Iowa State Requirement Details for Real Estate Continuing Education
Renewal Date: 12/31 every three years
All individual real estate licenses are issued for three-year terms, counting the remaining portion of the year of issue as a full year. All individual licenses expire on December 31 of the third year of the license term. As a requirement of license renewal in an active status, each real estate licensee shall complete a minimum of 36 hours of approved programs, courses or activities. The continuing education must be completed during the three calendar years of the license term and cannot be carried over to another license. During each three-year renewal period a course may be taken for credit only once. A course may be repeated for credit only if the course numbers and instructors are different. Approved courses in the following subjects shall be completed to renew a license to active status.
Hours Required: 36 hours
- 12 hours – Mandatory hours
- 8 hours law update
- 4 hours ethics
- 24 hours – Elective hours
Note: per Iowa state regulations, a maximum of 24 hours of continuing education may be taken by distance learning each three-year renewal period.
The CE Shop’s Offering: 28 hours
- 4 hours - mandatory ethics hours
- 24 hours - elective hours
The CE Shop is an approved provider in Iowa.
Provider Approval Number: 244
Reporting: The state does not require schools to report course completions.
Expiration Date of Course: Courses expire 6 months from the date of purchase per Iowa rules. Each course expiration date will be listed in your account.
Final Exams: Final exams must be passed with at least an 80% and may be taken as many times as necessary in order to pass.
Certificates: Immediately upon real estate course completion, The CE Shop will provide students with an electronic copy of the course certificate of completion. Certificates will remain in your account for a minimum of five years, should you need additional copies at a later time. Please refer to your renewal application to determine if you need to submit your certificate(s) of completion with your renewal. Course completion dates are recorded using Central Standard Time. Please note that the date on your certificate of completion will reflect this.
License Renewal Process: The process to renew in this state is to log in to the licensing system online and follow the prompts to renew.
The Iowa Real Estate Commission only allows licensees to complete 24 hours of the total 36-hour requirement in an online environment. It is the licensees' responsibility to ensure they do not complete over 24 hours in an online environment.
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