Environmental Issues
This area is worth exactly one item out of 100, and the booklet lists only two subtopics: CERCLA and hazards.
CERCLA liability and common hazards
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act imposes liability that is strict, so fault need not be shown; joint and several, so any one potentially responsible party may be made to pay the whole cleanup cost and must then seek contribution; and retroactive, reaching disposal that was lawful when it occurred. Together those features explain how a current owner becomes liable for contamination caused decades earlier by someone else. The innocent landowner defense is available only to a purchaser who conducted all appropriate inquiry before acquiring the property. Florida-specific hazards a broker meets in practice include radon, whose notification is required by s. 404.056(5), F.S., and lead-based paint in pre-1978 housing under 42 U.S.C. ss. 4851-4856.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC), DBPR
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 72-hour FREC-approved broker pre-license course
- Passing score
- 75%
- Scored questions
- 100
- Time limit
- 210 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Florida?
The Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC), housed within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), licenses brokers and sales associates. DBPR uses Pearson VUE as the official testing provider.
What experience do I need before the Florida broker exam?
Section 475.17(2)(b), F.S., requires 24 months of licensure during the preceding five years, and it accepts any of three paths: an active sales associate license held in Florida or in another state, territory, or foreign jurisdiction; a sales associate license held while salaried by a governmental agency; or a broker license held in another jurisdiction. An out-of-state broker therefore qualifies without ever having held a Florida sales associate license. Applicants must also complete the 72-hour FREC-prescribed broker course (Course II).
How is the Florida broker exam structured?
Florida gives one integrated 100-question multiple-choice examination — there is no separate national portion and no state portion. Candidates get 3.5 hours (210 minutes), and the exam is graded on 100 points with 75 points or higher required to pass. The DBPR booklet publishes twelve content areas whose percentages sum to 100, led by Real Estate Brokerage Business at 43% and Closing Transactions at 12%. Pearson VUE schedules, administers, scores, and reports the exam for DBPR.
Sources: https://www2.myfloridalicense.com/servop/testing/documents/RE_broker_cib.pdf, https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/Chapter475/PART_I, https://www.flrules.org/gateway/Division.asp?DivID=241, https://www.pearsonvue.com/us/en/fl/dbpr.html
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