• $150 – nonrefundable broker application fee, paid to NDREC
• $11.25 – nonrefundable credit history fee, paid to NDREC; NDREC runs the report through a credit agency
• Cost of getting fingerprinted – determined by and paid to the agency or business providing these services, who are independent from NDREC (list of fingerprinting locations)
• $40 – fingerprinting analysis as part of the statewide and national criminal history record check – paid to ND Office of Attorney General, who conducts the checks
• Applicants who are or have been a real estate licensee in other states, costs if any, of a certificate of licensure (COL) from all other states where currently or formerly licensed.  NOTE:  Some states take a month or more to issue a COL once ordered, so order your COL immediately. A COL is not a copy of a current real estate license.
• Resident only – cost of taking 60-hour broker pre-licensure course -- course fees determined by and paid to the school providing the course
  • Schools and their pre-licensure courses are certified by the NDREC but otherwise operate independently.  Link here for more information about pre-licensure courses elsewhere on this NDREC website: https://www.realestatend.org/education-providers/education-providers-2/
• Resident and nonresident applicants who are not reciprocal – cost of taking the licensing examination – determined by and paid to the testing company, PSI.
  • Residents must take and pass both the state and national broker examinations. Nonresident nonreciprocal applicants need to take and pass only the state examination.
  • The examination fee is required each time you take or retake the test/s.
  • NDREC has an agreement with PSI to provide the testing services, but PSI operates independently of NDREC. Link here for more information on PSI elsewhere on this NDREC website:  https://www.realestatend.org/exam-information

Once you are ready to have your license issued:

• $20 – one-time for the commission’s Real Estate Education, Research and Recovery Fund – paid to NDREC, unless you have already paid into the fund
• Active licensees only – cost of errors and omissions insurance -- paid to the insurance provider, to the firm with which you associate, or through another arrangement determined by the firm.
  • Active licensees who need individual errors and omissions insurance can use the insurance company, Rice Insurance, with which NDREC negotiates an annual rate. The current cost through that provider is $187 per calendar year. Link here for more information on E&O insurance elsewhere on this NDREC website: 
    https://www.realestatend.org/licensees/e-o-information/

Applicant --

1. Submit application online with correct documents uploaded and fees paid. Resident applicants must upload pre-licensure course completion certificates as part of the online application.

2. Print the Fingerprint Verification Form, get fingerprinted and mail your fingerprint cards to NDREC with fee for analysis.

NDREC --

3. NDREC will email your designated broker a form to assess your work as a salesperson.

NDREC staff or commission --

4. Send fingerprints to ND Office of Attorney General for analysis and receive criminal history background report, usually within 1-2 weeks.

5. Review application, credit and criminal history background report, and approve or prepare application for commission. Staff will contact you if your application needs to be reviewed by the commission at a commission meeting.

6. Apply to testing company PSI and then issue test code to approved resident or nonresident applicant needing to take state and/or national examinations.

Applicant --

7. Resident or nonresident nonreciprocal applicant – schedule and take/retake exams, and submit passing test scores to NDREC.

8. All applicants -- Submit Request to Issue Real Estate License. Include, if applicable, the $20 one-time payment to NDREC for the commission’s Real Estate Education, Research and Recovery Fund. If license will be active, provide proof of errors and omissions insurance.

9. Applicants wanting an active license must have broker approve application to issue license.

NDREC staff --

10. Approve application to issue license, issue active or inactive license, and email notification to new licensee. Brokers of new active licensees are copied on the email.

New active licensee with broker --

11. Print license and display prominently in brokerage, or post new licensee name and license number on broker website.

Please note: you can check the status of your application at any time.

You need to meet the following requirements and have the following information and documents to apply for a North Dakota real estate broker license. Documents need to be uploaded into the online application, preferably in a .pdf format. Other recognized file formats with a .doc, .txt, or .rtf extension also are accepted. 

• Reached at least 18 years of age or older at time of application
• Been actively engaged (ie., fulltime) as a licensed real estate salesperson for at least 2 years, or the commission must determine applicant has substantially equivalent experience
• No real estate license revoked in this or any state within 2 years before this application
• Resident applicant only – completed a 60-hour salesperson pre-licensure education course completed before taking the examination. Link here for more information on pre-licensing education elsewhere on this NDREC website: Education Providers 
  • Applicants must apply for licensure within 2 years of completing an NDREC-certified pre-licensure education course.
• Reciprocal and other nonresident applicants only – licensed and active at the broker level in state of primary residence
• Credit history run and determined acceptable by NDREC
• Criminal history run by ND Office of Attorney General and determined acceptable by NDREC.
• Favorable assessment by broker of applicant's salesperson work
• Any other real estate license in good standing in other state/s, and no real estate license revoked in this or any state within 2 years before this application
• Resident – passed North Dakota and national licensing examinations
• Nonresident nonreciprocal – passed North Dakota licensing examination
• Reciprocal – met licensing requirements, including passing any examinations, in their primary state of residence, which must be Minnesota, Iowa or Georgia
• One-time payment of $20 made to ND Real Estate Education, Research, and Recovery Fund.

The online application process prompts you for information, and you can save your application and return to complete it later. The online application process provides you with the fillable NDREC documents that open and allow you to complete, save and upload as part of applying. The online application process prompts you to upload other documents that are individual to you, such as certificates of licensure and court documents. You can have these documents created in advance and saved in the correct format to be ready to upload.

Select, non-exhaustive list of ND statue and rule references on licensing: NDCC 43-23- 08 and 43-23-08.1 and 43-23-08.4, 43-23.2-02, and NDAC 70-02-01-02, 70-02-01-03

• Personal information: place of birth, cell phone number, email address, home address/es in past 5 years, mailing address (if different than home address)
• Social Security Number to run personal credit history and criminal history
• Intent to operate as a designated broker in a firm and if the firm is a corporation, limited liability company, partnership or individual proprietorship; or intent to operate as a designated broker supervised by another broker and the name and address of that firm
• If you intend to operate a new firm that is not an individual proprietorship, you must also submit a separate online application for a firm.
• If you have or intend to have a trust account, then as part of your application, you must complete and upload a Consent to Examine Trust Account that includes account information certified with a signature from a bank official.
• If you will be a designated broker and do not have a trust account, then as part of your application, you must complete and upload a Request for Waiver of Real Estate Broker Trust Account Requirement.
• Past 5 years’ employment and student history
• History of real estate and other occupational licenses and license numbers
• A recent certificate of licensure for this or any other state where you have ever had a real estate license.  NOTE:  A certificate of licensure (COL) is not a copy of a current real estate license. Some states take a month or more to issue a COL once ordered, so order your COL immediately.
• History of civil or criminal convictions including forgery, embezzlement, obtaining money under false pretenses, conversion, issuing bad checks, extortion, criminal conspiracy to defraud, or similar offenses
  • You may find documents through a web search by name or location of court.
• History of criminal convictions, pending charges or probation including date of conviction or charge and name of court and any relevant documents
  • You may find documents through a web search by name or location of court.
• History of any bankruptcies, unpaid court judgments, mechanics liens or federal or state tax liens, including dates, amounts, current balance and copies of any relevant documents
  • Bankruptcy documentation includes Final Discharge of Bankruptcy or Order confirming court-approved payment plan.
  • You may find documents through a web search by name or location of court.
• If you have not been engaged fulltime as a licensed real estate salesperson for at least 2 years, then you must upload a brief explanation detailing your substantially equivalent experience, addressed to the ND Real Estate Commission.
• Average hours/week working as a real estate licensee, approximate number of listings personally obtained, and approximate number of closed transactions you personally obtained, and if work was in any or all the following categories: residential, commercial, agricultural, and/or property management.
• Resident applicants only -- NDREC-approved broker pre-licensure course completed, and certificate of completion uploaded with the application
• Active military member and/or spouse or active military, if military spouse holds a real estate license in another state/s – copy of military orders for the military member
  • Military member is defined in NDCC 43-51-01 as a member of the armed forces of the United States or a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States stationed in North Dakota in accordance with military orders or stationed in this state before a temporary assignment to duties outside of this state.
• Reciprocal – A completed, uploaded Request to Issue Real Estate License, Consent to Suit by Non-resident Applicant for Real Estate Broker’s License, Certificate of Coverage of Errors and Omissions Insurance, and the Real Estate Education, Research and Recovery Fund form
• Nonresident -- A completed uploaded Consent to Suit by Non-resident Applicant for Real Estate Broker’s License.
• Resident and nonresident -- credit or debit card to pay the nonrefundable fee of $161.25, which includes $150 for the application and $11.25 to run your personal credit history.
• Reciprocal – credit or debit card to pay the nonrefundable fee of $161.25 or $181.25 which includes $150 for the application,  $11.25 to run your personal credit history, and, if applicable, $20 for the one-time contribution to the Real Estate Education, Research and Recovery Fund.
  • Be sure to input the correct billing address for name of the individual or business on the credit or debit card being used.
  • Accepted credit or debit cards --Visa, Mastercard and Discover
  • Not accepted – American Express card, check, money order, or cash

The amount of time from your initial application submission to licensure is highly dependent on you, if you apply for a resident, nonresident or reciprocal license and if the commission needs to review your application at a future regularly scheduled meeting. In addition, your timeline will be determined by how quickly you are able to submit your fingerprints, how quickly your broker submits to NDREC their assessment of your salesperson work, and whether you have requested a waiver of the 2 years’ experience requirement. Resident applicants also must complete pre-licensure education, and resident and nonresident applicants who are not reciprocal applicants must schedule and pass license exams. To be issued an active license, you first must associate with a broker and firm if you are not going to be the designated broker of a firm, and be covered by errors and omissions insurance. 

Seven to ten days after you submit your application, you can go to Online Services and under the Applications heading, select Check the status of your application. You’ll be prompted for information about yourself to log in, and then you will see the following Task List, and whether the task is completed, in process, or needs to be completed. If a task is not applicable to you, you will not see the task on your list.

• Application & Fee
• Criminal History Record Check Form
• Military Status & Orders, if applicable
• Certificate of Licensure (COL), if applicable
• Consent to Examine Trust Account Form or Waiver of Trust Account Form
• Consent to Suit by Non-resident-Broker Form, if applicable
• Pre-licensure Course Certificate
• Broker Assessment of Applicant
• Applicant - Return completed Fingerprint Cards, Verification form, & Fee to NDREC            
• Fingerprints at BCI          
• Fingerprint Results returned from BCI     
• Review by Commission, if applicable 
• Applied to PSI for Test Code        
• Test Code Sent to Applicant        
• Applicant - Upload First Test Taken                                                           
• Applicant - Upload Passing Score Report                                                
• Applicant - Request to Issue Real Estate License - NO FEE                                               
• Applicant - Payment to Real Estate Education, Research & Recovery Fund                                               
• Applicant - Upload E&O Insurance Certificate
• Issue License

Select, non-exhaustive list of statute and rule references: NDCC 43-23-08, NDCC 43- 23-08.1, NDCC 43-23-08.3, 43-23-08.4, NDCC 43-23-09, NDCC 43-23-13, NDCC 43- 23-19 through 43-23-23, NDCC 43-23.2-02(1), NDAC 70-02-01-01 through 70-02-01- 03, NDAC 70-02-01-10, NDAC 70-02-05