Licensing Requirements
Area II is worth 9 of the 44 state items: which activities need a license, who is eligible, the three license types, renewal and fees, active and inactive status, and education.
Activities requiring a license, and the exemptions
RCW 18.85.331 makes it unlawful to act as a broker, managing broker, or real estate firm without a license, and bars any suit for compensation unless the plaintiff pleads and proves he was licensed 'before the time of offering to perform any real estate transaction or procuring any promise or contract for the payment of compensation.' RCW 18.85.151 lists the exemptions: owners dealing for their own account, an attorney-in-fact acting without compensation, attorneys practicing law, court-appointed fiduciaries, office personnel who perform no licensable act, government right-of-way staff, self-storage operators, pure referrers whose pay is not contingent on the licensee's, and — the one most often tested — unlicensed property management assistants whose work is limited to delivering or receiving documents and payments, showing rental units or executing leases under direct instruction, giving information, and administrative or maintenance tasks.
Three names on one ladder
A Broker is the entry license and is supervised. A Managing Broker has met additional experience and education and may supervise, but under RCW 18.85.111(3) may be licensed to only one firm at a time. A Designated Broker is the managing broker a firm designates as legally responsible for it; RCW 18.85.121 requires a managing broker license and expressly allows one person to serve as designated broker for more than one firm, with an endorsement naming every firm. RCW 18.85.091 makes designating one a condition of the firm license. There is no separate designated broker examination. A branch office needs a branch manager who is a managing broker (RCW 18.85.241).
Eligibility and education
For the entry Broker license RCW 18.85.101 requires 90 hours — a 60-hour Fundamentals course including three hours of fair housing and consumer protection, plus a 30-hour Practices course — completed within two years before the examination. For the managing broker license RCW 18.85.111 requires three years of licensed experience as a full-time broker within the previous five years, plus 90 further clock hours that must include brokerage management, business management, and advanced real estate law; WAC 308-124A-750 requires each of those to be at least thirty hours with a comprehensive examination, completed within three years of applying. WAC 308-124A-713 supplies the alternative routes for applicants without the three years: a real estate major plus one year as a licensed broker, one year as a real estate attorney, or five years as a licensed mortgage broker, escrow agent, appraiser, or corporate property manager.
Renewal, fees, and license status
An individual license expires two years from issuance (RCW 18.85.191); a late application draws a penalty fee, and a license whose renewal fee is not received within one year of expiration is canceled, after which a new license must be obtained. Renewal requires 30 clock hours of approved instruction every two years (RCW 18.85.211), including three hours of prescribed core curriculum and the prescribed Washington fair housing curriculum, with at least fifteen of the thirty taken within twenty-four months of the renewal date and up to fifteen surplus hours carried forward (WAC 308-124A-790). The first active renewal of a broker's license is heavier: 90 hours including real estate law and advanced practices (WAC 308-124A-785). An inactive license is one delivered to the director; it may be renewed without the education, but no brokerage services may be performed, and after three years inactive the holder must complete a 30-hour course within the year before applying for active status (RCW 18.85.265).
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL)
- Exam vendor
- PSI
- Prelicensing education
- 90 clock hours beyond the broker license — advanced real estate law, brokerage management and business management, each at least 30 hours — plus 3 years of full-time Washington broker experience
- Passing score
- Scaled score of 75 on each portion (the entry Broker exam passes at 70)
- Scored questions
- 134
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Washington?
The Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) regulates real estate licensees under chapter 18.85 RCW; the real estate commission created by RCW 18.85.021 is the director plus six governor-appointed members who act in an advisory capacity. Note Washington's tiered naming: the entry-level license is called 'broker,' while the supervisory tier is 'managing broker.' DOL contracts with PSI to deliver both exams.
What experience do I need before the Washington managing broker exam?
RCW 18.85.111 requires three years of licensed experience as a full-time real estate broker in Washington or a comparable jurisdiction, obtained within the five years before you apply, plus 90 clock hours of instruction that must include advanced real estate law, real estate brokerage management and business management. WAC 308-124A-750 requires each of those courses to run at least 30 hours, carry a comprehensive examination and be completed within three years of applying; WAC 308-124A-713 sets out alternative routes for applicants qualifying by practical experience in an allied business.
How is the Washington managing broker exam structured?
PSI bulletin 4658 gives the managing broker exam a national portion of 90 scored items worth 100 points in 150 minutes and a Washington state portion of 44 scored items worth 48 points in 90 minutes — 134 scored items in 240 minutes together, plus 5 to 10 unscored experimental questions. The state items are not all worth one point: the four 'Scenarios in Real Estate Practice' items are worth two points each, which is why 44 items carry 48 points, and that block appears only on the managing broker exam. The portions are scored separately, you must attain a scaled score of 75 on each, and a passing portion is valid for six months while you complete the other. The entry Broker exam is 100 national plus 30 state items and passes at 70.
Sources: https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/4658, https://dol.wa.gov/professional-licenses/real-estate-managing-brokers, https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=18.85, https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=18.86
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