The license renewal process is a vital part of maintaining your real estate license, ensuring that you remain current with all relevant state laws and regulations. Failure to complete the license renewal process on time can result in an expired license, which can entail retaking the state licensing exam and paying a hefty fine. It is crucial that you stay current on all license renewal requirements, so that your real estate career can progress without any hiccups.
The first step in the Real Estate License Renewal process is completing your continuing education hours. Throughout each two-year license term, real estate agents and brokers must obtain a certain number of hours of continuing education on subjects including ethical business practices, legal matters, and fair housing regulations.
Most of these courses are offered online, but there are also many home study options available, such as Kaplan. After successfully completing your required CE courses, you must submit a certificate of completion to the state for approval. Upon approval, you will be able to apply for license renewal in the future.
Once you have completed all of your required continuing education hours, you must then apply for license renewal on the TREC website. You will need to supply your sponsor broker’s information as well as pay the appropriate fee. The application will then be processed and your new license will be sent to you via mail at your physical address on file with the TREC.
If you are a broker, make sure to check with your broker-in-charge to ensure that all of the proper paperwork is submitted to the TREC. Failure to do so can delay the processing of your renewal application. In addition, the TREC requires that brokers update their sponsor broker at least once per year, or face having their license placed in inactive status.
To get started with the license renewal process, you must first log on to your eAccessNY account. This can be done by using the unique ID and password that you created when setting up your account. If you forget your login credentials, simply use the ‘Forgot Password’ link to reset them.
You will need to supply your name, license number, date of birth, and sponsor broker information to complete the renewal process. Once you have verified all of this information, click “Next” to continue. You will then be asked to answer some questions related to your real estate business, including the number of transactions that you have closed in the past 12 months.
BROKERS: If you are a licensed real estate broker, you must complete an additional 15 hours of continuing education on topics such as implicit bias training and cultural competency. These requirements were made mandatory in 2022 and will need to be met prior to the renewal of your license.
If your license has been inactive for more than six months, you will need to pay a $90 reinstatement fee on the TREC website and follow all of the steps to renew your license. This includes correcting any continuing education deficiencies, affiliateing with a broker-in-charge, and submitting Form REC 2.08.