Rhode Island Licensing Requirements
Area II is six scored items: what needs a license, how a license is transferred, renewed or lost, and what makes an applicant eligible.
Activities requiring a license
Section 5-20.5-1(5) defines a broker as anyone who, for a fee or with the expectation of one, lists, sells, purchases, exchanges, rents, leases, prepares an opinion of value or auctions real estate, or who advertises as doing so. A salesperson does the same acts for a broker. Regulation § 2.5 requires a salesperson to be affiliated with a principal broker and forbids a salesperson to operate, supervise or manage a brokerage; § 2.12 requires a license for property management performed for another. Section 5-20.5-2 exempts bona fide owners and lessors and their regular employees, attorneys admitted by the state supreme court, holders of a power of attorney, fiduciaries acting under court order, mass appraisers, and public officers.
Status of a license: transfer, renewal, and lapse
No license may run more than three years (§ 5-20.5-6(a)), and regulation § 2.9 sets a two-year renewal cycle on the anniversary of issue for licenses issued after 1 January 2020. A lapsed license may be reinstated with a hundred-dollar late fee, but § 5-20.5-11(b) provides that no license is renewed without examination once it has been expired beyond one year, and regulation § 2.6(C) then requires a new application. Continuing education is twenty-four clock hours per two-year period, of which at least nine are core subjects and at least three of those nine are fair housing (§ 5-20.5-6(b); regulation § 2.30).
Eligibility: recovery account, E&O insurance, and other requirements
A broker applicant must have worked full time as a salesperson for at least the two years immediately before applying and completed at least ninety approved classroom hours (§ 5-20.5-4(b)), and must name three unrelated Rhode Island residents who have known the applicant three years (§ 5-20.5-3(c)). Every licensee must carry errors and omissions insurance as a condition of retaining the license under R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-20.5-25 — not § 5-20.5-27, which is the separate rule that only a licensed broker may own an interest in a brokerage — with minimum limits of $50,000 per claim and $150,000 aggregate for an individual licensee (regulation § 2.28). The real estate recovery account pays an aggrieved person for fraud, misrepresentation or deceit up to $50,000, and no more than $50,000 on account of any one licensee (§ 5-20.5-5(a)(1), (h)); a payment automatically revokes that licensee's license until repaid with twelve percent interest.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 90 classroom hours
- Passing score
- Scaled score of 70
- Scored questions
- 140
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Rhode Island?
The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, through the Real Estate Section of its Division of Commercial Licensing, sets the qualification requirements and licenses real estate brokers and salespersons under R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 5-20.5 and regulation 230-RICR-30-20-2. A nine-member Rhode Island Real Estate Commission sits inside the Department and has a policy-making role in the examinations. The Department contracts with Pearson VUE to deliver the exams, and your license application must be filed within one year of the date you pass.
What experience and education do I need before the Rhode Island broker exam?
R.I. Gen. Laws 5-20.5-4(b) requires a broker applicant to have been engaged full time as a real estate salesperson for at least the two years immediately before applying, and to have completed at least 90 hours of approved classroom study. The 45 hours used to qualify for your salesperson license cannot be counted toward the 90, and classroom hours more than four years old do not count (230-RICR-30-20-2 s 2.7(C)). The application also needs the names of three unrelated Rhode Island residents who have known you for three years and will attest to your reputation for honesty.
How is the Rhode Island broker exam structured?
Two separately scheduled and separately scored parts: a national/general section of 80 scored items in 2.5 hours, and a Rhode Island state section of 60 scored items in 1.5 hours, so the full exam runs about four hours. Each part also carries unscored pretest items (5 national, 10 state). Scores are scaled and 70 passes at all exam levels. The state section is weighted 3% duties and obligations, 10% licensing requirements, 37% statutory requirements governing licensee activities, 30% additional topics, and 20% broker-only material.
Does Rhode Island require errors and omissions insurance?
Yes. R.I. Gen. Laws 5-20.5-25 makes carrying and maintaining errors and omissions insurance a condition of retaining a broker's or salesperson's license, and a certificate of coverage must be filed with the Department by each annual renewal date. Regulation 230-RICR-30-20-2 s 2.28 sets the minimum for an individual licensee at $50,000 per claim and $150,000 in the aggregate; if your coverage lapses you must stop all licensed activity immediately and notify the Department within five business days.
What continuing education do Rhode Island licensees need?
Twenty-four clock hours of Department-approved courses in each two-year renewal period. At least nine of the 24 must come from the listed core subjects, and at least three of those nine must be federal, Rhode Island and local fair housing law (R.I. Gen. Laws 5-20.5-6(b); 230-RICR-30-20-2 s 2.30). Licensees first licensed before 12 December 1984, and Rhode Island attorneys licensed under 5-20.5-4(d), are exempt.
Sources: https://dbr.ri.gov/real-estate-and-commercial-licensing/real-estate, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/094000.pdf, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/094001.pdf, https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-20.5/INDEX.htm, https://rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/230-30-20-2
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