Missouri State Portion: Educational Requirements

Continuing Education (continued) (

(See 2250-10.010(6)) The MREC MAY waive all or part of the continuing education requirements for any of the following reasons: Serious physical injury or illness of the licensee throughout the 2-year license period immediately prior to renewal; Active duty in the armed forces throughout the 2-year license period immediately prior to renewal; Membership in the Missouri Bar; the licensee is at least 80 years old; the licensee was a member of the Missouri Senate or House of Representatives at any time during the renewal period; or the licensee was a member of the MREC during any portion of the renewal period.

Distance Delivered Courses.

Approved courses may be offered through means of distance delivery. Students taking a course via distance delivery must pass a final examination with a score of not less than 75% for each course taken. The examination must consist of not less than 30 multiple choice test questions for each three hours of course material. Hours of continuing education taken in excess of the required hours may not be carried forward into the next license period. If a licensee takes the same course more than once during the same license period credit will be given for taking the course only once. This rule applies even if the course is taken from two different schools. It is the responsibility of each licensee to ensure that he or she does not take duplicate courses. Time spent as an instructor may be counted as classroom attendance for an approved instructor who is also a licensee. Licensees will be responsible for verification, via the Missouri Real Estate Commission's Internet system, that all Missouri approved continuing education courses taken during the current renewal period by the licensee have been reported to the commission by the school. It shall be the licensee's responsibility to report any missing information to the course provider so that accurate records of courses are reflected in the commission's records.

Continuing Education Requirements

As stated previously, each real estate licensee is required to complete a minimum of *12 hours of real estate continuing education during the 2-year period prior to license renewal, 3 hours of which must consist of core curriculum. The remaining 9 hours may be electives.* Failure to complete the required continuing education prior to course renewal is cause for the real estate commission to deny an application for renewal. Prior to offering the courses to licensees, the school, administrator and courses must be approved by the real estate commission. Each course must last not less than 3 hours. Classroom Courses. In order to receive a certificate of satisfactory completion of a continuing education course, students must be physically present for 100% of the classroom instruction. The school may allow a student to be absent up to 10% of the required hours for a good cause as determined by the school and then the duration of the absence must be monitored and logged by the school. An hour is defined as 50 minutes of instruction and 10 minutes of break. Licensees will not receive credit for anything less. The continuing education must include a core course that lasts at least 3 hours. The remaining 9 hours can be elective courses approved by the MREC. A person can receive credit for 6, 9 or 12 hours of core, but he/she must have at least 3 hours of core curriculum every 2 years plus an additional 9 hours of continuing education that can be core or electives. Hours taken in excess of the required number cannot be carried over into the next license period.

Out of State Licensees

Licensees who have taken real estate courses in another state can use them to meet the Missouri education requirements if the courses are approved by the MREC. To obtain approval, the applicant or licensee must submit the courses to the MREC together with a $10 nonrefundable fee. For continuing education courses, the course(s) must be submitted not less than 90 days prior to license expiration. Courses submitted less than 90 days prior to license expiration will be rejected.

Course Content

To qualify for license renewal, the continuing education taken must consist of not less than 12 hours of approved courses, presented by an approved school. Unless the MREC has established a specific core course to be taught, at least 3 of the 12 hours must be of one of the following core curriculum, which must also include 30 minutes of instruction on current laws and regulations: Missouri laws governing the transfer of real property; Broker supervision and escrow account management; Fair housing; Property management; Commercial brokerage, or Agency and brokerage relationships. The balance of the 12 hours of continuing education shall consist of courses that have been approved by the real estate commission and through which real estate licensees can remain qualified and can become more competent to provide a higher level of public service and public protection, and are based on consumer protection or service concepts which are founded on Missouri or federal laws related to real estate transactions. Licensees may receive continuing education credit for classroom courses taken that have not previously been approved by the real estate commission for continuing education credit, provided course content, instructor qualifications and course administration are acceptable to the commission. Applications for non-pre approved course credit must be on a form prescribed by the commission, accompanied by a nonrefundable evaluation fee of $10 per course. Applications for approval of such courses must be postmarked not less than 90 days prior to the license expiration date. The following courses WILL NOT be considered by the MREC for continuing education credit: training or education not applicable to Missouri real estate practice; training or education in office and business skills, personal motivation, salesmanship, sales psychology, etc.; sales promotions or other meetings held in conjunction with general real estate brokerage activities; meetings which are a normal part of in-house training; that portion of a course devoted to meals or refreshments; and any course or program that is less than 3 hours in duration. Each course must last at least 3 hours. Also, no portion of the course can be devoted to meals or refreshments.