Licensing Requirements and License Maintenance
Four state items. PSI lists eight subtopics here: general licensing requirements, continuing and post-licensing education, E&O insurance, disqualifying issues, activities requiring a license, exemptions from licensure, inactive licenses, and the rules on receiving and sharing commissions.
Getting the broker license
Section 73-35-7 requires a resident broker applicant to be twenty-one (21) or over, legally domiciled in Mississippi, not an elector in another state, to have held an active salesperson's license for twelve (12) months before applying for the broker's examination, to have completed one hundred twenty (120) hours of real estate courses, to pass the broker's examination, and to clear the Section 73-35-10 background investigation (a fingerprint-based check of the state and FBI databases). An applicant who has not held an active salesperson's license for at least thirty-six (36) months must instead complete one hundred fifty (150) classroom hours in courses acceptable for degree credit at a college or university approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. A broker who qualified on the twelve-month track signs a form under penalty of perjury that he will hire no salespersons for thirty-six months. The salesperson tier is eighteen (18) years old and sixty (60) hours. MREC also requires a broker applicant to furnish a letter of reference from his bank and, if currently an active salesperson, from his present responsible broker.
Keeping it: renewal, CE and E&O
Renewal is annual or biennial in the Commission's discretion, with the annual application due no later than December 31 (Section 73-35-17(4)). A licensee who does not pay after two months' written notice of delinquency has the license automatically canceled, and that notice now goes by email to the addresses the licensee and the responsible broker have on file — a change made by SB 2748 (2026 Reg. Sess.), ch. 350. Renewal inside the grace period costs a 100% penalty. Continuing education is not less than sixteen (16) clock hours per two-year renewal (Section 73-35-18(1)); the Commission may prescribe up to eight of the sixteen; excess hours earned in the last three months of the period carry forward, capped at six. Licensees with twenty-five (25) years of Mississippi licensure who are older than sixty-five (65) are exempt. Errors-and-omissions cover is compulsory for every active individual broker, broker-salesperson and salesperson and optional for partnerships and corporations; inactive licensees are exempt (Section 73-35-16(2)-(3)). Group-policy minimums are $100,000 per claim and $100,000 annual aggregate, per licensee, with maximum deductibles of $2,500 for damages and $1,000 for defense costs.
Who needs a license, and who does not
Section 73-35-3(1) makes a broker of anyone who, for a fee or expecting one, lists, sells, buys, exchanges, rents, leases, manages or auctions real estate, negotiates any of that, or advertises or holds themselves out as doing it. One (1) act with the expectation of compensation is enough (subsection (3)). 'Real estate' includes leaseholds, timesharing and condominiums but excludes oil, gas and mineral interests (subsection (2)). Outside the chapter altogether: attorneys at law performing duties as attorneys, the holder of a duly executed power of attorney, a receiver, trustee, administrator, executor or guardian acting under court order or under a deed of trust or will, public officers performing their duties, anyone dealing exclusively in oil and gas leases and mineral rights, and a bona fide owner dealing with its own property through salaried regular employees (subsections (8) and (9)). Banks, FHA/VA-approved mortgagees and life insurance companies are carved out for their lending activity (subsections (10) and (11)). MREC Rule 8.1 requires a license for anyone other than a timeshare developer and its regular employees who sells a timeshare plan in Mississippi.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Mississippi Real Estate Commission (MREC)
- Exam vendor
- PSI
- Prelicensing education
- 120 classroom hours (150 without 36 months of active salesperson experience)
- Passing score
- 75% national (60 of 80 points) and 80% state (32 of 40 points)
- Scored questions
- 115
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Mississippi?
The Mississippi Real Estate Commission (MREC) licenses brokers and salespersons under the Real Estate Brokers License Law, Miss. Code Title 73, Chapter 35. MREC contracts with PSI to deliver the licensing exams.
What experience do I need before the Mississippi broker exam?
Miss. Code § 73-35-7 requires a resident broker applicant to be at least 21, legally domiciled in Mississippi, to have held an active salesperson license for the 12 months immediately preceding application, and to have completed 120 classroom hours of real estate courses. An applicant who has not held an active salesperson license for at least 36 months must instead complete 150 classroom hours in courses acceptable for degree credit at a college approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. MREC also requires a letter of reference from the applicant's bank.
How is the Mississippi broker exam structured?
PSI delivers 115 scored questions in two separately timed and separately scored portions: a 75-question national/general portion scored to 80 points in 2.5 hours, and a 40-question Mississippi state portion worth 40 points in 1.5 hours, 4 hours in total. You must pass each portion on its own — 75% (60 of 80 points) on the national and 80% (32 of 40 points) on the state. That 80% state cut is the strictest of any state we have measured.
What is on the Mississippi state portion?
PSI Candidate Information Bulletin 2348 publishes nine areas with their broker item counts: Powers and Duties of the Real Estate Commission (4), Licensing Requirements and License Maintenance (4), Property Condition Disclosures (6), Agency Disclosure and Duties to Parties (8), Out-of-State Brokers and Developers (3), Trust Accounts (3), Broker Responsibilities Including Supervision of Sales Associates (5), Records and Documents (4), and Advertising/Marketing/Internet (3).
Sources: https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/2348, https://www.mrec.ms.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/MREC_LICENSE_LAW_2026_REVISED-7-01-2026.pdf, https://www.mrec.ms.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/MREC_RULES_AND_REGULATIONS_REV_02-21-2025.pdf
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