise having complied fully with that state's laws regarding real estate brokerage;

(17) Paying a commission or compensation to any person for performing the services of a real estate licensee who has not first secured the appropriate license under this chapter or is not cooperating as a nonresident who is licensed in such nonresident's state or foreign country of residence, provided that nothing contained in this subsection or any other provision of this Code section shall be construed so as to prohibit the payment of earned commissions:

(A) To the estate or heirs of a deceased real estate licensee when such deceased real estate licensee had a valid Georgia real estate license in effect at the time the commission was earned and at the time of such person's death; or

(B) To a citizen of another country acting as a referral agent if that country does not license real estate brokers and if the Georgia licensee paying such commission or compensation obtains and maintains reasonable written evidence that the payee is a citizen of said other country, is not a resident of this country, and is in the business of brokering real estate in said other country;

(18) Failing to include a fixed date of expiration in any written listing agreement and failing to leave a copy of said agreement with the principal;

(19) Failing to deliver, within a reasonable time, a completed copy of any purchase agreement or offer to buy or sell real estate to the purchaser and to the seller;

(20) Failure by a broker to deliver to the seller in every real estate transaction, at the time said transaction is consummated, a complete, detailed closing statement showing all of the receipts and disbursements handled by such broker for the seller or failure to deliver to the buyer a complete statement showing all money received in said transaction from such buyer and how and for what the same was disbursed; the broker shall retain true copies of such statements in the broker's files;

(21) Making any substantial misrepresentations;

(22) Acting for more than one party in a transaction without the express written consent of all parties to the transaction;

(23) Failure of an associate broker, salesperson, or community association manager to place, as soon after receipt as is practicably possible, in the custody of the broker holding the licensee's license any deposit money or other money or funds entrusted to the licensee by any person dealing with the licensee as the representative of the licensee's licensed broker;

(24) Filing a listing contract or any document or instrument purporting to create a lien based on a listing contract for the purpose of casting a cloud upon the title to real estate when no valid claim under said listing contract exists; (25) Having demonstrated incompetency to act as a real estate licensee in such manner as to safeguard the interest of the public or any other conduct whether of the same or a different character than heretofore specified which constitutes dishonest dealing;

(26) Obtaining an exclusive listing, sales contract, or management agreement from any owner while knowing or having reason to believe that another broker has an exclusive listing on the property, unless the licensee has written permission from the broker having the first exclusive listing; provided, however, that notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, a licensee shall be permitted to present a proposal or bid for community association management if requested to do so in writing from a community association board of directors;

(27) Failing to keep for a period of three years a true and correct copy of all sales contracts, closing statements, and other documents relating to real estate closings or failing to produce documents at the reasonable request of the commission or any of its agents for their inspection;

(28) Being or becoming a party to any falsification of any portion of any contract or other document involved in any real estate transaction;

(29) Conducting the closing of any real estate transaction by any licensee except a broker unless the licensee acts under the supervision of the broker under whom such licensee is licensed or under the supervision of a practicing attorney with the knowledge and consent of the broker;

(30) Failing to obtain the written agreement of the parties indicating to whom the broker shall pay any interest earned on trust funds deposited into an interest-bearing checking account prior to depositing those funds into such account;

(31) Failing to disclose in a timely manner to all parties in a real estate transaction any agency relationship that the licensee may have with any of the parties;

(32) Attempting to perform any act authorized by this chapter to be performed only by a broker, associate broker, or salesperson while licensed as a community association manager;

(33) Attempting to sell, lease, or exchange the property of any member of a community association to which a licensee is providing community association management services without the express written consent of that association to do so;

(34) Inducing any person to alter, modify, or change another licensee's fee or commission for real estate brokerage services without that licensee's prior written consent; or

(35) Failing to obtain a person's agreement to refer that person to another licensee for brokerage or relocation services and to inform such person being referred whether or not the licensee will receive a valuable consideration for such referral.

(b) When a licensee has previously been sanctioned by the commission or by any other state's real estate brokerage licensing authority, the commission, through its hearing officers, may consider any such prior sanctions in determining the severity of a new sanction which may be imposed upon a finding that the licensee has committed an unfair trade practice, that the licensee has violated any provision of this chapter, or that the licensee has violated any of the rules and regulations of the commission. The failure of a licensee to comply with or to obey a final order of the commission may be cause for suspension or revocation of the individual's license after a hearing.

(c) Whenever a licensee acts in a real estate transaction as a principal or as an officer, employee, or member of a firm or any other entity acting as a principal, the commission may impose any sanction permitted by this chapter if the licensee commits any unfair trade practice enumerated in this Code section or violates any other provision of this chapter or any rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter in such a transaction.

(d) Whenever a community association manager, a salesperson, or an associate broker violates any provision of this chapter or any rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter by performing any duty or act of a broker enumerated in this chapter or any rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter either with the proper delegation of that duty or act by the broker or without the broker's authorization, the commission may impose any sanction permitted under this chapter on the license of such community association manager, salesperson, or associate broker.