Licensing
The outline gives this area 15 to 17 of the 90 state items across five subtopics: when a license is required, licensing and examination procedures, license maintenance through RELMS, reporting requirements, and the form and display of the license.
License Required and Who Is Exempt
Section 61-2f-201(1) makes it unlawful for an unlicensed person to engage in the business of a principal broker, associate broker, or sales agent, to act in that capacity, or to advertise or assume to act as one. Section 61-2f-202 then lists the exemptions. Subsection (2)(a)(i) covers a person who as owner or lessor acts as to real estate that person owns or leases, but Subsection (1) removes from the word owner an option holder, a mortgagee, a beneficiary or trustee under a deed of trust, and anyone holding a claim that encumbers the property. Subsection (2)(a)(iii) exempts a regular salaried employee who manages real estate the employer owns, but only for one employer. Subsection (2)(b)(i) pulls the exemption back for an employee selling under Title 57, Chapter 11, the Utah Uniform Land Sales Practices Act, or Title 57, Chapter 19, the Timeshare and Camp Resort Act. Subsection (3) exempts an isolated transaction under an unsolicited power of attorney, an attorney practicing law, and a receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, administrator, executor, or individual acting under court order.
Education, Experience, and the Examination
Rule R162-2f-202b(1)(c)(i) requires a broker applicant to complete 120 hours of approved prelicensing education made up of 45 hours of broker principles, 45 hours of broker practices, and 30 hours of Utah law and testing. Section 61-2f-203(1)(f)(i) requires three years' full-time experience as a sales agent or the equivalent, and Rule R162-2f-202b(1)(f)(i) supplies the equivalent: within the five years before application, either three years of full-time licensed active experience, or two years of it plus one year of full-time professional real estate experience from the Appendix 3 table. Subsection (1)(f)(ii) adds a minimum of 60 documented experience points, submitted in a package of no fewer than 60 and no more than 80, with at least 45 of the 60 complying fully with the agency requirements of Rule R162-2f-401a and at least half of the Table 1 and Table 2 points drawn from Utah properties. Under Rule R162-2f-202b(5), a candidate who passes one examination component and fails the other must pass the failed one within six months of the passed component and within 12 months of completing the education, and must apply within 90 days of passing both.
Maintenance, RELMS, and Reporting
Rule R162-2f-204(1)(a) makes a license valid for two years, and Section 61-2f-204(2)(a)(ii) requires 18 hours of continuing education in each two-year renewal period. Rule R162-2f-204(2)(b)(ii)(A) requires at least nine of those hours to be core curriculum, three of which are the Mandatory 3-Hour CE Course. Section 61-2f-204(2)(b) allows reinstatement for 30 days after expiration, Subsection (2)(c) until one year after expiration, and Subsection (2)(d) requires a full original application after that. Rule R162-2f-203(2)(a) activates an inactive license on proof of 18 hours of continuing education in the preceding two years or a licensing examination passed within the previous six months. Reporting runs on two clocks that both use business days: Section 61-2f-207(1) requires notice within 10 business days of a change of principal broker, business location, mailing address, home street address, individual name, or business name, and Section 61-2f-301(1) requires notice within 10 business days of a bankruptcy filing by a principal broker, a professional license action in any jurisdiction, or a cease and desist order or injunction. Section 61-2f-205 keeps the license itself simple: the licensee's name and address, the seal of the state, and anything else the division prescribes.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Utah Division of Real Estate (Dept. of Commerce)
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 120 hours (30-hour Utah Law + 45-hour Broker Principles + 45-hour Broker Practices)
- Passing score
- Scaled score of 75 on each portion (not a percentage)
- Scored questions
- 170
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Utah?
The Utah Division of Real Estate, within the Department of Commerce, licenses brokers, associate brokers and sales agents under the Real Estate Licensing and Practices Act (Utah Code Title 61, Chapter 2f) and the R162-2f rules. The Division contracts with Pearson VUE to deliver the licensing exams.
What experience do I need before the Utah broker exam?
Utah Code § 61-2f-203(1)(f) requires three years' full-time experience as a sales agent or the equivalent. Rule R162-2f-202b(1)(f) defines the equivalent and adds a second test: within the five years before you apply, either three years of full-time licensed active experience, or two years of it plus one year of full-time professional real estate experience from the rule's Appendix 3 table, AND at least 60 documented experience points, submitted in a package of 60 to 80 points, with at least half of the Table 1 and Table 2 points from Utah properties. The education is 120 hours of approved broker prelicensing (45 Broker Principles, 45 Broker Practices, 30 Utah Law).
How is the Utah broker exam structured?
170 scored questions in two separately scored portions: an 80-question national/general portion and a 90-question Utah state portion, taken in one 4-hour session, plus 5 unidentified pretest items on the national portion and 5 to 10 on the state portion. The Utah broker state portion is nearly twice the 50-item salesperson state portion, so salesperson material does not cover it. You must pass both portions; if you pass one and fail the other, Rule R162-2f-202b(5) gives you six months from the passed component to retake and pass the failed one.
What score do I need to pass the Utah broker exam?
A scaled score of 75 on the general portion and 75 on the state portion. The Pearson VUE candidate handbook is explicit that this is a scaled score and that the number reported to you "is neither the number of questions you answered correctly nor the percentage of questions you answered correctly" — so 75 is not 75%. Salesperson candidates are held to 70 on each portion.
What does the Utah broker state portion actually test?
Pearson VUE's Utah broker outline (document #094502, state outline effective July 15, 2016) divides the 90 state items into eight areas, each published as a range: Definitions (5-7), Licensing (15-17), Licensee Practice (33-35), Disciplinary Action (9-11), Real Estate Recovery Fund (2-3), Additional Utah State Topics (8-10), Property Management (4-6) and Closing Statements (6-8). Licensee Practice alone is about a third of the state exam, and its heaviest subtopic is the role of the broker — supervision and trust accounts.
Sources: https://realestate.utah.gov, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/094502.pdf, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/094500.pdf, https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title61/Chapter2F/61-2f.html, https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/rule/R162-2f/Current%20Rules
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