Missouri Brokerage Relationships
Six items across four bullets: disclosure of agency, types of brokerage relationships permitted, agency duties and responsibilities, and dual agency. Missouri's written-agreement rule changed in 2025 and the ministerial-acts carve-out is where most of the difficulty lives.
The Written Agreement, and the 2025 Change
From 2005 to 2025 § 339.780.3 read "Before or while engaging in any acts enumerated in section 339.010." Since 28 August 2025 (L. 2025 H.B. 595 & 343 merged with H.B. 596) it reads "Before engaging" — the single-agency agreement with a buyer or tenant must now precede the act. The scope is broad: all property types, buyer or tenant, with no residential limit and no commercial exception. The required contents are only two, "a licensee's duties and responsibilities specified in section 339.740 and the terms of compensation" — Missouri requires no expiration date at all. Subsection 6 separately requires a written transaction brokerage agreement where the broker expects compensation from the assisted party, and the 2025 act added subsection 7, which requires every exclusive brokerage agreement to specify three minimum services, all concerning the handling of offers and counteroffers.
Ministerial Acts
The written agreement is required before any enumerated act "except ministerial acts defined in section 339.710," and § 339.710(19) defines those as acts "informative in nature" that "do not rise to the level which requires the creation of a brokerage relationship." The nine examples include "(c) Attending an open house and responding to questions about the property from a consumer," "(d) Setting an appointment to view property," "(f) Accompanying an appraiser, inspector, contractor, or similar third party on a visit to a property," "(h) Showing a customer through a property being sold by an owner on his or her own behalf," and "(i) Referral to another broker or service provider." So in Missouri an open house does not trigger the agreement, booking the appointment does not, and showing a for-sale-by-owner does not — but showing a listed property does, because paragraph (h) reaches only the owner-sold case.
Disclosure, Duties and Dual Agency
The broker disclosure form is narrower than the written agreement: § 339.770.1 requires it only "In a residential real estate transaction," at the earliest practicable opportunity during or following first substantial contact with a person who has not entered into a written agreement, and § 339.770.2 relieves every other licensee of the duty once such an agreement exists. Missouri's relationships are single agent (buyer's, seller's, landlord's or tenant's agent), dual agent, designated agent, subagent and transaction broker, and a designated broker may appoint affiliated licensees as designated agents to the exclusion of others (§ 339.820). A dual agent acts only with the consent of all parties, and § 339.750.4 lists five things that may not be disclosed without the consent of the client they concern, including that a seller will take less or a buyer will pay more.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Missouri Real Estate Commission (MREC)
- Prelicensing education
- 48-hour broker pre-examination course
- Passing score
- 75% on each portion
Who regulates real estate brokers in Missouri?
The Missouri Real Estate Commission (MREC), within the Division of Professional Registration, licenses brokers and salespersons and approves the pre-license education and exam.
What experience do I need before the Missouri broker exam?
Broker applicants must have held an active Missouri salesperson license for at least 24 of the 30 months immediately preceding application, and complete the 48-hour broker pre-examination course. The application must be submitted within six months of completing that course.
How is the Missouri broker exam structured?
PSI administers both portions in one 270-minute appointment: a 90-item national portion scored to 100 points in 150 minutes, and a 75-item Missouri state portion scored to 75 points in 120 minutes. You need 75% on each. The state portion is the largest of any state in this family — nearly double the 40-item salesperson state portion — and Missouri publishes a separate broker state outline. The national broker exam is scenario-based, with some items carrying more than four options and one best answer scored up to two points; the Missouri state portion is ordinary four-option multiple choice.
What is on the Missouri broker state portion?
PSI bulletin 4673 sets six areas: Licenses (7 items), Educational Requirements (2), Business Conduct and Practices (40), Disciplinary Proceedings (8), Listing, Offer, and Closing Contract Forms and Costs (12), and Brokerage Relationships (6). Business Conduct alone is 53% of the state portion, so most of your study time belongs in Chapter 339, RSMo and the Commission's rules at 20 CSR 2250-8.
What continuing education do Missouri brokers need?
Twelve hours during each two-year license period, at least three of which must be a core course the Commission designates and posts on its website. For the 2026-2028 renewal period the designated core topic is Fair Housing, so a broker taking only one core course must take Fair Housing. Broker licenses expire 30 June of each even-numbered year (salesperson licenses expire 30 September).
Sources: https://pr.mo.gov/realestate.asp, https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/4673, https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapter.aspx?chapter=339, https://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/current/20csr/20csr
In the Missouri Real Estate Broker guide: A 60-question national practice exam, with a key that explains all four options and not just the right one. Practice here stays free.