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Licensing FAQs

In order to list for sale or for lease real estate in any U.S. jurisdiction, the individual must hold a real estate license in the state or territory in which the sale/lease is taking place. Licenses are granted by state governments. Often, each state government will require a certain number of education hours to obtain and maintain a real estate license.

The National Association of REALTORS® does not grant licenses, require Continuing Education (CE), or track CE courses. Contact your state real estate commission for licensing and CE credit information.

ARELLO, The Association of Real Estate License Law Offices, maintains a list of the licensing authorities for each state and territory(link is external).

State Issues Tracker

NAR's State Issues Tracker keeps track of licensing requirements and categories, and licensing reciprocity for each of the 50 U.S. states.

The State Issues Tracker is only accessible to active members of the REALTOR® association. If you are a member and need assistance logging-in, call Member Support at 800-874-6500 or contactNAR@realtors.org(link sends e-mail).

Licensing Requirements

Once in the State Issues Tracker, use the text search at top right to search for licensing requirements and click on the search result "Annual Reports, Licensing Requirements and Maintenance." Once you’ve loaded the Annual Report, click on "Short Answer Table – Licensing Requirements and Maintenance" to open a PDF chart detailing requirements for each state. Please note that state laws and regulations are always subject to change. Contact your state’s licensing authority for the most up-do-date information.

License Reciprocity

To locate license reciprocity information, in the State Issues Tracker use the text search box (at top right) to search for reciprocity and open the link "Annual Reports, Broker and Salesperson License Reciprocity and Portability." Once you’ve loaded the Annual Report, click on "Short Answer Table – Broker and Salesperson License Reciprocity and Portability" to open a PDF chart detailing requirements for each state. Contact the licensing authority in the state in which you seek license reciprocity for the most up-do-date information.