Idaho Licensing Requirements
Area II is 4% of the broker exam: which activities require a license, who is eligible, how licenses renew, how status changes, and the education behind each license tier.
Activities requiring a license, and the exceptions
Idaho Code 54-2002 forbids acting as a broker or salesperson without an active Idaho license, and provides that any single act within the statutory definitions is enough to constitute engaging in the business. Section 54-2003 lists the exceptions — dealing for one's own account, an owner or the owner's regular employee, an attorney in fact for a single transaction, a receiver, trustee, guardian, personal representative or a person selling under the default provisions of a deed of trust, and an attorney at law in client representation. Subsection (2) removes those exceptions from anyone who actually holds an active license.
Eligibility and education
Section 54-2012(1) requires an applicant to be an individual at least eighteen, a high school graduate or equivalent, clear of the disciplinary and criminal bars the section spells out, fingerprinted for a national criminal history check, insured for errors and omissions, and associated with a designated broker. Prelicense education under 54-2022 is 90 classroom hours for a salesperson and a minimum of 90 additional hours for a broker or associate broker. A broker applicant must also show two years of full-time active licensed salesperson experience within the five years immediately preceding application, under 54-2012(2)(a).
Renewal and change of status
Idaho Code 54-2018 sets an initial period of one year plus the months to the licensee's next birthday, capped at two years, with expiry on the birthday. Renewing on active status requires certification of continuing education and errors and omissions insurance, and payment of the fees. Section 54-2023(1) sets that education at two commission core courses plus twelve classroom hours; a salesperson's first active renewal requires two core courses plus the post-license course. An expired license not renewed within one year is automatically terminated. Personal name, address or telephone changes must be reported in writing within ten business days.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Idaho Real Estate Commission
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 180 classroom hours (90 salesperson + 90 broker)
- Passing score
- 75 scaled score (0-100 scale, not a percentage)
- Scored questions
- 130
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Idaho?
The Idaho Real Estate Commission licenses brokers and salespersons. Idaho Code 54-2005 creates the Commission inside the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, with five governor-appointed members, and 54-2007 charges it with enforcing the license law and making the rules. The Commission contracts with Pearson VUE to deliver the exams.
What education and experience do I need before the Idaho broker exam?
Idaho Code 54-2022 requires 90 classroom hours of prelicense education for a salesperson and a minimum of 90 additional classroom hours for a broker or associate broker, 180 in all. Idaho Code 54-2012(2)(a) then requires two years of full-time active experience as a licensed salesperson within the five years immediately preceding application. A designated broker must also complete a Commission-approved business conduct and office operations (BCOO) course within the three years before being designated.
How is the Idaho broker exam structured?
130 scored items: an 80-item national/general portion in 150 minutes and a 50-item Idaho state portion in 90 minutes, four hours in total, plus 5-10 unidentified pretest items in each portion. The Idaho state portion for brokers is weighted 4% Commission duties, 4% licensing, 30% license law and rules, 20% agency, 10% calculations and closing costs, 12% Idaho principles and practices, and 20% brokerage management - the last of which is broker-only and does not appear on the salesperson exam at all.
What score do I need to pass, and can I retake just one portion?
Idaho reports a scaled score on a 0-100 scale, which the candidate handbook says must not be read as the percentage of questions answered correctly. The passing point is 75 for the broker examination and 70 for the salesperson examination. A candidate who passes one portion and fails the other retakes only the failed portion, provided it is passed within one year of the date of the passed portion.
Sources: https://dopl.idaho.gov/rec/, https://www.pearsonvue.com/us/en/id/realestate.html, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/091300.pdf, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/091306.pdf, https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title54/T54CH20/
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