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Virginia State Requirements

Education Requirements

Licenses issued for Salespersons, Brokers, and firms shall expire two years from the last day of the month in which they were issued, as indicated on the license, except concurrent Broker licenses which shall expire on the same date as the original Broker license.

Salesperson Licensing Requirements

The academic credit required for the initial license as a real estate salesperson shall be at least four semester hours, but not less than 60 hours of classroom, correspondence or other distance learning instruction.

Every applicant to the Board for an initial license as a real estate broker shall have completed not less than 12 semester hours (180 course hours) of classroom or correspondence or other distance learning instruction in real estate courses offered by an accredited university, college, community college, or other school or educational institution offering equivalent courses.

re-license courses must be acceptable to the board and are required to have a monitored, final written examination. Those schools which propose to offer pre-licensing courses (Principles and Practices of Real Estate, Real Estate Brokerage, Real Estate Finance, Real Estate Law or Real Estate Appraisal, etc.) must submit a request, in writing, to the board prior to offering the course(s) and supply the following information:

  1. Course content. All Principles and Practices of Real Estate courses must include the 25 topic areas specified in 18 VAC 135-20-400. All requests to offer broker courses must include a course syllabus acceptable to the board;
  2. Name of the course's text and any research materials used for study assignments;
  3. Description of any research assignments;
  4. Copies of tests or quizzes;
  5. Information explaining how the "Principles" course will require 60 hours of study, or how each broker related course will require 45 hours of study, in compliance with § 54.1-2105 of the Code of Virginia; and
  6. Information about recordkeeping for the type of course delivery.

Exam at the end of the course is PROCTORED!!

Students will be locked-out of the course and may sign back in when they are in the presence of the Proctor. Instructions in the course should explain the procedure and present students with a Proctor form.

To schedule an exam, Contact PSI at (800)733-9267 or visit http://www.psiexams.com/index3.htm

Continuing Education Requirements

The Board shall include in its regulations educational requirements as a condition for re-licensure of brokers and salespersons to whom active licenses have been issued by the Board beyond those now specified by law as conditions for licensure. Brokers and salespersons to whom active licenses have been issued by the Board shall be required to satisfactorily complete courses of not less than 16 hours of classroom or correspondence or other distance learning instruction during each licensing term. Of the total 16 hours, the curriculum shall include a minimum of eight required hours to include ethics and standards of conduct, fair housing, legal updates and emerging trends, real estate agency, and real estate contracts. Fair housing requirements shall consist of a minimum of two hours including an update on current cases and administrative decisions under fair housing laws. If the licensee submits a notarized affidavit to the Board which certifies that he does not practice residential real estate and shall not do so during the licensing term, training in fair housing shall not be required; instead, such licensee shall receive training in other applicable federal and state discrimination laws and regulations. The remaining eight hours shall be elective and shall include real estate-related subjects as are approved by the Board. For correspondence and other distance learning instruction offered by an approved provider, the Board shall establish the appropriate testing procedures to verify completion of the course and require the licensee to file a notarized affidavit certifying compliance with the course requirements. The Board may establish procedures to ensure the quality of the courses. The Board shall not require testing for continuing education courses completed through classroom instruction. For purposes of this chapter, "distance learning" means instruction delivered by an approved provider through a medium other than a classroom setting. Such courses shall be those offered by an accredited university, college, community college, high school offering adult distributive education courses, other school or educational institution, or real estate professional association or related entities.

SALESPERSON

July 1, 2007, the required course hours for mandatory topics changed. All salespersons required to complete the 16 hours of continuing education must take a minimum of:
3 hours in ethics and standards of conduct
2 hours in fair housing
1 hour of legal updates and emerging trends
1 hour of real estate agency
1 hour of real estate contracts
8 hours in real estate related subjects

Effective July 1, 2007, all licensees applying for re-licensure as an active salesperson between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2009, must complete at a minimum one two-hour education course on limited service agency. This is a one-time only requirement which applies to all active licensees renewing or reinstating their license. This two-hour course is in addition to the 30 hours of post-license education.

BROKER

Effective July 1, 2008, all brokers are required to complete continuing education must complete at a minimum, 24 hours of continuing education during each two year licensing term. These 24 hours of continuing education shall include the following:
3 hours of ethics and standards of conduct
2 hours of fair housing
1 hour of legal updates and emerging trends
1 hour of real estate agency
1 hour of real estate contracts
8 hours of courses relating to supervision and management of real estate agents and the management of real estate brokerage firms
8 hours in real estate related subjects

Post-License Requirements

The Board shall establish guidelines for an educational curriculum of at least 30 hours of classroom, or correspondence or other distance learning, instruction, in specified areas, which shall be required of all licensees within the first two years of issuance of a license by the Board. Failure of a new licensee to complete the 30-hour curriculum within two years of obtaining a real estate salesperson's license shall result in nonrenewal by the Board of such license until the curriculum has been completed.

Effective July 1, 2008, all salespersons who receive their initial license on or after July 1, 2008, must complete the 30 hour post-license curriculum within one year of the Board issuing their license. (Currently, initial licensees have two years to complete the post-license curriculum.) It the salesperson fails to complete the coursework within the one year, the Board must place the license on inactive status until the curriculum is completed.

Reciprocity

Education And Licensure In Another State

Virginia has written reciprocity agreements with West Virginia and Oklahoma.

Reporting:

Student Reporting Requirements

All schools must establish and maintain a record for each student. The record shall include: the student's name and address; the course name and clock hours attended; the course syllabus or outline; the name or names of the instructor; the date of successful completion and the board's course code. Records shall be available for inspection during normal business hours by authorized representatives of the board. Schools must maintain all student and class records for a minimum of five years.

Case Management Procedures For Continuing Education

To report student credit for continuing education and post license education, you will need to send an email to reschool@dpor.virginia.gov, and attach the Conted.XLS (Excel) spreadsheet that you have saved as a Comma Delimited file (.CSV), of students completing the course. Please follow the instructions; if any field is incorrect, we will not be able to download the information, which will delay the posting of credits.