DBPR is
- The Department is administered by the Secretary of the Department who is appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate
- Operates as a consumer protection agency
DBPR has three areas
- The Division of Profession
- The Division of Regulation - is the enforcement authority for the professional boards and programs
- Bureau of Education and Testing
The division is divided into six program areas
Complaints/Investigations, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Unlicensed Activity, Farm Labor, Inspections, and Child Labor.
Regional offices are
Headed by Regional Program Administrators, are located in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Gainesville, Orlando, Ft. Myers, West Palm Beach, Margate (Ft. Lauderdale), Miami and satellite offices in Pensacola and Tampa.
The Division of Profession or DBPRis
- responsible for the licensing of over 396,000 professionals
- Five Executive Directors oversee the professional boards
- The Board Executive Director serves as a liaison between the board and the department and is responsible for ensuring the effective operation of board
The Bureau of Education and Testing (BET)
Its purpose is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public by offering reliable and valid professional licensure examinations for the boards
The Division of Real Estate
- is made up of employees of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation handling only real estate needs
- protects the public by regulating real estate and appraiser licensees within the laws laid out in Chapter 475, part I, Florida Statutes
- responsible for the examination, licensing and regulation of over all individuals, corporations, real estate schools and instructors licensed with the state of Florida.
The Florida Real Estate Commission
- Charged (it’s called a regulatory agency) with the responsibility of governing real estate
- Is made up of seven members
- Protects the public
- The commission meets monthly on the second Tuesday and Wednesday. Members are paid $50 a day as well as mileage.
The FREC has the following powers
Executive power to enforce and regulate real estate license law.
Quasi-legislative power to enact rules. Rules become effective after 20 days when filed with the Department of State.
Quasi-judicial in the power to impose disciplinary actions. Applicants may be denied licenses and licensees may be reprimanded, fined, placed on probation, suspended for up to ten years or the licenses revoked.
The FREC is composed of
- Four members must be licensed brokers, licensed for at least 5 years preceding appointment
- One member may be a broker or sales associate but must have held an active real estate license for two years preceding the appointment.
- Two members must be consumers who have never held a real estate license.
- One of the members must be 60 years of age or older.
- The chairperson presides at all meetings; in the absence of the chairperson, the vice chairperson presides.
- Four of the members of the Commission constitute a quorum to do business.
- Commission term of office is four years. Members may not serve more than two consecutive terms but may serve several different set of terms.
Actions of the FREAC
- Has a corporate seal;
- Makes rules for the governance of real estate (not the same as laws, but same power as laws) Rules become effective 20 days after filing with theDepartment ofState unless otherwise noted;
- Publishes books and newsletters;
- Educates licensees;
- Investigates complaints;
- Imposes disciplinary actions;
- Creates Certificates which are the official records of the Commission when properly signed and authenticated with the seal. Certificates can be used as prima facie evidence in any court in Florida;
- Reports to the proper prosecuting authority any criminal violation of law known to the Commission;
- Holds regular meetings;
- Obtains a cease and desist orderin a court
The Division of Real Estate
is the administrative arm of the FREC
DBPR hires and pays all Division emloyees
The Director of the Division of Real Estate (DRE) is appointed bythe Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, subject to the confirmation by a majority of FREC members
The Executive Director of the Division is not a member of the FREC and has no vote on any FREC actions.
All the services of the FREC are performed by the Division. The services of the Division include but are not limited to:
recordkeeping services
examination services
legal services
investigative services
Licensing Examinations
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation handles the actual licensing;
The Division of Real Estate accepts the application.
The FREC certifies the applicant once the requirements are met
Anyone who applies to take the examination has
two years to take the examination before the application expires.
The commission may
deny an application for licensure, registration or permit or renewal thereof;
may place a licensee, registrant or permittee on probation;
may suspend a license registration or permit for a period not exceeding 10 years;
may revoke a license, registration or permit;
may impose an administrative fine not to exceed $5,000 for each count of obtaining a license by fraud, misrepresentation or concealment, or any violation of 4, or any violation
The commission may
establish fees to be paid for application, examination, reexamination, licensing and renewal, certification and recertification, reinstatement, and record making and record keeping. The fee for initial application and examination is reviewed annually.
License Renewal Period is
every two years, with the exception of the first license period.
Real estate licenses are renewed by DBPR, only on March 31st and September 30th.
The first license period must be at least 18 months and not exceed 24 months.
No licensee can conduct real estate without renewing his license.
Conducting real estate after the expiration date without renewing the license is a violation of license law.
To keep a license active (current) and in place, a licensee must do the following
it will be necessary to take a POST LICENSE course prior to renewal. The course is 45 classroom hours or its equivalent online
A broker renewing for the first time must have completed a schedule of two (2) thirty-hour POST LICENSE courses
A sales associate or broker must take 14 hours of continuing education prior to renewal. Continuing education must consist of 11 hours of specialty education and three (3) hours of core law.
The course/s may be taken by live instruction, by internet, or correspondence. Failure to complete continuing education in the prescribed time will result in the licensee becoming involuntarily inactive.
There are two types of inactive licenses
Voluntary: a licensee may choose this status if he does not want to practice real estate currently but may wish to reactivate the license later
Involuntary: a licensee may have this status imposed upon him by the FREC if he
fails to renew an active license
fails to pay the required renewal fee
fails to complete required continuing education
works under a broker whose license is no longer in effect
The licensee who has an involuntary status may bring the license back to either voluntary inactive or active status by paying all back fees and bringing educational requirements to current status.
If the licensee does not bring the license back from involuntary license status within two years, the license will automatically be canceled.
Military exemption for license renewal
A licensee who enters military service has his licensee fees and educational requirements waived during the period of service and for 6 months following return to civilian life.
The spouse of military personnel can also have fees and educational requirements waived during the period of enlistment and for 6 months after returning to civilian life.
A license is effective
when it is current and in force.
