State-portion supplement to the national real estate manuscript. This chapter covers the Mississippi law, rules, and practices tested on the state portion of the Mississippi Real Estate Salesperson examination. The national chapters cover the general principles (contracts, agency theory, financing, valuation, federal law) that make up the rest of the exam.
How to use this chapter. Real estate licensing is a "your-money-or-your-life" (YMYL) subject: getting a rule wrong can cost a consumer their home or a licensee their livelihood. Wherever a specific number appears — a fee, a course-hour count, a renewal interval, a passing score — treat it as a moving target and verify the current figure with the Mississippi Real Estate Commission (MREC) before you rely on it. The rules below (does a form exist, is dual agency allowed, is there a transfer tax) are stable and are stated affirmatively. The numbers attached to those rules change by legislation and rulemaking, and are flagged accordingly.
1. The licensing authority: the Mississippi Real Estate Commission (MREC)
Real estate licensing in Mississippi is administered by the Mississippi Real Estate Commission (MREC). The Commission is the state agency created by, and charged with enforcing, the Mississippi Real Estate Brokers License Act of 1954 (codified at Miss. Code Ann. § 73-35-1 and following) together with the Commission's own administrative rules and regulations.
MREC's authority is broad and covers the full life cycle of a license. The Commission:
- Issues, renews, and denies real estate licenses (salesperson and broker).
- Sets and enforces the education, examination, and character requirements for licensure.
- Promulgates the rules that govern how licensees advertise, handle client money, disclose agency relationships, and conduct transactions.
- Investigates complaints against licensees and disciplines them — through reprimand, fine, suspension, or revocation — after a hearing.
- Approves the official forms licensees must use, most notably the Property Condition Disclosure Statement and the agency-relationship (Working with a Real Estate Broker) disclosure.
The Commission is composed of appointed members and administers the licensing examination through a contracted testing vendor. For exam purposes, remember the chain of authority: the Legislature writes the License Act → MREC writes the rules that implement it → MREC enforces both against licensees. When a test question asks "who has the power to suspend a license" or "who approves the disclosure form," the answer is the Mississippi Real Estate Commission, not a court, not the county, and not a private trade association such as the Mississippi REALTORS®.
A trade association (for example, a local Board of REALTORS® or the National Association of REALTORS®) is a private membership body with a code of ethics. It is not a government agency and cannot issue, suspend, or revoke a state license. Only MREC does that.
2. License structure and the entry-license name
Mississippi issues real estate licenses in two principal levels for individuals:
- Salesperson — the entry-level license. This is the license a newcomer earns first. In Mississippi the entry license is called a Real Estate Salesperson license (often just "salesperson"). A salesperson may perform licensed real estate activity — listing, showing, negotiating, and handling transactions — only under the supervision of a licensed broker. A salesperson may never operate independently and may never hold client funds in their own name.
- Broker — the higher license. A broker may operate independently, own a brokerage, employ or affiliate salespersons, and maintain the trust (escrow) account. Advancing from salesperson to broker requires additional experience and education (see the affiliation and education sections below).
Mississippi also recognizes a broker-salesperson (a person who holds broker-level qualifications but chooses to work under another broker) and issues non-resident licenses to qualified applicants licensed in other states, as well as firm/company licenses for the brokerage entity itself. For the salesperson exam, the single most important structural facts are:
- The entry license is the Salesperson license.
- A salesperson must always be affiliated with, and supervised by, a licensed broker.
When Mississippi first licenses a salesperson, the initial license is typically issued as a temporary/probationary salesperson license that must be converted to a permanent license by completing post-license education within a set window (see § 3). Verify the current temporary-license window and conversion rules with MREC, as this is exactly the kind of detail the Commission adjusts by rule.
3. Education requirements: pre-license, post-license, and continuing education
Mississippi's education requirements come in three stages. Every hour count below is a changeable number — confirm the current requirement with MREC.
Pre-license education
Before sitting for the salesperson examination, an applicant must complete a Commission-approved pre-license course. As a study anchor, this has historically been 60 classroom hours for the salesperson level — verify the current pre-license hour requirement with MREC. The point that is stable and testable is that pre-license education is mandatory and must be completed at a Commission-approved school before the exam, not after.
The examination
The applicant must pass the Mississippi licensing examination, which has a national (general) portion and a state-law portion. Both portions must be passed. The passing score is a changeable figure — verify the current passing score and exam format with MREC (and with the Commission's testing vendor). The examination is administered by a contracted testing provider on MREC's behalf.
Post-license education
Mississippi is a mandatory post-license state. After the initial (temporary) salesperson license is issued, the new licensee must complete a post-license course within the first year to keep the license active and convert it to permanent status. As a study anchor, the post-license requirement has historically been 30 hours, completed within 12 months of issuance of the temporary license, with a large share of those hours devoted to core practice subjects (agency relationships, contracts, earnest money, antitrust, fair housing, ethics, and property-condition disclosure). Verify the current post-license hour count and completion deadline with MREC.
The stable, affirmative rule: a Mississippi salesperson who does not complete post-license education on time can lose the ability to renew/keep the license. Do not let the temporary license lapse.
Continuing education (CE)
To renew an existing license, a Mississippi licensee must complete continuing education during each renewal cycle. As a study anchor, CE has historically been on the order of 16 hours per renewal cycle, including required core/law content — verify the current CE hour requirement and mandatory topics with MREC.
Renewal cycle
Mississippi licenses are renewed on a fixed periodic cycle (a resident license renews on a set schedule, historically every two years). Verify the current renewal interval, renewal fee, and any late/reinstatement penalties with MREC. The stable rule: a license must be actively renewed on time; practicing on an expired license is prohibited.
Basic eligibility
Applicants must meet the minimum age and honesty/good-character requirements set by the License Act, and must be a high-school graduate or the equivalent. Verify the current minimum age and any residency or background-check specifics with MREC.
4. Broker affiliation: the salesperson works under a broker
This is one of the most heavily tested state concepts, and the rule is stable:
- A salesperson's license has no independent power. It is only active when the salesperson is affiliated with a licensed Mississippi broker (the "responsible" or principal broker), whose license the salesperson works under.
- The broker is legally responsible for the acts of the affiliated salespersons within the scope of the brokerage business and for the supervision of those salespersons.
- All compensation for a salesperson's licensed activity flows through the affiliated broker. A salesperson may not accept a commission or referral fee directly from a buyer, seller, or another brokerage. The broker pays the salesperson; the client or cooperating broker pays the broker.
- When a salesperson changes brokers, the license must be transferred through MREC (the license does not simply travel with the salesperson automatically) and the previous broker's supervision ends. Verify the current transfer procedure and any fee with MREC.
- A salesperson cannot maintain a trust/escrow account. Client money is held in the broker's trust account (see § 7).
If an exam question describes a salesperson depositing earnest money into their own personal account, negotiating a side commission directly with a seller, or "hanging their own shingle" without a broker, each of those is a violation — the salesperson has no authority to act independently.
5. Mississippi agency law and the required agency-relationship disclosure
Agency — the fiduciary relationship between a licensee and the client the licensee represents — is governed in Mississippi by the License Act and MREC's agency rules. The exam tests both the substance of agency and the disclosure the rules require.
Agency relationships recognized in Mississippi
- Seller agency / listing agency — the licensee represents the seller.
- Buyer agency — the licensee represents the buyer.
- Dual agency — the licensee (or the licensee's firm) represents both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction. Dual agency is permitted in Mississippi only with the informed, written consent of both parties. A dual agent must remain neutral and may not advantage one party over the other or disclose confidential information (such as the highest price a buyer will pay or the lowest a seller will take).
- Designated agency — the principal broker designates one affiliated licensee to represent the buyer and a different affiliated licensee to represent the seller within the same firm, so that each client has an advocate even though the firm is on both sides. Mississippi's rules recognize designated agency as a way to manage in-house dual-agency situations. Confirm the current designated-agency procedure and consent requirements with MREC.
The required agency-relationship disclosure
Mississippi's rules require licensees to disclose their agency status to the parties. The Commission provides the mechanism through its "Working with a Real Estate Broker" agency-disclosure form (the Commission-approved agency disclosure). The stable, affirmative rules to memorize:
- Disclosure of who the licensee represents must be made — in writing — at the appropriate early point in the relationship, before confidential information is exchanged and before a party could reasonably be misled about whom the licensee is working for. As a practical anchor, the disclosure is made at first substantial contact / before the party discloses confidential information or signs a contract. Verify the current exact timing trigger and the current form with MREC.
- Dual agency and designated agency require written consent captured before the licensee acts in that capacity.
- A licensee must not create a false impression of representation. If a licensee is the seller's agent, a buyer working with that licensee must be told that the licensee represents the seller.
The theme the exam rewards: agency status in Mississippi is disclosed, in writing, early, and dual/designated arrangements require informed written consent.
6. Required property disclosures
Mississippi is a mandatory seller-disclosure state (not caveat emptor for covered homes)
Affirmatively: Mississippi requires a seller's Property Condition Disclosure Statement (PCDS) for the sale of residential real property. This is set by statute at Miss. Code Ann. § 89-1-501 through § 89-1-527, and the form is promulgated by MREC. Key stable rules:
- The disclosure requirement applies to the transfer of residential real property of one to four dwelling units.
- The seller must complete and deliver the MREC Property Condition Disclosure Statement (or a form containing identical information) to the prospective buyer.
- The disclosure must be delivered as soon as practicable before transfer of title — practically, before the buyer is bound.
- If the seller delivers the disclosure after the buyer has made an offer, the buyer generally has a statutory right to terminate the offer within a short window after receiving the disclosure (historically three days if delivered in person, five days if delivered by mail). Verify the current termination window with MREC / the statute, but know that a right to rescind on late disclosure exists.
- Certain transfers are exempt (for example, some transfers by court order, foreclosure, or between co-owners/family). The Commission publishes an exemption statement the seller uses to claim an exemption. Verify the current exemption list with MREC.
So, on the exam: for a normal listed sale of a house, the Mississippi seller must give the buyer the MREC property-condition disclosure. The buyer is not left purely to "buyer beware" on a covered residential sale — although the disclosure is the seller's statement of known conditions and does not substitute for the buyer's own inspection.
Federal lead-based paint disclosure
Independent of state law, the federal Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (Title X) applies in Mississippi. For housing built before 1978, the seller (and the licensee facilitating the sale) must:
- Provide the EPA/HUD pamphlet "Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home,"
- Disclose known lead-based paint and hazards and provide any records/reports, and
- Give the buyer a 10-day opportunity to conduct a lead inspection or risk assessment (the parties may agree to a different period).
This is a federal requirement and applies regardless of the Mississippi PCDS.