Becoming a Louisiana real estate broker is a strong step forward in your career. Not only does this advanced license look great on a resume, it also allows you to work independently, open real estate brokerage firms, and manage other agents within these firms.

Getting the Louisiana Real Estate Broker License is a fairly simple process, but it does require you to complete six steps, and have a few prerequisites before applying or taking the broker’s exam.

This guide covers all of these requirements in a simple, easy to understand way that will make it easier for you throughout this process.

Louisiana Real Estate Agent vs Real Estate Broker

Louisiana offers two different types of real estate license: Sales and Broker.

A sales agent’s license is the initial license that real estate agents get in order to sell real estate.

A broker’s license is an advanced license that allows the license holder to operate at a higher level within real estate businesses in Louisiana.

People often confuse sales agents and brokers. A simple way to look at the difference is that holders of the sales agent’s license are called real estate agents, while holders of the broker’s license are called real estate brokers.

Louisiana Real Estate Broker License Requirements

First, to be eligible for a real estate broker’s license, you must meet the prerequisites to become a real estate broker in Louisiana.

These prerequisites are:

• Must have an active license, in any state or jurisdiction, for at least four years, with two of the four years immediately before submitting a broker license application
• Must have a Certified License History listing the active/inactive status of your license showing that you have been licensed as an active real estate licensee for four years

How to Become a Real Estate Broker in Louisiana

Once you meet all the requirements listed above, you can follow these six steps to easily help you get your real estate broker license in Louisiana.

Step 1: Complete a Louisiana Broker Pre-Licensing Course

The first step to getting your real estate broker license in Louisiana is to take 150 classroom hours of qualifying real estate courses.

These real estate courses mostly cover the fundamentals of working in real estate and must be completed within two years of your broker’s license application. This requirement is divided into two sections:

The required 150 classroom hours of qualifying real estate courses, including the following mandatory courses are:

• Real Estate 201: 90-hour course on basic real estate fundamentals
• Real Estate 202: 30-hour course
• Louisiana real estate license law
• Commission rules and regulations
• Law of agency, as contained in Title 9 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes
• Civil law, as it pertains to real estate transactions
• Ethics and professionalism
• Real Estate 203: mandatory 30-hour course on broker responsibilities

Your broker pre-license courses don’t end here. To fully satisfy your course requirements, you must take additional 12 credit hours in related qualifying education courses acceptable to the Louisiana Real Estate Commission (LREC) or approved continuing education (CE) courses.

The approved courses include the following:

• 36 Ways to Lose Your License
• Valuation: What Commercial Clients Need Their Agents to Know
• Basics of Investment Property and Property Management
• Real Estate Best Practices
• Insurance Awareness and Contract Timelines
• CFPB & You, CFPB & Agency, or Agency
• Broker Responsibility
• Property Measurement and Pricing

After completing the courses, you must also pass the final broker course exam. The minimum passing grade is 75%. The final pre-license exam is to be supervised by a proctor, whether on-site or online. This is not the same as the state broker exam.

After passing your broker course exam, your pre-license education provider will provide you with your course completion documents. You must submit your completion documents to LREC via licensing@lrec.gov.

Step 2: Submit a Louisiana Broker License Application

Once you meet the broker pre-licensing education requirements and pass the course exam, you can now apply for your license.

The application fee is $165.

To submit your broker license application, you must send your Initial Real Estate Broker License Application and course completion certificate by:

Mail:
Louisiana Real Estate Commission
9071 Interline Ave.
Baton Rouge, LA 70809

or

Fax (225) 925-4501

Step 3: Pass the Louisiana Real Estate Broker Exam

Once your application has been processed by LREC, you will receive an email from Pearson VUE with instructions to schedule your exam.

The fee for the broker exam is $78.

In Louisiana, brokers take a combination of the national and state exams, which consists of 135 scored questions with a total exam time of 240 minutes.

The passing score is 75 for the Louisiana Real Estate Broker Exam.

If you happen to fail the exam, you have one year with unlimited attempts to pass the exams at any Pearson VUE test center. If you pass one part of the exam and fail the other (national or state), you need to retake only the failed part and must do so within one full year.

For more information on the exam, Pearson VUE provides a Candidate Handbook containing the Louisiana Real Estate Broker Exam Content Outline.

Taking an exam prep course provides you helpful tools and materials, such as quizzes and specific state-only practice exams, to increase your chances of passing your broker license exam the first time.

Step 4: Get a Background Check

After passing both portions of the exam, and if you plan to practice real estate immediately, you must undergo a background check. You must order your criminal background history through your MyLREC Portal, which you will receive access to once the LREC has received your application.

LREC has contracted with Clearbox, LLC to conduct criminal background history checks on each initial license applicant.

The service fee is $49.

Your criminal background history will remain effective for up to one year from the official date of the completed report.

Step 5. Obtain Errors and Omissions Insurance

All active real estate licensees in Louisiana are required to carry errors and omissions (E&O) insurance.

You can purchase your E&O Insurance through the LREC group policy by paying a fee based on the pro-rated premium chart on the Initial Real Estate License Application Supervision Affidavit Part B form (check “Associate Broker”).

You can also choose to purchase your E&O from a source other than the LREC group policy. If you choose this option, you will need to complete and submit an Independent Errors and Omissions Insurance form.

Since you are upgrading from a salesperson license to a broker’s license, you must also turn in a Termination of Supervision form.

Step 6: Application Review

After passing your broker exam, you will only need to wait for LREC to review and approve your application.

The process should take between two to four weeks. After this, you should receive a notification from LREC (via MyLREC Portal account or email) with a copy of your broker license.

Congratulations!

Now that you’ve successfully passed the broker licensing exam and obtained your license, there are a few things you need to do to keep your broker license active and updated.

Louisiana Real Estate Broker License Renewal and CE

In Louisiana, you must renew your real estate broker license every year. The renewal process is not the same for the broker license and sales agent license.

To renew your license, you must use your MyLREC Portal account. The renewal fee is $112 ($254 if you have E&O). LREC allows renewing your broker license up to six months after your expiration date (August 1 since your license won’t expire until December 31).

As part of renewing your broker license, you must also complete the CE requirements that include 12 hours of LREC-approved courses and six hours of Broker Responsibility Course as part of the CE requirement.

Louisiana Post-Licensing Education

You are required to complete 45 post-license education (PLE) hours within 180 days after your initial license date.

The PLE course is a one-time requirement for licensees and is entirely different from a CE course. Post-licensing education courses are available through state-approved education providers.

LAREC – Louisiana Real Estate Commission

Mailing Address:

Louisiana Real Estate Commission
9071 Interline Ave.
Baton Rouge, LA 70809

Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00 am-4:30 pm

Phone: (225) 925-1923

Email: licensing@lrec.gov 

Website: https://lrec.gov/