Licensing Requirements
Five state items cover the route to a Tennessee broker license and the conditions for keeping it: education, experience, fingerprints, firm and branch licensure, renewal, and errors and omissions cover.
Education and Experience for the Broker Tier
Tenn. Code Ann. 62-13-303(c) requires a broker applicant to file an application with the fee under section 62-13-308, to certify 120 classroom hours in real estate taken before or after receipt of an affiliate broker license at a Commission-approved school, including 30 classroom hours covering office or brokerage management, and to prove qualifying experience. For anyone licensed as an affiliate broker after May 12, 1988, that is an active real estate license held at least 36 months, or 24 months with a baccalaureate degree with a major in real estate. Section 62-13-303(h) then requires an additional 120 classroom hours within three years of the original broker license, and 16 classroom hours every two years after that. Rule 1260-05-.12(2) bars the office or brokerage management course from counting as continuing education for affiliate brokers.
Fingerprints and Other Qualifications
Tenn. Code Ann. 62-13-303(a)(1) limits licenses to persons of good reputation for honesty, trustworthiness, integrity, and competence, and forbids denial on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Section 62-13-303(l) requires initial applicants to submit fingerprints for a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation background check, and rule 1260-01-.17 requires them in electronic format at the applicant's expense. Rule 1260-01-.17(1)(e) treats as an initial applicant any former licensee who must reapply and any person who once held an affiliate broker license but no longer holds one when applying as a broker; an inactive or retired affiliate broker license does not trigger a new set. Rule 1260-01-.01(5) sets out the appearance and documentation required where an applicant has a recent felony or theft-related conviction.
Firm Licenses, Branch Offices, and Display
Tenn. Code Ann. 62-13-309(a)(1) requires each office to have a firm license, a principal broker, and a fixed location conforming to zoning, and subdivision (d) requires a separate firm license for each branch, each under the direction and supervision of a broker licensed at that address. Section 62-13-309(e) allows only one license per licensee at a time, section 62-13-309(f) requires proof of the firm escrow account at original application and each renewal, and section 62-13-309(g) allows a principal broker to serve two firms only where both use the same physical address. Rule 1260-02-.03 requires a sign carrying the firm's registered name outside the place of business, and treats a location as a branch if it is advertised, has a registered mail drop, or solicits telephone calls. Rule 1260-02-.05 forbids using a post office box as a business location.
Renewal, Retirement, and Errors and Omissions Insurance
Tenn. Code Ann. 62-13-319(a) allows reinstatement without examination within sixty days after expiration on payment of the renewal fee and penalties. Rule 1260-01-.21(2) sets the penalty schedule, and rule 1260-01-.21(3) provides that a license expired more than one year requires reapplication, current education, and passing all required examinations. Section 62-13-318 governs temporary retirement, and reactivation requires proof of 16 classroom hours during the current renewal period. Section 62-13-112 makes errors and omissions insurance a condition of licensure for every licensee except acquisition agents; a lapse suspends the license, thirty days of complying proof restores it with no fee, and a suspension lasting more than one year is automatically revoked without further Commission action.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Tennessee Real Estate Commission (TREC)
- Exam vendor
- PSI
- Prelicensing education
- 120 classroom hours, including 30 hours covering office or brokerage management
- Passing score
- 75% on each portion
- Scored questions
- 125
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Tennessee?
The Tennessee Real Estate Commission (TREC), within the Department of Commerce and Insurance, licenses brokers and affiliate brokers under the Tennessee Real Estate Broker License Act of 1973 (Tenn. Code Ann. tit. 62, ch. 13). TREC contracts with PSI to deliver the licensing exams.
What experience do I need before the Tennessee broker exam?
Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-13-303(c) requires a broker applicant to certify 120 classroom hours in real estate, including 30 hours covering office or brokerage management, and — for anyone licensed as an affiliate broker after May 12, 1988 — to have held an active real estate license for at least 36 months, or 24 months with a baccalaureate degree with a major in real estate. Within three years of the original broker license, § 62-13-303(h) requires a further 120 classroom hours.
How is the Tennessee broker exam structured?
PSI bulletin 511 sets the broker exam at 125 scored items in two independently passed portions: a 75-item national portion scored to 80 points in 150 minutes, and a 50-item Tennessee state portion (50 points) in 90 minutes. You need 75% on each — 60 of 80 national points and 38 of 50 state items. Do not use the Affiliate Broker column printed beside it in the same bulletin; that tier is 80 national items and 40 state items at 70%.
What is on the Tennessee broker state portion?
PSI bulletin 511 sets nine areas for the Broker tier: Duties and Powers of the Real Estate Commission (6 items), Licensing Requirements (5), Advertising and Marketing (7), Broker/Affiliate Relationships (6), Handling of Documents and Record Keeping (6), Handling of Trust/Escrow Funds (7), Other Improper Activities and Consumer Protection (3), Agency and Disclosure Issues (7), and Special Areas of Practice (3). Advertising, trust and escrow funds, and agency are the joint-largest at 14% each, so most of your study time belongs in Tenn. Code Ann. tit. 62, ch. 13 and TREC rules 1260-01 and 1260-02.
Sources: https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/511, https://www.tn.gov/commerce/regboards/trec.html, https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/rules/1260/1260.htm
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