Duties and Powers of the New Jersey Real Estate Commission
PSI bulletin 1663 gives this area three of the forty New Jersey items and prints only two subtopics under it: maintenance of records, and sanctions (fines, and license suspension and revocation). It is a small area, and the exam tests it narrowly.
Which Commission records are public, and which are not
N.J.A.C. 11:5-1.5 lets the public request records of any Commission function by writing to realestate@dobi.nj.gov or to the Commission at PO Box 328, Trenton. Subsection (g) then withholds a specific list: criminal complaints, indictments and judgments of conviction submitted with an application; records obtained as the result of a criminal history check; bankruptcy and assignment-for-creditors pleadings submitted on the question of unworthiness; orders of suspension or revocation from other licensing authorities submitted with an application; records concerning a licensee's medical disability; records of an ongoing investigation, or a completed one that produced no formal disciplinary action; and personal data including home address, home telephone number, date of birth and Social Security number. Ordinary licensing facts — who is licensed, under which broker, at what business address, for which two-year term — are not on that list and are published.
Sanctions and the money side of discipline
The Commission may deny, suspend or revoke a license and may impose monetary penalties under N.J.S.A. 45:15-17, and the rules route particular failures into that section by name. N.J.A.C. 11:5-4.1(g) is the clearest example: the Commission will not further investigate a bare complaint that a broker did not pay a salesperson once the broker has met the written-agreement and accounting requirements, but if the salesperson secures an arbitration decision or a court judgment and the broker does not pay it within 30 days of its effective date, the broker is subject to sanctions under N.J.S.A. 45:15-17. Discipline also reaches conduct the rules label as unworthiness, bad faith and dishonesty — N.J.A.C. 11:5-7.2(a) applies exactly those words to a licensee who solicits or accepts a fee or thing of value for referring a client to a lender or other service provider.
What the Commission is, and where it sits
The Commission is part of the Department of Banking and Insurance, not a free-standing agency, and it contracts with PSI to deliver the licensing examinations. It licenses schools and instructors as well as brokers, broker-salespersons and salespersons, and it prescribes the forms licensees must use — the Consumer Information Statement is a Commission form, which is why the Commission was able to replace its text by bulletin in 2024 without amending the rule that contains it.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- New Jersey Real Estate Commission (NJREC)
- Exam vendor
- PSI
- Prelicensing education
- 150 hours of broker prelicensure education (a 90-hour general course first, then two 30-hour courses)
- Passing score
- 70% (PSI bulletin 1663: “70% (84 correct)”)
- Scored questions
- 115
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in New Jersey?
The New Jersey Real Estate Commission (NJREC), within the Department of Banking and Insurance, licenses brokers, broker-salespersons and salespersons. NJREC contracts with PSI to deliver the licensing exams.
What experience do I need before the New Jersey broker exam?
Broker candidates must have worked three years on a full-time basis as a salesperson and completed the 150 hours of broker prelicensure education. The order matters: the 90-hour general course must be completed first, then the two 30-hour courses, and only then may the experience approval application go to NJREC with its $25 fee. PSI will not seat a broker candidate until the Commission has approved that experience.
How is the New Jersey broker exam structured?
It is one integrated 115-question computer-based exam in a single 4-hour session, covering the national/general body of knowledge and New Jersey law together, plus 5 to 10 unscored experimental items. The pass mark is 70%, which PSI's bulletin states as 84 correct; the 115 questions are worth 120 points because some national broker items score up to two points.
Is there a separate New Jersey state score I have to pass?
No. New Jersey uses one integrated exam with a single pass mark, so unlike states that score the national and state halves separately, there is no state-only cut score to clear. In practice a candidate can do poorly on New Jersey law and still pass on national strength — which is exactly why the 40 New Jersey items are worth studying rather than gambling on.
Sources: https://www.nj.gov/dobi/division_rec/index.htm, https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/1663
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