License renewal and continuing education
A Florida real estate license runs on a two-year cycle. Fla. Stat. 475.182(1)(a) ties continuing education to "each biennium of a license period," and the department renews a license when it receives the renewal application and fee.
The renewal notice
Under 475.182(4), the department mails a renewal notice to the licensee's last known address 60 days before the license period ends. Keeping your mailing address current (lesson 5) is how you make sure you get it.
How many hours
To renew an active broker, broker associate or sales associate license, you need at least 14 classroom hours of continuing education per renewal period (475.182(1)(a)). Rule 61J2-3.009(1)(a) applies the same 14 hours to active and inactive licensees, and it excludes the first renewal period, because post-licensing education covers that one.
| Piece | Hours | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Core Law | 3 | Once per renewal period |
| Business Ethics | 3 | Once per renewal period |
| Specialty courses | at least 8 | Fills out the rest |
| Total | 14 |
Core Law covers Florida license law, commission rules, agency law, and an introduction to other state and federal laws and taxes that affect real estate. Business Ethics covers general business ethics. Specialty courses are real estate practice topics approved by the commission (61J2-3.009(1)(f) and (2)).
If you take Core Law in each year of the renewal period, you get 3 hours of Core Law plus 3 hours of specialty credit (61J2-3.009(2)(b)).
Other ways to earn credit
- Distance learning counts the same as classroom hours if the course is approved (61J2-3.009(1)).
- A FREC legal agenda session. Once per renewal cycle, a licensee can earn 3 classroom hours by attending one of the commission's legal agenda sessions, after notifying the division at least 7 days in advance. A licensee who is there as a party to a disciplinary case gets no credit (475.182(1)(b)).
Exemption
Active members of The Florida Bar in good standing are exempt from the rule's continuing education requirements (61J2-3.009(6)).