18-MONTH

When an agent receives his first DRE license, its usually a conditional license. The agent has 18 months from date of issuance to complete two (2) College Equivalent courses in order to get his actual license. The Qualification Courses that he can choose from are as follows:

• Real Estate Practice
• Real Estate Appraisal
• Property Management
• Real Estate Finance
• Real Estate Economics
• Legal Aspects of Real Estate
• Real Estate Office Administration
• General Accounting
• Business Law
• Escrows
• Mortgage Loan Brokering and Lending

As of October 1, 2007, the conditional salesperson license will be eliminated. The new law removes the option for a conditional license for all applications starting October 1, 2007. Applicants for a salesperson license will be required to complete three real estate classes before applying for the real estate salespersons exam. The exception for attorneys and those qualified to take the broker exam remain in place.

The following information contains the continuing education requirements under current law for real estate salespersons renewing their license for the first time, real estate brokers renewing their license for the first time, and also brokers and salespersons renewing their licenses for a second or subsequent time.

Effective July 1, 2007, Assembly Bill 223 (AB223) also requires the completion of a 3-hour course in risk management that includes the principles, practices and procedures calculated to avoid errors and omissions by real estate licensees. The educational changes that will go into effect July 1, 2007 are highlighted in red.

Each of the following 3-hour mandated courses:

1. Ethics
2. Agency
3. Trust Fund Handling
4. Fair Housing
5. Risk Management


(Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 10153.4(b))

45 hours of continuing education consisting of:

1. Each of the following 3-hour mandated courses:



1. Ethics
2. Agency
3. Trust Fund Handling
4. Fair Housing
5. Risk Management


2. A minimum of 18 hours of courses approved under the category of consumer protection (includes financing, land use regulation, disclosure, agency, capital formation for development, fair practices, appraisal and valuation, landlord/tenant, energy conservation, environmental regulation, tax, probate, governmental programs, business opportunities and mineral, oil and gas conveyancing) and



3. Remaining 15 (12) hours related to consumer service and/or consumer protection


(Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 10170.5(a) 1-6)

45 hours of continuing education consisting of:

1. 6 (8) hour combined survey course including equal coverage of Ethics, Agency, Trust Fund Handling, Fair Housing and Risk Management



2. A minimum of 18 hours of courses approved under the category of consumer protection (see row above for details), and



3. Remaining 21 (19) hours related to consumer service and/or consumer protection


(Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 10170.5(b))

Exempt from the continuing education requirements for license renewal.

(Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 10170.8)

Please note that Consumer Service is not a mandatory category. Also, the 12 mandatory Hours (AG,ETH,FAIR,TRUST) or the 6 hour survey course covering these toics, are required for every renewal.

The DRE automatically gives a 2 year grace period following expiration to allow agents to renew their license. However, they will need to pay a higher renewal fee. If an agent does not renew within that grace period, they will need to go through New Licensing Procedures again.

NOTE: Licensees having difficulty in determining how many continuing education (CE) credits they may contact the Department of Real Estate (DRE) at (213) 620-2072. The DRE will inform the licensee whether they have a conditional license, whether they have a 4-year license that will require either the mandatory 12-hours of CE credits for first time renewal, or if they need 45-hours of CE credits.

WAIVING DRE CE REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSE RENEWAL

The DRE requirements for waiving Continuing Education to renew a Real Estate License, Salesperson or Broker, the following two conditions must be met:

• The applicant must provide proof that he/she is of the age of 70 or older.
• The applicant must have proof that he/she has been licensed for 30 consecutive years.

The applicant must furnish this proof directly to the Department of Real Estate.

back to top