License Practice: Supervision, Compensation, Advertising and Price Opinions
Area IV is 20% of the broker state portion, down from 24% for salespersons, and has seven printed subtopics. It is where Nevada's permit-and-certificate structure, its broker supervision rule and its advertising regulations are tested.
Activities requiring a license, a permit, or a certificate
NRS 645.260 makes a single act done for another for compensation, or with the expectation of it, enough to put a person in the capacity of a broker or salesperson. Beyond the license, Nevada layers three add-on credentials, and it uses two different nouns for them. NRS 645.863 issues a PERMIT to engage in business as a business broker, on proof of at least 24 hours of business brokerage instruction. NRS 645.6052 issues a PERMIT to engage in property management, on proof of at least 24 classroom hours of property management instruction, renewable with at least 3 continuing education hours in the field. NRS 116A.400(1) is the odd one out and is worded flatly: "a person shall not act as a community manager unless the person holds a certificate." Business broker and property manager are permits; the community manager credential is a certificate. NRS 645.6054 and NRS 645.865 add that a partnership, corporation or limited-liability company may not engage in either regulated activity unless the person it designates holds the relevant permit.
Broker supervision of licensees
NAC 645.600(1) requires every broker to teach associated licensees the fundamentals and ethics of the practice and to supervise their activities, the employees, and the operation of the business. Subsection 2 defines supervision as establishing policies, rules, procedures and systems that let the broker review, oversee and manage the transactions performed by associated licensees, documents materially affecting a party's rights, the filing and storage of those documents, money received on the broker's behalf, advertising, and the licensees' familiarity with federal and state law including the prohibitions on discrimination. Subsection 3 requires the broker to size that system to the number of licensees, employees and branch offices. Subsection 4 requires a monitoring system and permits a broker-salesperson to help administer it "so long as the real estate broker does not relinquish overall responsibility." NAC 645.665 forbids the sole broker in an office from being absent for 30 days or more unless the license is inactivated or the Division is notified in advance, and requires an office manager designated under NAC 645.178 or other arrangements approved in advance; NAC 645.178 lets a broker-salesperson with 2 years of active experience in the preceding 4 act as that manager on notice to the Division.
Commissions and other compensation
NRS 645.280(1) makes it unlawful to give or pay, directly or indirectly, any part of a commission, compensation or finder's fee from a real estate transaction to a person who is not a licensed broker, broker-salesperson or salesperson in consideration of services performed - with one exception in the next sentence: "A licensed real estate broker may pay a commission to a licensed broker of another state." Subsection 2 forbids a broker-salesperson or salesperson from being associated with or accepting compensation from anyone other than the broker or owner-developer under whom he or she is licensed at the time of the transaction, and subsection 3 forbids paying a commission except through that broker. NRS 645.630(1)(c) makes accepting a commission from anyone else a ground for discipline, NRS 645.633(1)(c) does the same for paying an unlicensed person, and NRS 645.633(1)(g) reaches any undisclosed commission, rebate or direct profit on expenditures made for a client. NRS 645.270 bars a person acting as a broker or salesperson from suing in Nevada for compensation without alleging and proving licensed status.
Advertising, electronic and print
NRS 645.315(1) requires a licensee advertising licensed services to include his or her license number and to name the brokerage; subsection 2 forbids a broker-salesperson or salesperson from advertising solely under his or her own name, requiring all advertising to be under the direct supervision of and in the name of the brokerage. NAC 645.610 adds that an advertisement must not be false or misleading; that the brokerage name must be "clearly identified with prominence," judged by type style, size, color and placement; that the license number must appear conspicuously; that no advertisement may refer to a property exclusively listed by another broker without that broker's prior written consent; and that a licensee may not use his or her name or telephone number with the words "for sale by owner" or "for lease by owner" unless the licensee has an ownership interest and the advertisement says "owner-broker" or "owner-agent" or substantially similar words. Franchise advertising must carry the name the broker is licensed under and an acknowledgment that each office is independently owned and operated. "Advertisement" is defined to include unsolicited print, brochures, flyers, radio, television, unsolicited email, social media, the internet, billboards, signs, business cards, stationery and transaction forms. NAC 645.611 permits "team" or "group" only where the members are more than one licensee employed by the same broker and the name carries the name and license number of at least one member.
Broker price opinions and the handling of monies
NRS 645.2515 lets an active licensee in good standing prepare and charge for a broker's price opinion for a seller, a buyer, a third party doing due diligence, or an existing or potential lienholder - with the qualification that an opinion prepared for a lienholder "may not be used in lieu of an appraisal for the purpose of determining whether to approve a mortgage loan." Subsection 3 lists the required contents, including the intended purpose, a description of the property and interest, the basis used with market data and any capitalisation computation, assumptions and limiting conditions, the date of issuance, disclosure of every preparing licensee's interest, each preparer's license number, name and signature, and a disclaimer in at least 14-point bold type that the opinion is not an appraisal. On money, NAC 645.657 requires a licensee who receives a deposit to pay it over to the broker, owner-developer or designated escrow within 1 business day after receiving a fully executed contract, and NRS 645.310(2) states the same duty as "promptly"; NRS 645.630(1)(k) gives the broker until the end of the next banking day to bank it, unless the purchase agreement provides otherwise. NAC 645.660 forbids depositing money with an escrow company in which the licensee or an associate has an interest without disclosing that to all parties.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Nevada Real Estate Division (NRED)
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 64 college credits, including a 45-hour (3-credit) Broker Management course and 45 hours (3 credits) of real estate law with at least 18 hours of Nevada law
- Passing score
- 75% (each portion scored separately)
- Scored questions
- 130
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Nevada?
The Nevada Real Estate Division (NRED), within the Department of Business and Industry, licenses brokers and salespersons under NRS Chapter 645, and the Nevada Real Estate Commission adopts the regulations and imposes discipline. NRED contracts with Pearson VUE to deliver the licensing exams; Nevada no longer uses PSI, so a PSI bulletin found for Nevada is out of date.
What experience do I need before the Nevada broker exam?
Under NRS 645.330(4), a broker applicant must have been actively engaged full time as a licensed real estate broker-salesperson or salesperson in Nevada, or as a licensed broker, broker-salesperson or salesperson in another state or the District of Columbia, for at least 2 of the 4 years immediately preceding issuance of the broker's license. Education is separate: NRS 645.343 requires 64 semester units of college-level course work, including three semester units (45 hours) in broker management and three units in real estate law with at least 18 classroom hours of Nevada law. NRS 645.343(4) grants 16 semester units of credit for each 2 years of licensed experience in the preceding 10 years, up to 8 years, but that credit cannot be applied against the broker management course or the 18 hours of Nevada law.
How is the Nevada broker exam structured?
Pearson VUE's Nevada candidate handbook lists the Broker Combination exam as 130 scored items in 240 minutes: an 80-item national/general portion in 150 minutes and a 50-item Nevada state portion in 90 minutes. Each portion also carries 5 to 10 unscored pretest items inside the same clock. You need 75% correct to pass, and the two portions are scored separately — pass one and fail the other and you retake only the failed part, within 12 months.
What does the Nevada state portion actually test?
Pearson VUE publishes the Nevada outline (effective 15 January 2025) as percentages rather than item counts, with a separate percentage for salespersons and for brokers. For brokers the 50 state items are weighted: Duties and Powers of the Commission 5%, Licensing Requirements 5%, Agency and Duties Owed 20%, License Practice 20%, Disclosures 15%, Contracts 22%, Record Keeping 8%, and Special Topics 5%. Five subtopics are marked "Broker Only" — branch offices and license display, cooperative certificates, inspection of records, trust account records and management, and subdivisions. Record keeping is 8% for brokers against 3% for salespersons, while disclosures drops from 20% to 15%.
Sources: https://red.nv.gov, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/092900.pdf, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/092901.pdf, https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-645.html, https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NAC/NAC-645.html
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