Duties, Overview, and Powers of the Real Estate Commission
Area I of Pearson VUE outline #091901 is worth 4–6 of the 55 state items. It covers what the Louisiana Real Estate Commission is, what it may look at, how it investigates, and what it can do to a licensee who breaks the license law (La. R.S. 37:1430 et seq.).
General Powers
The commission is created within the office of the governor by R.S. 37:1432(A) and consists of eleven members the governor appoints and the Senate confirms — one from each of the seven supreme court districts, two at large, and two from named congressional districts. Members serve four-year terms, may not serve more than two consecutively, and must have worked as a broker for at least five years before appointment. Six members are a quorum under R.S. 37:1433(B)(1), and the commission's domicile is Baton Rouge (R.S. 37:1434). R.S. 37:1435 gives it the power to regulate the issuance of licenses, to censure, suspend and revoke, to impose additional continuing education, to adopt rules, to appoint an executive director, and to require licensees to deposit money received on behalf of clients in a separate account that is not commingled with their own funds.
Examination of Records
R.S. 37:1435(D) lets the commission require licensees to keep records and inspect them at the licensee's own offices, through duly authorized representatives, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., with Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays excluded — and to subpoena those records. Inspection is a condition of holding the license, so no warrant is involved and no advance notice is owed. Subsection E extends the subpoena power to licensees and witnesses for hearings and investigations, and failure to comply is punishable under R.S. 37:1455.
Investigations, Hearings, and Sanctions
R.S. 37:1455(A) lists thirty-six causes for discipline and the sanctions that follow: censure, conditional or unconditional suspension or revocation, additional continuing education, and fines or civil penalties not to exceed five thousand dollars. Two consequences catch people out. A licensee whose license is suspended or revoked is treated as an unlicensed person for the duration under R.S. 37:1448(A). And under R.S. 37:1448(B) revoking or suspending a sponsoring broker's license automatically suspends the license of every associate broker and salesperson that broker sponsored, with the broker obliged to return their licenses to the commission within seventy-two hours. Separately, R.S. 37:1461 creates the Real Estate Recovery Fund, from which an aggrieved consumer holding an unsatisfied judgment may recover actual damages up to twenty thousand dollars per transaction and fifty thousand dollars in the aggregate against any one licensee (R.S. 37:1463).
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Louisiana Real Estate Commission (LREC)
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 150 hours (Real Estate 201 – 90h, Real Estate 202 – 30h, Real Estate 203 Broker Responsibilities – 30h)
- Passing score
- 75 scaled (of 100) on each portion
- Scored questions
- 135
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Louisiana?
The Louisiana Real Estate Commission (LREC) licenses brokers and salespersons under the Louisiana Real Estate License Law, La. R.S. 37:1430 et seq. LREC's exams are delivered by Pearson VUE, which replaced PSI.
What experience do I need before the Louisiana broker exam?
La. R.S. 37:1437(C)(1) requires a broker applicant to have first been licensed for four years, with two of those four years occurring immediately preceding submission of the broker license application, plus 150 hours of approved broker education — at least 30 hours of it on broker responsibilities (the Real Estate 203 course).
How is the Louisiana broker exam structured?
135 scored questions in 240 minutes: an 80-question national portion in 150 minutes and a 55-question Louisiana state portion in 90 minutes, plus 5–10 unscored pretest items. Brokers must reach a scaled score of 75 out of 100 on each portion (salespersons need 70). That scaled score is not a percentage of questions answered correctly.
What does the Louisiana state portion actually test?
Pearson VUE content outline #091901 splits the 55 items five ways: the Commission's duties and powers (4–6), licensing requirements (7–9), statutes governing licensee activities (13–15), the Louisiana civil law system (13–15) and the Louisiana law of agency (13–15). Because Louisiana is a civil-law state, half the exam is civil-law and agency material — immovables, usufruct, servitudes, lesion beyond moiety, redhibition, bond for deed, reconduction, the authentic act and La. R.S. 9:3891–3899.
Sources: https://lrec.gov, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/091900.pdf, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/091901.pdf, https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=93259
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