The SC Real Estate Commission and Licensing Requirements
Ten of the fifty South Carolina state items cover the Commission itself, what activities need a license, and how licenses are classified and maintained. This chapter covers the regulator, the license ladder, and the paths in and out of licensure.
The Commission and Title 40, Chapter 57
Section 40-57-10 creates the South Carolina Real Estate Commission under the administration of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Section 40-57-60 gives it power to set the qualifications for licensure and for education providers, to hold disciplinary hearings, to promulgate regulations and to set the fee schedule; subsection (B) expressly bars it from resolving disputes between licensees over the division of a commission. Section 40-57-20 makes it unlawful to act as a broker, associate or property manager without an active, valid license.
"Associate", Not "Salesperson"
2024 Act No. 204 substituted "associate" for "salesperson" throughout the chapter and "supervised licensee" for "associated licensee". The ladder now runs associate to broker to broker-in-charge, with a parallel property manager and property manager-in-charge track. Section 40-57-30(7) makes the broker-in-charge the sole broker designated to have responsibility over the actions of all supervised licensees, and Section 40-57-110(A) forbids holding two classifications at once.
Getting and Keeping a Broker License
Section 40-57-320(A)(2)(a) requires sixty hours of approved instruction, including the thirty-hour Unit III A Broker Management and thirty-hour Unit III B Brokerage Principles courses, plus five years of active associate licensure within the past seven years; a juris doctor, law degree or real estate baccalaureate or master's degree qualifies instead under subitem (b). Renewal is biennial with ten hours of continuing education, four of them in mandated topics (Section 40-57-340). Section 40-57-345, added by 2025 Act No. 27, lets an individual who was in good standing, has twenty-five or more years of South Carolina licensure and is sixty-five renew an expired license exempt from continuing education. A license not renewed lapses, and Section 40-57-110(E) cancels it if it is not reinstated by the last day of the twenty-fourth month after expiration.
Exemptions and Education Providers
Section 40-57-240 puts the chapter aside for an unlicensed owner dealing in an interest identical to his own, an attorney acting within the legal representation of a client-owner, government agencies and their employees, registered foresters where a land sale is incidental to timber, and court-appointed receivers and trustees. Article 9 governs education: Section 40-57-920(A) requires providers and instructors to apply on prescribed forms with the fee, and approval "must be attained prior to commencement of instruction", while subsection (B) lets the commission deny, reprimand, fine, suspend or revoke an approval.
State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- South Carolina Real Estate Commission (LLR)
- Exam vendor
- PSI
- Prelicensing education
- 150 hours total (90 associate + 60 broker Unit III A/B)
- Passing score
- 60 of 80 points national; 36 of 50 state
Who regulates real estate brokers in South Carolina?
The South Carolina Real Estate Commission, within the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR), licenses brokers and associates. (2024 Act No. 204 replaced the term "salesperson" with "associate" throughout Title 40, Chapter 57.) The Commission contracts with PSI to deliver the exams.
What experience do I need before the South Carolina broker exam?
Under S.C. Code § 40-57-320(A)(2)(a), a broker applicant takes 60 hours of approved instruction — the 30-hour Unit III A Broker Management and 30-hour Unit III B Brokerage Principles courses — and must have five years of active associate licensure within the past seven years, on top of the 90 associate hours. An applicant holding a juris doctor, a law degree, or a real estate baccalaureate or master's degree qualifies instead under subitem (b) without the experience requirement.
How is the South Carolina broker exam structured?
PSI delivers a 75-item national portion scored to 80 points (120 minutes) and a 50-item South Carolina state portion worth 50 points (80 minutes). Passing is published as points correct, not a percentage: 60 of 80 on the national portion and 36 of 50 on the state portion, and you must pass both.
Sources: https://llr.sc.gov/re/, https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/440, https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t40c057.php
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