28 Hour Reactivation Course for Florida Real Estate License

As a real estate sales associate in Florida, you know you need to renew your license every two years. But it’s not always easy to remember exactly when your renewal is due. If the date has passed and your license is now expired, don’t panic. If you’re fewer than two years past your expiration date, you won’t have to completely restart the process.

That said, it’s important to act fast. If you do let two years pass without reactivating your license, it’s considered null and void. At that point, you’ll need to go through the entire pre-license process again, including taking your 63 education hours and passing the state exam.

Act now and save yourself a big hassle.

Here’s a quick guide to reactivating your expired Florida real estate license — whether it’s been a few days or a year or more.

Reactivating your Florida real estate license if it’s been a year or less

Florida real estate licenses expire on either March 31 or September 30 every two years. If you missed the deadline but it’s been less than a year, reinstating your license shouldn’t be too painful.

Be prepared to pay the $25 late fee on top of your normal renewal fee. But other than that, you just need to make sure you finish your 14 hours of continuing education and submit all of your renewal paperwork. Do this within the year mark to avoid the headache of extra CE hours.

Reactivating your Florida real estate license if it’s been 12-24 months

If it’s been more than a year since your license expired but less than two years, you will have to take some extra continuing education — but it’ll still be better than going back to take all 63 hours you need for pre-licensure.

Per Chapter 61J2 of the Florida Administrative Code, “A licensee may reactivate a license that has been involuntarily inactive for more than 12 months but less than 24 months by satisfactorily completing 28 hours of a Commission-prescribed education course.” The Code goes on to say that your 28 hours need to include the following topics:

Real Estate License Law and Qualifications for Licensure
Real Estate License Law and Commission Rules
Authorized Relationships, Duties, and Disclosure
Real Estate Brokerage Activities and Procedures
Violations of License Law, Penalties, and Procedures
Federal and State Laws Pertaining to Real Estate
Real Estate Contracts
Real Estate-Related Computations and Closing of Transactions
Real Estate Investments and Business Opportunity Brokerage

Basically, you’ll need to do twice as much continuing education — and make sure it aligns with the Florida Department of Business Regulation Division of Real Estate topic requirements. But doing this prevents you from having to go all the way back to square one. You’ll literally half how many CE hours you need if you make sure to get this done before your license expiration hits the two-year mark.

All told, the sooner you jump on your late renewal, the easier it will be to reactivate your Florida real estate license. No matter how long you wait, don’t forget that your license is inactive until you complete your renewal, which gets in the way of your ability to work.