This chapter supplements the national manuscript. It covers only the law, rules, and practices that are specific to Virginia. Read it alongside the national chapters on agency, contracts, financing, fair housing, and license law — the national material still applies, and this chapter tells you where Virginia diverges.
YMYL / verify-current notice. Real estate license law is a "your money or your life" subject: getting a rule wrong can cost a consumer money or a licensee their license. Everything in this chapter is written from Virginia statute and Virginia Real Estate Board regulation, but statutes, regulations, hour requirements, fees, and tax rates change. Every specific number in this chapter is deliberately flagged. Before you rely on any figure for an exam answer or a real transaction, verify the current requirement with the Virginia Real Estate Board (a board within the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, "DPOR") and with the current Code of Virginia. When the exam and this book disagree with a live figure, the current Board rule controls.
1. The regulator: the Virginia Real Estate Board and DPOR
Real estate licensing in Virginia is administered by the Virginia Real Estate Board (REB), which sits inside the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR). DPOR is the umbrella state agency that houses dozens of occupational boards (contractors, cosmetology, auctioneers, appraisers, and many others); the Real Estate Board is the one that licenses and disciplines real estate salespersons, brokers, and firms.
Key division of labor to remember for the exam:
- The Board (REB) sets the substantive rules: it promulgates regulations, sets license qualifications, approves pre-license and continuing-education courses and schools, decides disciplinary cases, and administers the Real Estate Transaction Recovery Fund.
- DPOR provides the administrative machinery: application processing, records, fee collection, and staff support for the Board's boards.
- The Real Estate Appraiser Board is a separate board under DPOR. Appraisal licensing is not the Real Estate Board's job — a common exam distractor.
The Board is composed of members appointed by the Governor, including licensed brokers/salespersons and citizen (public) members. The exact composition and term lengths are set by statute; verify the current Board composition with the Virginia Real Estate Board / DPOR if a question turns on the precise number of members.
Where the law lives
Virginia real estate practice is governed by two layers of authority you must be able to name:
- The statute — the Real Estate License Law. This is Title 54.1, Chapter 21 of the Code of Virginia (roughly \\§ 54.1-2100 through \\§ 54.1-2144). It defines who must be licensed, creates the Board, authorizes discipline, and creates the Transaction Recovery Fund. Related agency-relationship statutes sit in the same chapter (Article 3, the "brokerage relationships" article).
- The Board regulations. These are found in the Virginia Administrative Code, primarily 18VAC135-20 (the Real Estate Board licensing regulations) and 18VAC135-50 (Fair Housing). The regulations fill in the detail the statute leaves open — education hours, escrow handling, advertising, and standards of conduct.
If an exam question asks "where is the license law found," the answer is Code of Virginia, Title 54.1, Chapter 21. If it asks "where are the Board's detailed rules," the answer is the Virginia Administrative Code, 18VAC135.
2. Who must be licensed, and the salesperson's place in the structure
Virginia requires a license for anyone who, for compensation, and on behalf of another, engages in real estate brokerage activity — listing, selling, buying, leasing, negotiating, or offering to do those things, with respect to real estate owned by another. The statutory definitions of "real estate broker" and "real estate salesperson" are in \\§ 54.1-2100 and \\§ 54.1-2101.
The three license types you must distinguish:
- Salesperson — an individual who performs brokerage acts but must at all times be affiliated with and supervised by a licensed broker. A salesperson can never operate independently or hold client funds in their own name.
- Broker — an individual qualified to operate independently, to supervise salespersons, and to hold and manage escrow funds. Becoming a broker requires additional experience and education beyond the salesperson level (verify the current experience and hour requirements with the Board).
- Firm / business entity broker — the licensed brokerage company itself. A firm license is separate from the individual broker's license.
Exemptions. Certain persons are exempt from licensure under \\§ 54.1-2103, including property owners dealing with their own property, persons acting under a duly executed power of attorney, certain attorneys performing their professional duties, receivers/trustees in bankruptcy, and certain salaried employees managing property for an owner. Know that owners selling their own property and certain court-appointed fiduciaries are outside the license requirement.
Affiliation with a broker (the salesperson's defining constraint)
A Virginia salesperson's license is only active while it is held by and affiliated with a licensed broker or firm. Practically:
- All of a salesperson's brokerage activity is conducted in the name of, and under the supervision of, the principal broker (and any supervising broker) of the firm.
- Compensation flows through the broker. A salesperson may be paid only by their broker, not directly by a client or by another broker — a heavily tested rule.
- Escrow / earnest-money deposits are held by the firm/broker, not by the salesperson. A salesperson who receives earnest money must promptly deliver it to the broker for deposit.
- When a salesperson leaves a firm or changes brokers, the license must be transferred; the salesperson cannot practice in the gap. Verify the current transfer procedure and any timing with the Board.
3. Becoming (and staying) licensed in Virginia
All hour counts, course requirements, exam details, fees, and renewal cycles below are changeable figures — verify current with the Virginia Real Estate Board / DPOR before relying on them.
3.1 Salesperson pre-license education
To qualify for the salesperson exam, an applicant must complete an approved pre-license course in real estate principles. The Board sets the required clock hours (the long-standing figure has been 60 hours of Board-approved pre-license education, but verify the current hour requirement with the Board). The course must be taken from a Board-approved school or provider.
Other baseline qualifications set by statute/regulation include being at least 18 years old, holding a high school diploma or equivalent, and meeting good-character/honest-dealing standards. Applicants disclose criminal history and prior disciplinary actions; the Board reviews these case-by-case.
3.2 The licensing examination
After the pre-license course, the applicant sits the Virginia salesperson licensing exam, which has a national (general) portion and a Virginia state-law portion — this book's national chapters cover the former and this chapter covers the latter. The exam is delivered by the Board's contracted testing vendor. Verify the current vendor, question counts, time limits, passing score, and fees with the Board / its testing vendor — do not memorize a pass rate or fee from any book, including this one.
3.3 Application, background, and activation
Passing the exam is not the license. The applicant must apply to the Board, meet the character requirements, and have the license activated under a broker. Virginia requires a background check / fingerprinting as part of licensure (verify the current fingerprint and background-check procedure and fee with DPOR). The salesperson's license does not authorize activity until it is issued and affiliated with a broker.
3.4 Post-license education (PLE) — new licensees
Virginia imposes a post-license education (PLE) requirement on newly licensed salespersons that is separate from ordinary continuing education. A new salesperson must complete a Board-specified number of PLE hours in specified subject areas during their first license term / first renewal cycle. (The requirement has been on the order of 30 hours of post-license education covering topics such as agency, contracts, fair housing, escrow, risk management, and current industry issues, but verify the current PLE hour count, topic breakdown, and deadline with the Board.) Failure to complete required PLE on time can prevent renewal or place the license on inactive/expired status — treat the PLE deadline as a hard date.
3.5 Continuing education (CE) — at renewal
For renewal beyond the first term, salespersons must complete Board-approved continuing education (CE) each renewal cycle. Virginia licenses renew on a two-year cycle, and the CE requirement has been on the order of 16 hours per two-year cycle, including a set of mandatory topics (for example fair housing, legal updates/agency, ethics/standards of conduct, real estate contracts, escrow, and flood/other current-issue topics), with the balance in electives. Verify the current CE hour total, the exact mandatory-topic list, and the renewal cycle with the Board — the mandatory-topic list in particular is updated periodically.
3.6 Active vs. inactive; renewal timing
A license can be active (affiliated with a broker, authorized to practice) or inactive (education kept up but not affiliated / not practicing). Letting a license lapse without meeting CE and renewal requirements can force re-application or reinstatement. Verify current renewal deadlines, late/reinstatement windows, and fees with DPOR.
4. Virginia agency law and the required brokerage-relationship disclosures
Virginia replaced common-law agency with a statutory brokerage-relationships scheme found in the license law (the "brokerage relationships" article of Title 54.1, Chapter 21, roughly \\§ 54.1-2130 through \\§ 54.1-2144). You must know both the relationships Virginia recognizes and the disclosures it mandates.
4.1 Brokerage relationships Virginia recognizes
- Standard agent — owes a client the statutory duties (loyalty, confidentiality, reasonable care, disclosure, accounting, obedience to lawful instructions, and diligence), subject to the statute.
- Limited-service agent — a licensee who, by written agreement, provides fewer than the full set of services (for example, an MLS-entry-only listing). Virginia specifically regulates limited-service agency and requires the agreement to disclose in writing which duties the agent will and will not perform. This is a Virginia-distinctive concept — expect it on the state portion.
- Independent contractor relationship — arranged by written agreement where the licensee is not acting as the consumer's agent in the traditional sense.
4.2 Dual agency and designated agency
Virginia permits dual agency and designated agency, but only with disclosure and written consent.
- Dual agency occurs when the same licensee (or same firm) represents both the buyer and the seller (or both landlord and tenant) in the same transaction. Virginia allows it only if both clients give written consent after disclosure of the consequences (the agent cannot fully advocate for one side against the other, and certain confidential information will be protected). Consent must generally be obtained in writing at the appropriate time.
- Designated agency is where the principal broker (or supervising broker) assigns different affiliated licensees to represent each client, so that each client has their own advocate within the firm while the broker manages the potential conflict. Virginia allows designated representation with the required written disclosure/consent.
Know the distinction cold: dual agent = one licensee/firm neutral between two clients; designated agents = two different licensees in the same firm, each advocating for one client, with the broker overseeing.
4.3 The mandatory agency (brokerage-relationship) disclosure and its timing
Virginia requires licensees to disclose their brokerage relationship to the parties. Two timing rules to know:
- Disclosure to an actual or prospective party who is not the licensee's client. A licensee representing one party must disclose to the other party which party the licensee represents. This disclosure must be made at the point of first substantive contact / before showing or discussing the specifics of a property with the unrepresented party — i.e., a buyer's agent must tell the seller (or the seller's unrepresented party) whom they represent, and a seller's agent must tell an unrepresented buyer. The statute requires this disclosure in writing (and the industry uses a standard disclosure form).
- Written brokerage agreement with your own client. The representation of a client should be reduced to a written brokerage agreement that specifies the relationship, services, and compensation. Limited-service relationships in particular must be in writing with the specific services disclosed.
Verify the current statutory disclosure timing language and any Board-prescribed form with the Virginia Real Estate Board, because the "first substantive contact" trigger and the required written form are periodically refined.
4.4 When brokerage relationships end and what survives
Statutory duties (notably the duty to keep confidential information confidential) can continue after the brokerage relationship ends. A licensee's obligation not to disclose a former client's confidential information (such as motivation or the lowest price a seller would accept) generally survives termination of the relationship.