§34-27-34. Who may serve as qualifying broker; responsibility of qualifying broker; change of broker; termination of qualifying broker's status.

(a)(1) A broker may serve as qualifying broker for a salesperson or associate broker only if licensed in Alabama, his or her principal business is that of a real estate broker, and he or she shall be in a position to actually supervise the real estate activities of the associate broker or salesperson on a full-time basis.

(2) A salesperson or associate broker shall not perform acts for which a license is required unless licensed under a qualifying broker. A qualifying broker shall be held responsible to the commission and to the public for all acts governed by this chapter of each salesperson and associate broker licensed under him or her and of each company for which he or she is the qualifying broker. It shall be the duty of the qualifying broker to see that all transactions of every licensee engaged by him or her or any company for which he or she is the qualifying broker comply with this chapter. Additionally, the qualifying broker shall be responsible to an injured party for the damage caused by any violation of this chapter by any licensee engaged by the qualifying broker. This subsection does not relieve a licensee from liability that he or she would otherwise have.

(3) The qualifying brokers' supervision responsibilities, as prescribed herein, over the real estate activities of associate brokers and salespersons licensed under him or her are not intended to and should not be construed as creating an employer-employee relationship contrary to any expressed intent of the qualifying broker and licensee to the contrary.

(b) Any salesperson or associate broker who desires to change his or her qualifying broker shall give notice in writing to the commission, and shall send a copy of the notice to his or her qualifying broker. The new qualifying broker shall file with the commission a request for the transfer and a statement assuming liability for the licensee. On payment of a fee of twenty-five dollars ($25), a new license certificate shall be issued to the salesperson or associate broker for the unexpired term of the original license. A fee of twenty-five dollars ($25) shall also be charged for any of the following license changes:

(1) Change of qualifying broker by a company or sole proprietorship. The fee is paid for the license or licenses on which the current and new qualifying brokers' names appear. In cases where a company has a branch office or offices and the main office qualifying broker is changed, the fee is paid for each branch office license and for the license of each branch qualifying broker.

(2) Change of personal name of a qualifying broker. The fee is paid for the license or licenses on which the current qualifying broker's name appears.

(3) Change of personal name of a salesperson or associate broker. The fee is paid for the license on which the name appears.

(4) Change of business location. The fee is paid for the license or licenses on which the address appears.

(5) Change of business name. The fee is paid for the license or licenses on which the name appears.

(6) Change of status from inactive to active. The fee is paid for each license being changed from inactive to active status. No fee is charged for the change from active to inactive status.

(c) A person who wishes to terminate his or her status as qualifying broker for a licensee may do so by notifying the licensee and the commission in writing and sending the licensee's license certificate to the commission or verifying in writing to the commission that the certificate has been lost or destroyed.

(d) A person who wishes to terminate his or her status as a qualifying broker for a company may do so by submitting written notice to the company or qualifying broker of the parent company and the commission.

(e) A salesperson or associate broker shall not perform any act for which a license is required after his or her association with his or her qualifying broker has been terminated, or if he or she changes qualifying brokers, until a new active license has been issued by the commission.

(Acts 1951, No. 422, p. 745, §9; Acts 1963, No. 290, p. 734, §1; Acts 1971, No. 2485, p. 3966, §9; Acts 1971, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 310, p. 4599, §1; Acts 1975, No. 563, p. 1276, §1; Acts 1978, No. 654, p. 932, §1; Acts 1982, No. 82-231, p. 282, §1; Acts 1983, No. 83-516, p. 781, §1; Acts 1985, No. 85-750, p. 1204, §1; Acts 1988, No. 88-214, p. 315, §3; Acts 1989, No. 89-284, p. 447, §3; Acts 1992, No. 92-177, p. 305, §3; Acts 1996, No. 96-791, p. 1471, §1.)