Current through Rules and Regulations filed through March 20, 2024
(1)
Required Education. O.C.G.A.
Section 43-40-8(d)requires
that each salesperson must furnish to the Commission within one year of the
issuance of an original salesperson's license evidence of satisfactory
completion of a post-license course of study of at least 25 instructional hours
(other than the Salespersons Prelicense Course or Brokers Prelicense Course)
approved by the Commission. Salespersons must have completed such course:
(a) no earlier than one year before the date
of issuance of the original salesperson's license, or
(b) no later than either:
1. one year after the date of issuance of an
original salesperson's license or
2. eighteen months after the date of issuance
of an original salesperson's license if the salesperson qualifies for the six
month extension of time authorized by the O.C.G.A. Section
43-40-8(d).
(c) if the salesperson is a
non-resident who has successfully completed in his or her state of residence a
post-license course substantially similar to Georgia's Salespersons
Post-license Course prior to the issuance of a Georgia salesperson's license
(or in the first year after being issued such a license), then such course
shall be deemed to have met the requirements of O.C.G.A. Section
43-40-8(d).
(d) In order to renew an active license, a
licensee shall furnish to the Commission evidence of satisfactorily completing
thirty-six (36) instructional hours of continuing education courses during the
renewal period. The effective date of this requirement shall be July 1, 2015.
Any licensee who renews an active license on or after this date must have
completed thirty-six (36) hours of continuing education courses to
renew.
(e) A licensee shall
satisfactorily complete at least three (3) hours of continuing education on the
topic of license law during each renewal period. The effective date of this
requirement shall be July 1, 2016. Any licensee who renews an active license on
or after this date must have completed at least three (3) hours of continuing
education on the topic of license law in order to renew.
(2)
Active or Inactive License.
(a) Every active Georgia associate broker,
salesperson, and community association manager shall be licensed under an
active Georgia broker; and said associate broker, salesperson, or community
association manager cannot be licensed under more than one Georgia broker
during the same period of time. An active Georgia associate broker,
salesperson, or community association manager may also affiliate a license
issued by another state's real estate licensing regulatory body with a broker
in that state provided:
1. said state's laws
allow affiliations in both states; and
2. said Georgia resident associate broker,
salesperson, or community association manager has the written permission of the
broker holding his Georgia license to affiliate with a broker in another state
and said written permission clearly delineates (1) the duties that the licensee
may undertake for each broker and (2) that the licensee may not undertake
brokerage activity on property located in Georgia except in behalf of the
active Georgia broker.
(b) After making an original application for
licensure to the Commission, a salesperson or a community association manager
shall not commence work in real estate brokerage activities until the broker
has received the licensee's wall certificate of licensure.
(c) After a licensee makes application to
change the status of his or her license to a broker of a sole proprietorship or
qualifying broker of a corporation, limited liability company, or partnership,
the applicant shall not commence work in real estate brokerage activities until
the applicant has received the wall certificate of licensure for the sole
proprietorship, corporation, limited liability company, or
partnership.
(d) Any licensee whose
license is released by a broker shall not engage in the activities of a real
estate broker until the licensee:
1.
affiliates his or her license with a new broker and mails a Change Application
to the Commission; or
2. receives
from the Commission a wall certificate of licensure authorizing the licensee to
serve as the broker of a sole proprietorship or the qualifying broker of a
corporation, limited liability company, or partnership.
(e) Any licensee who seeks to activate a
license which has been on inactive status shall be required to have
satisfactorily completed the continuing education requirements which would have
been required if such licensee had been on active status or in lieu thereof,
requalifying as an original applicant.
(f) This requirement shall not apply to an
inactive licensee who can furnish to the Commission evidence that he or she has
met the continuing education requirement for each renewal period that his or
her license has been on inactive status.
(g) Every active licensee seeking to perform
real estate brokerage activity must do so as a broker or on behalf of a real
estate broker. Inactive licensees may not perform real estate brokerage
activity on any real estate except real estate owned solely by the inactive
licensee. Real estate brokerage activity includes sales, leasing, community
association management services, property management services, and any of the
activities identified under the definition of "Broker" in O.C.G.A. Section
43-40-1.
(h) The license law contains an exception
(not available to licensees) that allows an unlicensed person who is a
full-time employee of an unlicensed person to perform real estate brokerage
activity on property owned by that unlicensed person's employer.
(i) A licensee may not place the licensee's
license on inactive status and perform real estate brokerage activity for an
unlicensed person. Whenever a real estate licensee wishes to be employed by an
unlicensed person in order to perform real estate brokerage activity on real
estate owned by that unlicensed person, such licensee must first surrender such
licensee's license to the Commission and may not reinstate that license without
first qualifying as an original applicant.
(j) A licensee on inactive status may be an
employee of an unlicensed person to perform work other than real estate
brokerage activity for the unlicensed person.
(3)
Renewals. Unless renewal
fees are paid, all licenses issued under the provisions of paragraph (1) of
this Rule will lapse:
(a) in the case of an
individual license, on the last day of the month of the birthday of the
individual licensee and
(b) in the
case of a firm licensed as a broker on the last day of the month of the fourth
anniversary of its original licensure.
(4)
Reinstatement of Lapsed
License.
(a) Any licensee whose license
lapses due to nonpayment of fees or failure to satisfactorily complete any of
the education requirements of O.C.G.A. Chapter 43-40 shall be prohibited from
engaging in real estate brokerage activities as defined in O.C.G.A. Section
43-40-1until such time as the
license is reinstated.
(b) Any
licensee who has been exempt from the continuing education requirements of
O.C.G.A. Section
43-40-8(e), and
whose license has lapsed for longer than one year from the date of lapsing, and
who reinstates it by paying the fees cited in Rule
520-1-.04(1) shall
thereafter be subject to the continuing education requirements of O.C.G.A.
Section 43-40-8(e).
(c) Any licensee who fails to pay a renewal
fee and allows an active license to lapse may reinstate that license to active
status within two years of the date of lapsing by paying the fees cited in Rule
520-1-.04(1),
provided the licensee has satisfactorily completed the continuing education
requirements which would have been required if such licensee had been on active
status.
(d) Any licensee who fails
to pay a renewal fee and allows an inactive license to lapse may reinstate that
license to active status within two years of the date of lapsing by paying the
fees cited in Rule
520-1-.04(1) provided
the licensee has satisfactorily completed the continuing education requirements
which would have been required if such licensee had been on active
status
(e) Any licensee who fails
to pay a renewal fee and allows an inactive license to lapse may reinstate that
license to inactive status within two years of the date of lapsing by paying
the fees cited in Rule
520-1-.04(1).
(f) Any licensee who allows either an active
or inactive license to lapse for a period longer than two years and less than
five years from the date of lapsing may reinstate that license to active status
by paying the fees cited in Rule
520-1-.04(1) and by
satisfactorily completing the following educational course:
1. if the lapsed license is that of a
community association manager, the Community Association Managers Prelicense
Course;
2. if the lapsed license is
that of a salesperson, the Salespersons Prelicense Course; or
3. if the lapsed license is that of a broker
or associate broker, the Brokers Prelicense Course.
Courses taken to reinstate a license as provided in 1., 2. and
3. above must be taken within one year prior to making application for and
paying the fees required for reinstatement.
(g) Any licensee who fails to pay a renewal
fee and allows a license to lapse and who does not elect to reinstate the
license under the provisions of paragraph (4) (c), (d), (e) or (f) of this Rule
may reinstate the license by retaking and passing the appropriate qualifying
examination for that license including the national portion of the
examination.
(h) Any licensee whose
license has lapsed a period of time longer than five years from the date of
lapsing due to a failure to pay required fees and who desires to re-qualify for
a license must do so as an original applicant.
(i) Any active licensee whose license lapses
for not completing any continuing education required for renewal of a license
shall automatically upon paying a renewal fee become an inactive licensee and
subject to the rules which govern an inactive license.
(j) Any salesperson whose license lapsed for
failure to satisfactorily complete the 25 instructional hours of post-license
education required by O.C.G.A. Section
43-40-8(d)may
reinstate the license only as provided in that Code section. Any such
salesperson whose license has lapsed for a period of time longer than five
years due to a failure to complete the post-license education requirements in a
timely manner and who desires to re-qualify for a license shall do so by
re-qualifying as an original applicant.
(k) Any licensee whose license lapses for any
reason and who then applies to reinstate that license or any licensee whose
license is on inactive status and who then applies to reactivate that license
shall not commence work in real estate brokerage activities until:
1. if a broker, he or she has received the
broker's certificate of licensure; or
2. if a community association manager,
salesperson, or associate broker, the broker with whom the licensee is
affiliated has received the licensee's certificate of licensure.
(5)
Notification
of Legal Action and Change of Address.
(a) Every licensee shall notify the
Commission in writing of the final disposition of any administrative, civil, or
criminal action filed in any court of competent jurisdiction or any
administrative agency whenever that final disposition involves the subject
matter of the offenses cited in O.C.G.A. Sections
16-13-111,
43-40-15, or
43-40-25. Such notice of any
administrative or civil action shall be given to the Commission within ten (10)
days of the conclusion of the court or administrative proceedings and shall
include a copy of any final order entered by the court or agency. Such notice
of any criminal action shall be given to the Commission within ten days of any
conviction and shall include a copy of the indictment, accusation, and the
conviction.
(b) Each licensee,
approved school, or approved instructor must notify the Commission in writing
within one month of any change in any such licensee's, approved school's, or
approved instructor's mailing address or residence address, or email address if
an email address is maintained by such licensee, approved school, or approved
instructor.
(6)
Nonresident Licensure and Brokerage.
(a) Nonresidents who meet the requirements
prescribed in O.C.G.A. Section
43-40-9 and the Rules and
Regulations of the Commission ma y be granted a nonresident's
license.
(b) Licensees who remove
their residency from this state to another state may qualify for nonresident
licensure in accordance with O.C.G.A. Section
43-40-9only if they make
application to change their status from resident to nonresident, sign a Consent
to Jurisdiction, and sign an agreement to cooperate with any investigation
initiated by the Commission.
(c) A
nonresident broker can serve as a qualifying broker for any corporation,
limited liability company, or partnership licensed by the Commission. A
nonresident broker can be the qualifying broker for an out-of-state corporation
or limited liability company which becomes licensed by the Commission and is
authorized by the Secretary of State's Corporation Division to do business in
the State of Georgia.
(d) Licensees
who move from this state to another state may elect to place their licenses on
inactive status rather than seeking a nonresident's license to avoid
termination of their license. Licensees who elect such inactive status may not
then conduct brokerage business in this state until they have again become
residents of this state and have complied with the reactivation provisions of
O.C.G.A. Section
43-40-12 or have qualified for
nonresident licensure as provided in paragraph (2) of this rule.
(e) Any nonresident licensee whose license
lapses for failure to pay a renewal fee may reactivate that license by paying
the fee required of an original applicant if such nonresident has maintained an
active license in his or her state of residence during the period that his or
her license lapsed and has met that state's continuing education
requirements.
(f) No Georgia
licensee may perform or attempt to perform any of the acts of a broker as
defined in O.C.G.A. Section
43-40-1on property located in
another state without having first been properly licensed in that state or
otherwise complied fully with that state's laws regarding real estate
brokerage.
(g) An applicant for
non-resident licensure must also comply with the requirements set forth in Rule
520-1-.04(3)(g).
(7)
Retention of Certificate
of Licensure. Upon making such request in writing to the
Commission, any licensee who retires after twenty years of
active licensure or the family of any licensee who is deceased shall be allowed
to retain the licensee's wall certificate of licensure and pocket card for
non-brokerage purposes.
O.C.G.A. Secs.
43-40-1,
43-40-2,
43-40-8,
43-40-9,
43-40-12,
43-40-14,
43-40-25.