For those interested in getting a Washington real estate license, you should know that Washington passed a new real estate license law, RCW 18.85.  The old law was created in 1925 — 85 years ago!  Current practices and the way the law was written made it difficult to enforce and hard for licensees to obey. The new law signed by the Governor on March 14, 2008, becomes effective July 1, 2010.  Some changes impact current licensees, but most impact new people coming into the business.  The Washington DOL has helpful FAQs.

Here are some important things to know about the new law:
•New applicants after July 1, 2010 will take a broker test (used to be a salesperson test) and need to complete a 60-hour fundamentals course and a 30-hour practices course to qualify for the broker exam.
•For the first renewal of a broker license (used to be salesperson license) one must complete a 30-hour advanced practices course, a 30-hour real estate law course, and 30 hours of continuing education.  
•The pre-licensing educational requirements for a managing broker changes after July 1, 2010, going to 90 hours of education (used to be 120-hours).  Courses required are brokerage management, business management, and advanced real estate law, along with proof of 3 years of active licensure (used to be 2 years experience). 
•Anyone who has passed a real estate licensing exam before July 1, 2010 must have their active or inactive license issued prior to July 1, because the passing scores become invalid as of midnight June 30, 2010. If you allow your exam score to expire, you will have to complete new education requirements, reapply for the exam, and pass the new exam.
•As of July 1, 2010, the licensing exam will be based on the new law.

•All licensees renewing on active status after July 1, 2010 must take a 3-hour transition course—it will count towards your continuing education credits.

ProSchools is getting courses ready to meet the new law and updating our website to reflect the new requirements.  Anyone taking a current course to get a Washington real estate license - salesperson or broker, should plan to complete their courses prior to May 31, 2010 and pass the license exam prior to the July 1 change.  We’ll keep you posted as we get new courses approved.

Tags: 60-hour fundamentals, broker license, Managing Broker, RCW 18.85, real estate broker, real estate licensing exam, real estate requirements, Washington real estate license

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 at 7:22 pm and is filed under Real Estate Education, Real Estate Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.