Real Estate Commission: Requirements and Continuing Education
Licensing Requirements
Fingerprint Information
Effective November 5, 2013, the New Mexico Department of Public Safety (DPS) is converting to an electronic Live Scan system of licensee fingerprinting and will no longer accept hardcopy fingerprint cards unless you are a broker who resides outside the state of New Mexico. New Mexico brokers will use the Live Scan digital fingerprinting system. Out of state brokers will use hardcopy fingerprint cards. The fingerprint cards included in renewal packets are for out of state brokers.
Prior to being fingerprinted at one of the approved Live Scan sites (statewide site list attached), licensees will be required to register on the vendor web site at www.cogentid.com. Licensees will need the New Mexico Real Estate Commission identifier number, which is NM920263Z, to register. Licensees may also register by phone at 1-877-996-6277.
Licensees may pay the $42.25 fingerprint processing fee on line on the www.cogentid.com website using a credit or debit card at the time of registration, or pay the fee by money order or cashier’s check at the Live Scan site at the time of fingerprinting. No cash or personal checks will be accepted.
Because the fingerprints are being transmitted electronically, licensees using the Live Scan system will no longer have to mail hardcopy fingerprint cards to DPS. However, licensees should ask the Live Scan vendor to complete the Fingerprint Certification Form that is enclosed in the application and renewal packets as licensees will need to submit that form to the Commission along with their application or renewal form, as is currently required. The registration receipt provided by Cogent at the time of online registration is also an acceptable form of documentation to submit with licensure paperwork.
Licensees outside New Mexico who do not have access to an approved Live Scan vendor may submit hardcopy fingerprint cards and payment to 3M Cogent at the following address:
3M Cogent, New Mexico CardScan
5025 Bradenton Avenue, Suite A
Dublin, Ohio 43017
Please do not hesitate to contact a Real Estate Commission Investigator at (505) 222-9881 if you have any questions.
Livescan Cogent Fingerprint Locations (Click on Fingerprint Location Map on the Cogent website for details). Click here also for locations.
Exam Applications
PSI Examination Services administers the broker’s examination under contract with the Commission. Applications for either examination are made directly to PSI. The links below provide all the information that examination candidates need to qualify and register.
Candidate Information Bulletin - How to Become Licensed in New Mexico
Click here for License and Renewal Application Checklists.
New Mexico Real Estate Broker’s License Examination and Licensing Application Requirements
The New Mexico Real Estate Commission issues two types of real estate broker’s licenses; an associate broker’s license and a qualifying broker’s license. Both types of licenses are issued to individuals. There is no corporate real estate broker’s license in New Mexico.
An associate broker can hold only one associate broker’s license, be affiliated with one qualifying broker at a time, and not engage in any real estate activity for any other qualifying broker other than the qualifying broker with whom the associate broker is affiliated. A qualifying broker can be the qualifying broker for multiple brokerages, and may serve as qualifying broker and associate broker for different brokerages simultaneously provided that there are written agreements executed specifying the responsibilities and scope of authority that the broker has for each brokerage.
The requirements for obtaining both types of licenses are described below.
Associate Broker’s License
Examination Application
Prior to applying for an associate broker’s license, an applicant must pass the real estate broker’s examination prescribed by the Commission.
Applications to take the broker’s examination are made directly to PSI, the Commission’s examination contractor, on the examination application included in the PSI Candidate Information Bulletin. Along with the examination application form, all examination candidates, with the exception of candidates applying under the License Recognition program or candidates who have received pre-licensing education waivers as described below, must submit documentation of having completed 30-hour pre-licensing courses in Real Estate Principles and Practice, Real Estate Law, and Broker Basics not longer than three years prior to making application to take the broker's examination.
Exam candidates currently licensed as real estate salespersons or brokers in other states or jurisdictions will be exempted from completing the Real Estate Principles and Practice and Real Estate Law courses in New Mexico if they can provide a certified license history from their resident licensing jurisdiction documenting that they have completed these courses, or their equivalent.
Except in the case of a license applicant from a state or jurisdiction with which the New Mexico Real Estate Commission has a written license recognition agreement, an exam applicant cannot be exempted from completing the Commission-approved 30-hour Broker Basics course.
License applicants currently licensed by state or jurisdiction with which the Commission has a written license recognition agreement are not required to take any of the prescribed pre-licensing courses or take either portion of the broker’s examination to be eligible to apply for a New Mexico broker’s license.
Exam applicants exempted from taking the Real Estate Principles and Practice and Real Estate Law courses by virtue of having a current real estate broker’s license in another state shall attach to their examination application a letter of pre-licensing education waiver from the Commission and a certificate of completion of the 30-hour Broker Basics course.
At the time of making application to take the examination, applicants shall pay to the Commission’s examination contractor a non-refundable examination fee not to exceed $95.
Applicants are required to pass both the state and national portions of the examination with a minimum score of 75 no later than 90 calendar days after the first time they took the examination. Applicants failing to pass both portions of the examination within this time frame will be required to re-take and pass both portions of the examination before being eligible to apply for a broker’s license.
License Application
Upon passing both portions of the New Mexico real estate broker’s examination, an individual has six months to apply for an associate broker’s license on the application form prescribed by the Commission.
An individual who fails to apply for an associate broker’s license within six months of having passed both portions of the broker’s examination shall be required to re-take both portions of the examination, unless he/she provides in writing to the Commission a reasonable explanation for why he/she was unable to meet the six-month deadline.
An applicant for an associate broker’s license shall be a legal resident of the United States and have reached the age of majority in New Mexico or in the state in which the applicant resides.
Along with the license application form prescribed by the Commission the applicant must submit:
- Non-refundable $270 application fee in the form of check, money order or credit card authorization; cash is NOT accepted.
- Written score report provided by PSI documenting that they have passed both portions of the examination with a minimum score of 75;
- Documentation of Education: certificates of completion for pre-licensing coursework and/or pre licensing course waiver letter;
- Completed Fingerprint Certification Form documenting that they have submitted two fingerprint cards to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety for matching with a national arrest record database;
- Certificate of insurance documenting that they have a current errors and omissions insurance policy that meets the requirements for such policies as described in Part 5 of the Commission Rules.
Qualifying Broker’s License
Examination
There is no separate qualifying broker’s examination.
License Application
Prior to being issued a qualifying broker’s license, an applicant must document that their associate broker’s or equivalent license has been on active status with a real estate brokerage for two of the last five years immediately preceding their application to become a qualifying broker, and must provide a certificate of completion of the Commission-approved 30-hour Brokerage Office Administration course. Applicants with current license who can document that they were New Mexico qualifying brokers on or before December 31, 2005 are not subject to these requirements, and may regain qualifying broker status by filing a trade name registration form and paying the trade name registration fee to the Commission.
Brokers who were salespersons on January 1, 2006 when the license law was amended to eliminate the salesperson category and were converted to associate broker status, shall in addition to meeting the requirements in the preceding section, document that they have met the requirements for and passed the associate broker’s examination prior to being issued a qualifying broker’s license.
Application for a New Mexico qualifying broker’s license shall be made on the license application form in the PSI Candidate Information Bulletin and shall include:
- Non-refundable application fee not to exceed $270. Individuals with a New Mexico real estate associate broker's license may upgrade to a qualifying broker's license at no additional cost.
- Completed Fingerprint Certification Form documenting that the applicant has submitted two fingerprint cards to the New Mexico Department of Public Safety for matching with a national arrest record database.
- Certificate of insurance documenting that they have a current errors and omissions insurance policy that meets the requirements for such policies as described in Part 5 of the Commission Rules.
Completed license applications shall be submitted to:
New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department
New Mexico Real Estate Commission
5200 Oakland Ave., NE Suite B - Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113
(505) 222-9820 - Fax (505) 222-9886 - Toll Free (800) 801-7505
Continuing Education Requirements
All active and inactive associate brokers and qualifying brokers shall successfully complete thirty (30) credit hours of continuing education in courses approved by the commission during each 3-year licensing cycle. The only exception to this requirement are brokers exempted from continuing education by virtue of being sixty-five (65) years of age with twenty (20) years continuous licensure prior to July 1, 2011. However, all active qualifying brokers are required to successfully complete a six (6) hour qualifying broker refresher course as a condition of license renewal or as a condition of reinstatement of qualifying broker status regardless of age or years of licensure.
- The thirty (30) continuing education hours must include the eight (8) credit hour real estate commission mandatory course during each licensing cycle. Of the remaining twenty-two (22) credit hours, ten (10) credit hours may be credited toward the continuing education requirement from approved training category courses. At least twelve (12) credit hours must be taken from approved education category courses; however, all twenty-two (22) credit hours may be taken from the list of commission-approved education category courses.
- Commission approved pre-licensing courses may count for up to ten (10) credit hours toward continuing education if the course is being used to upgrade from associate broker to qualifying broker. The commission approved thirty (30) hour New Broker Business Practices course may count for up to ten (10) credit hours toward continuing education.
- No commission approved continuing education course will be granted more than ten (10) credit hours of continuing education credit.
- Continuing education credit hours cannot be carried forward to the next licensing cycle.
- Brokers may receive four (4) approved education course credit hours during each licensing cycle for attending commission meetings, rules hearings, and disciplinary hearings.
- Approved instructors may use up to ten (10) credit hours during each three-year licensing cycle toward fulfillment of their own continuing education requirements for teaching commission approved courses.
Pre-Licensing Course Waivers
Education requirements for individuals currently licensed in another state
Pre-licensing Waiver Fact Sheet
Applications and Forms
Continuing Education CE Course Application
Instructor Application
Instructor Application Supplemental Documents
Distance Education Course and Instructor Application
ESC Instructor Appearance Procedures for Permanent Course Approvals
Sponsor Application [DOC - This application will open in your computer's word processor to allow you to fill it in in your computer.]
One-Time Continuing Education Course Sponsor Application
Approved Courses and Schools/Sponsors
Approved Course List
Course Numbering System Description
Aproved Schools/Sponsors
Online Rules of the Real Estate Commission Course
Information for Schools and Sponsors
Instructors and Courses They Teach
Instructor Resources
Instructors may access the course materials for Brokerage Relationships, NMREC Mandatory Course, Qualifying Broker Refresher Course and Rules of the Real Estate Commission at the Instructor Resources webpage. Contact Claire Conrad at (505) 222-9825 for a username and password.
For education-related questions, e-mail Claire Conrad.