Duties and Powers of the Department and the State Board of Real Estate

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), through the Board of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons, licenses brokers under Article 25 of the Occupational Code (MCL 339.2501 to 339.2518). LARA contracts with PSI to administer the licensing exam. The current administrative rules are R 339.22101 to R 339.22165, effective June 4, 2025; the older rule numbers from R 339.22201 onward have all been rescinded.

MCL 339.2505(7) requires the equivalent of three years of full-time experience in the business of real estate — which is a credit schedule, not a calendar. A licensed salesperson earns one year of credit for each 12-month period in which she closed five or more real estate transactions, so holding a license without closing anything earns no credit. The statute also credits builders, investors (capped at one year), attorneys, licensed appraisers and full-time real estate finance or conveyancing work, and R 339.22115 adds credit for out-of-state licensees and for managing at least 10 Michigan units for three or more years. On top of that, brokers complete 90 clock hours of approved prelicensure classroom courses, at least 9 of them on civil rights and fair housing law, within the 36 months before applying unless they held an active salesperson license through that period.

PSI delivers one integrated exam of 115 scored questions worth 120 points in 210 minutes; passing is 75%, a raw score of 90. There is no separate Michigan state portion — PSI bulletin 837 never uses the phrase — so 40 of the scored items are Michigan law and rules and the other 75 are the percentage-weighted national block. The 40 Michigan items are published as 3 on the duties and powers of the Department and the Board, 4 on licensing requirements, 15 on the statutes governing licensee activities, 5 on contractual relationships, and 13 on additional state topics. (Salespersons sit the same 115 questions for 180 minutes at 70%, a raw score of 80.) Older mirrored copies of the Michigan bulletin from 2016-2017 say 120 questions and only 6 additional-state-topic items; those are out of date.

Eighteen clock hours per license cycle — and, since 2023 PA 246 took effect on February 13, 2024, at least 2 hours of law, rules and court cases plus at least 1 hour of fair housing in every year of the cycle, with the remaining 9 hours completable at any point. Evidence must be kept for at least four years (MCL 339.2504a; R 339.22161).