Continuing Education Changes for Real Estate Brokers & Salespersons Effective January 1, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 15, 2014 – (RealEstateRama) — A new law which becomes effective January 1, 2015, impacts real estate brokers and salespersons, and real estate education sponsors by removing continuing education preapproval and reporting requirements. Gov. Rick Snyder signed Senate Bill 641 into law on April 7, 2014, which became Public Act 106 of 2014.

Beginning January 1, 2015, continuing education courses will no longer require preapproval and schools will not be required to report the hours as a condition of renewal of a real estate broker or salesperson license. Within each 3-year license cycle, a licensee will still need to complete at least 18 clock hours of continuing education courses. However, continuing education course records will no longer be submitted to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) as of January 1, 2015.

Section 2504a of the Occupational Code provides the requirements for continuing education effective January 1, 2015.

Sec. 2504a.

Within each 3-year license cycle, a licensee shall successfully complete at least 18 clock hours of continuing education courses that involve any subjects that are relevant to the management, operation, and practice of real estate or any other subject that contributes to the professional competence of a licensee or applicant. All of the following apply to this continuing education requirement:

(a) In each calendar year of each 3-year license cycle, a licensee shall complete at least 2 hours of the required 18 hours of continuing education courses.

(b) In completing the appropriate number of continuing education courses, a licensee may select education courses in his or her area of expertise, but at least 2 hours of the education courses in a calendar year must involve law, rules, and court cases regarding real estate.

(c) At the time he or she attends a continuing education course, a licensee shall do both of the following to confirm his or her identity:

Present his or her pocket card, or provide his or her license identification number, from the department to the course provider.
Present his or her operator’s license or chauffeur’s license, an official state personal identification card, or other government-issued photo identification to the course provider.

(d) Any education course that the licensee successfully completes to obtain a professional designation is counted toward the total continuing education credits required in a 3-year license cycle.

(e) If a licensee successfully completes a continuing education course, he or she does not earn additional hours toward the requirements of this section if he or she repeats that course.

(2) An applicant for license renewal under section 2502a shall certify compliance with subsection (1) to the department. A licensee shall retain evidence acceptable to the department that demonstrates he or she has met the continuing education requirements under this section, for at least 4 years after the date of that certification, and shall produce the record that contains that evidence at the request of the department. The department shall consider the following as acceptable evidence under this subsection:

The name and contact information of the continuing professional education program sponsor.
The participant’s name.
The course title and course field of study.
The date the course was offered or completed.
If applicable, the location of the course.
The type of instruction or delivery method used for presenting the course.
Verification by a representative of the continuing professional education program sponsor of the participant’s completion of the course.
A time statement from the continuing professional education program sponsor that states that continuing professional education credits for the course were granted on a 50-minute hour.

(3) An applicant for license renewal under section 2502a is subject to audit by the department for compliance with subsection (1) or (6) and may be required to submit the documentation described in subsection (2) to the department on request.

(4) If the department finds as the result of an audit under subsection (3) that an applicant for license renewal under section 2502a has not completed sufficient hours of continuing education to renew his or her license, the department may allow the applicant to renew his or her license by completing both of the following, if applicable:

(a) A sufficient number of additional hours of continuing education to fulfill the requirements for the period determined by audit to be deficient.

(b) If the period determined by the audit to be deficient is at least 60 days, additional hours of continuing education in 1 of the following amounts:

(i) If the deficiency period is at least 60 days and less than 120 days, 4 hours.

(ii) If the deficiency period is 120 days or more, 8 hours.

(5) Hours of additional continuing education required under subsection (4)(b) do not apply toward continuing education required in the next 3-year license cycle. The department may waive the requirement for additional hours under subsection (4)(b) if the applicant demonstrates to the department that the additional hours would present an undue hardship on the applicant.

(6) A real estate broker, associate broker, or salesperson who receives a license issued in the second or third year of a 3-year license cycle is required to comply with the continuing education requirements under subsection (1), except as follows:

(a) A real estate broker, associate broker, or salesperson who receives a license issued in the second year of the 3-year license cycle is required to complete 12 hours of continuing education.

(b) A real estate broker, associate broker, or salesperson who receives a license issued in the third year of the 3-year license cycle is required to complete 6 hours of continuing education.

(7) Course credits used to meet continuing education requirements under this section do not apply toward the real estate broker’s license prelicensure education requirements under section 2504, and course credits successfully completed under real estate broker’s license prelicensure education requirements under section 2504 do not apply toward the continuing education requirements of this section.

Contact: Melanie Brown 517-373-9280