Downzoning occurs when a local government changes zoning classifications to reduce the density or intensity of land use, such as rezoning an area from multifamily to single-family residential.

It can limit development potential and may lower market value but is typically done to control growth, preserve open space, or maintain community character.

The Maryland course explains downzoning under local land-use authority topics governed by county and municipal zoning ordinances.

PITI is the standard mortgage-payment acronym: Principal (loan balance reduction), Interest (finance charge), Taxes (property taxes, typically escrowed), and Insurance (homeowner’s and, when applicable, mortgage insurance). Lenders use PITI to calculate housing ratios and total debt-to-income requirements during underwriting—core content in the financing section of Maryland’s pre-licensing course.

Maryland agency law requires fiduciary duties to each client—loyalty, confidentiality, disclosure, obedience, reasonable care—but it does not prohibit a licensee from showing the same property to multiple buyer clients. A licensee must avoid disclosing one client’s confidential information (e.g., willingness to pay more) and provide fair, diligent service to each, but there is no exclusivity right entitling a buyer to first refusal unless contractually agreed. Therefore, no violation occurred when Renae showed the property to more than one client.

When an agency relationship ends (expiration, completion, mutual agreement, or termination), certain duties survive: chiefly confidentiality (protecting client confidences and motivations) and accounting (proper handling and return of money, keys, and documents; final accounting for trust funds). Duties such as loyalty and reasonable skill and care do not continue after termination.

References (Maryland Pre-Licensing Core Content):

Maryland 60-Hour Course: “Maryland Agency Law” (scope of fiduciary duties; duties that survive agency termination).

COMAR 09.11.02 (confidentiality and accounting obligations).

In Maryland, a redeemable ground rent (ground lease) allows the leasehold tenant to redeem (buy out) the ground rent by paying the statutory redemption amount to the ground rent holder, typically with advance written notice (often 30 days) after a minimum period has elapsed. An irredeemable ground rent cannot be bought out by the tenant. The question’s facts—15 years of payments and the tenant giving 30 days’ notice to buy out—match the characteristics of a redeemable ground lease.

In the Fair Housing and Ethics module, the course emphasizes that unlawful housing discrimination often occurs in subtle or less visible forms, including steering, disparate impact, selective marketing, inconsistent application of qualifiers, and micro-level decision-making that the public may not observe. The fact that discrimination is illegal does not eliminate hidden practices; therefore, practitioners must know the protected classes, recognize subtle violations, and implement consistent, documented, and neutral business practices.

The course states that an exclusive right-to-sell listing is a brokerage employment agreement between the seller and the listing brokerage (through the authorized broker), not with the buyer. The listing contract authorizes the brokerage to market the property and earn compensation upon a sale during the listing term, regardless of who procures the buyer. Therefore, the parties are the seller (Chuck) and the listing brokerage (Nevin’s brokerage).