Inactive status, reactivation and expiration
A license can be active, voluntarily inactive or involuntarily inactive. Inactive licensees cannot practice, but they can get back to active status if they act in time.
Voluntarily inactive
A licensee can choose inactive status, for example while taking a break from the business. Under Rule 61J2-1.014(1), a voluntarily inactive licensee can keep renewing as inactive every two years by asking DBPR, completing the required continuing education, and paying the fee. Rule 61J2-3.009(1)(a) puts the same 14-hour requirement on inactive licensees as on active ones.
Involuntarily inactive
A license that is not renewed by the end of its license period automatically reverts to involuntarily inactive (475.182(3); 61J2-1.014(2)). Nobody chooses this status; it is what happens when renewal is missed.
What it takes to come back depends on how long the license has been involuntarily inactive (475.183(2)):
| Time involuntarily inactive | To reactivate |
|---|---|
| 12 months or less | At least 14 hours of commission-prescribed continuing education |
| More than 12 but less than 24 months | 28-hour reactivation course (61J2-3.010) |
| More than 2 years | License automatically expires; no reactivation |
The licensee also pays the current renewal fee plus any late fee (61J2-1.014(3)). The department must warn the licensee 90 days before the license expires (475.183(2)(b)).
The 28-hour reactivation course is drawn from the pre-licensing course content, and a score of 70% or higher on its end-of-course exam is passing (61J2-3.010).
Void licenses and hardship
A license that has become void is normally gone. Fla. Stat. 475.183(4) gives one narrow exception: FREC may reinstate a void license if the person failed to comply because of illness or economic hardship, as defined by rule, applies within 6 months after the license became void, completes all continuing education, and pays the fees.
Don't mix these up: missing post-licensing makes the license null and void right away (lesson 2). Missing a later renewal only makes it involuntarily inactive, with up to two years to fix it.