Iowa Real Estate Salesperson Exam — All Questions

Which best describes Iowa's education path for a newly licensed salesperson?

• a.Approved pre-license education and the licensing exam first, followed by required post-license education completed within the first year of licensure✓
• b.A four-year college degree in real estate
• c.A single continuing-education seminar with no exam
• d.Only on-the-job training with no coursework

Iowa requires a candidate to complete approved pre-license coursework and pass the licensing examination, then complete additional post-license education within the first 12 months of holding the license. New salespersons must also be associated with a licensed broker. After licensure, ongoing continuing education is required to renew.

To be eligible to sit for the Iowa real estate salesperson licensing examination, an applicant must complete how many hours of real estate principles and practices, and within what window?

• a.30 hours, completed within 24 months of the exam
• b.60 hours, completed within the 12 months before the exam✓
• c.90 hours of classroom instruction within the past 12 months
• d.60 hours, completed any time before the exam

Iowa requires 60 live-instruction or online-learning hours of real estate principles and practices, completed during the 12 months prior to taking the examination; the prelicense education expires after 12 months. Cite: Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—2004.1(7) (ARC 7766C, effective 5/22/2024).

An Iowa real estate salesperson license issued in June is valid until:

• a.June 30 of the third year, exactly three years later
• b.December 31 of the year following the year of issue
• c.the last day of its 36th month
• d.December 31 of the third year of the license term✓

A salesperson license is issued for a three-year term, counting the remaining portion of the year issued as a full year, and expires on December 31 of the third year. Cite: Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—2004.3(2).

Continuing education required of an Iowa salesperson renewing on active status is:

• a.36 hours total: 8 law update, 4 ethics, 24 electives✓
• b.24 hours: 4 law update, 4 ethics, 16 electives
• c.36 hours: 4 law update and 8 ethics hours
• d.30 hours: 8 law update, 4 ethics, 18 electives

Each salesperson must complete a minimum of 36 approved hours over the three-year renewal cycle, of which 8 must be Law Update and 4 must be Ethics. Cite: Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—2004.4(2) (ARC 9246C, effective 6/18/2025).

An Iowa salesperson completes 50 continuing education hours in a cycle that requires 36. What may be carried into the next renewal period?

• a.All 14 surplus hours, in any subject the licensee chose to take
• b.Up to 18 hours, which may include the mandatory law update course
• c.Up to 18 elective hours; none toward law update or ethics✓
• d.Nothing at all; surplus hours expire at the end of every cycle

Licensees may apply up to 50 percent of the required hours — a maximum of 18 — to the following renewal period, but no hours may be carried over toward the mandatory eight-hour law update course or the four-hour ethics course. Cite: Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—2004.4(1).

An Iowa salesperson's renewal application arrives January 12, after the December 31 expiration. The commission requires:

• a.the regular renewal fee, and nothing more
• b.the regular renewal fee plus a $25 late penalty✓
• c.a $100 reinstatement fee in addition to the renewal fee
• d.retaking the licensing examination

Iowa allows renewal within a 30-day grace period after expiration; an application received after midnight December 31 but before midnight January 30 must be accompanied by a $25 penalty. Cite: Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—2004.5(2)“b”; Iowa Code § 543B.28.

An Iowa salesperson license expired and was not renewed by January 30. The former licensee may reinstate it:

• a.within three years of expiration, paying $25 per month✓
• b.only by reapplying as a brand-new applicant, at any time
• c.within one year of expiration, with no additional fee
• d.at any time, once the missing continuing education is done

Reinstatement is available within three years of expiration on a complete application with the regular renewal fee plus a reinstatement fee of $25 for each partial or full month following expiration. The licensee may not practice between expiration and reinstatement. Cite: Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—2004.6.

A salesperson who does not reinstate an expired Iowa license by December 31 of the third year after expiration is:

• a.placed on inactive status until fees are paid
• b.granted an automatic two-year extension
• c.allowed to reinstate after a law update course
• d.treated as never having been licensed and must start over✓

Such a former salesperson is treated as if never licensed in Iowa and must start over in the licensing process. Cite: Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—2004.6(3).

Iowa rejects and returns a salesperson license application if the applicant's FBI criminal history check was not completed within how many days before the application is received?

• a.120 calendar days
• b.180 calendar days
• c.210 calendar days✓
• d.365 calendar days

An applicant for an initial license is subject to a national criminal history check; unless it was completed within the 210 calendar days before the commission receives the application, the commission must reject and return the application. Cite: Iowa Code § 543B.15(9); Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—2004.3.

An Iowa license applicant was convicted of embezzlement. The commission will not consider the application until how long after the sentence is completed?

• a.Five years✓
• b.Six months
• c.Four years
• d.Nine years

Iowa imposes a five-year wait for a felony or an offense involving forgery, embezzlement, obtaining money under false pretenses, theft, arson, extortion, conspiracy to defraud, or another criminal breach of fiduciary duty; other offenses involving moral turpitude carry a one-year wait, after which the application may still be denied on the merits. Cite: Iowa Code § 543B.15(3).

Iowa's mandatory errors and omissions coverage for an active real estate licensee must carry a per-claim limit of at least:

• a.$50,000, with defense costs inside the limit
• b.$100,000, with defense costs paid in addition✓
• c.$300,000, with defense costs paid in addition to damages
• d.$1 million, with defense costs inside the limit

The commission's minimum terms require a per-claim limit of not less than $100,000 and an annual aggregate of not less than $100,000, applied per licensee per claim, with defense costs payable in addition to damages. Cite: Iowa Code § 543B.47; Iowa Admin. Code r. 481—2019.2(4).