Continuing Education Questions and Answers for Licensed Brokers and Salespersons in New York.
What are the Continuing
Education requirements for real estate agents in NY? Every 2
years, licensed real estate brokers and salespersons in the State of New York
are required to take 22.5 continuing education credits. The ONLY mandatory class
requirement is at least 3 hours of instruction pertaining to fair housing and/or discrimination in
the sale or rental of real property or an interest of real property, within the
2 - year period immediately preceding a renewal.
Are there any exemptions for Continuing Education
requirements for real estate agents in New York? Licensed real estate brokers who are engaged
full time in the real estate business and who have been licensed for at least
15 consecutive years immediately preceding license renewal. This exemption must
have been met prior to July 1, 2008. An
attorney admitted to the New York State bar is also exempt from the Continuing
Education Requirement.
Am I required to take a course in Fair Housing
if my real estate license is grandfathered? A NYS real estate
agent does not need to take a course in Fair Housing if they are generally
exempt by way of the "grandfather" factor. Please refer the
agent to Real Property Law section 441(3)(a) where it expresses the requirement
for real estate agents to take 3 hours in a fair housing and/or discrimination
course within a license renewal cycle. The link for the license law where this
is discussed is as follows: http://www.dos.ny.gov/licensing/lawbooks/RE-Law.pdf.
While reviewing the license law,
please refer your attention to the last sentence of this requirement wherein it
states: "The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to any licensed
real estate broker who is engaged full time in the real estate business and who
has been licensed under this article prior to July 1, 2008 for at least 15
consecutive years immediately proceeding such renewal". This is the
"grandfather" factor.
In general, the only exception to the
"grandfather" factor exemption is for NAR's mandatory quadrennial
ethics requirement for members of the National
Association of REALTORS®. This has nothing to do with licensing or the
Department of State, New York.
If I already completed
a continuing education class, can I take the
same topic again for credit with a different school in NY within the same
license renewal cycle? Real estate continuing education courses are
assigned independent approval codes by the Bureau of Educational Standards,
Department of State, State of New York. Licensed
real estate agents may take multiple courses in the same topic within each
"two year cycle of renewal" as long as each course has an independent
approval code. Approval codes are assigned for each approved course, not school and not course topic. It is advised that you always check your
records of previously completed approval codes prior to registration for new
courses within your cycle of renewal.
If I already received
credit for taking a continuing education course, can I get
credit for taking the same exact course in a different license renewal cycle? Yes. While New York State Real Estate License Law, 19 NYCRR 177.18(c),
states: "No continuing education course will be considered for continuing
education credit more than once within the two year cycle of renewal", there
is no specific regulation precluding taking the same continuing education
course anew in a subsequent and different license renewal cycle.
