Alabama Real Estate Salesperson License requirements

Follow these steps in order. Deadlines and affiliation requirements can make a passed exam unusable if they are missed.

1. 1

   Pre-register for an AREC ID number, then complete the 60-hour prelicense at 70%

   School reports the credit. You cannot book Pearson until the Authorization to Test email arrives (up to a week after the school’s three-business-day submit window). Course must finish within one year of start; max six hours credit per day after the 2025 amendment.

2. 2

   Sit Pearson VUE ($73) within six months

   80 national / 2.5 hr + 40 Alabama / 1 hr, 10–15 pretest, 3.5 hours, scaled 70. Fail overall and retake both parts. Reciprocal candidates sit the $53 / 40-item / 1-hour paper after six Alabama hours.

3. 3

   Fieldprint Alabama and file within 90 days of passing

   Online Services → New License. Temporary salesperson license. Do not import a Georgia GCIC or a Florida DBPR print.

4. 4

   30-hour postlicense + original application ($85 this cycle + $30 Recovery Fund if first-active)

   Active temporary: finish inside six months or go inactive. Every temporary: finish inside twelve months or the license lapses and you start over. Temporary license number is required before postlicense enrollment.

5. 5

   Affiliate with a qualifying broker before practicing

   Qualifying broker is an AREC company status, not a REALTOR® title. Calendar September 30 and the named 3-hour Risk Management CE course.

Minimum age

19 years old

Identification

A Social Security number is required. An ITIN is not confirmed as a substitute.

Residency and identification

Pearson handbook: U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident; bona fide residency in any U.S. state; high school diploma or GED. Alabama residency is not required. Age 19, not 18. Reciprocal: current license in another state plus certification of licensure from the state where the applicant originally passed a full exam, plus six hours of Alabama coursework, plus the $53 state-only paper.

Qualifying education

Commission-approved 60-clock-hour salesperson prelicense, 70% course grade, school reports eligibility to AREC then Pearson VUE. Verified 2026-09-02 from: Pearson handbook #093300 (“approved 60-clock-hour pre-license course”); Rule 790-X-1-.06 (instructors shall teach a minimum of 60 hours for the prelicense course); AREC course search product (“Salesperson Prelicense - 60 Hours”). Rule 790-X-1-.06: complete within one year of the start date or receive no credit and begin again; February/April 2025 amendments cap credit at six (6) hours per day (was eight); 90% attendance; 10-minute break after each 50 minutes; meals do not count; incremental assessments plus a final; school submits course credit before the candidate may schedule Pearson. Distance/online follows Rule 790-X-1-.21. A Florida 63 or a Georgia 75 is not this 60. After temporary issuance: 30-clock-hour postlicense (Rule 790-X-1-.06(e)), 70% course grade, max eight/nine hours per day depending on the live amendment, temporary license number required before enrollment. Postlicense is not CE, though Rule 790-X-1-.12(11) lets the 15 hours from postlicense satisfy the first renewal CE.

Education or filing deadline

Six months from course completion to pass Pearson VUE or retake the 60 hours (handbook; Rule 790-X-1-.06(6); Blueprint). Passing exam score good 90 days for the license application (handbook; Spring 2025 Update). Temporary salesperson license: 30-hour postlicense + original application within 12 months or the license lapses and you start over; active status past month six requires postlicense + original already in. Prelicense itself must be finished within one year of the start date.

Character review

Felony or crime of moral turpitude can bar licensure. AREC publishes an Application for Determination of Licensing Eligibility to preview convictions before you spend 60 hours. A rejected or revoked license in any state within two years is independently disqualifying on the handbook list.

Background process

Fieldprint Alabama. Schedule near the application, not with a leftover Live Scan from another state.

Experience

No licensed experience is required for the salesperson license. Affiliation with a qualifying broker is required to practice. Temporary-to-original conversion is a 30-hour postlicense plus an original application, not a second Pearson sitting.

Broker affiliation

A salesperson practices under a qualifying broker. Temporary licensure and original issuance both assume affiliation; the qualifying broker completes a trustworthiness section on the original-license application. If the original license will be issued to a different company than the temporary hanging, you may not work until the original is issued. Qualifying broker is an AREC company status, not a NAR designation. The qualifying broker prints the wall hanging from the company login after AREC processes the file (normally within 3 business days of a complete original application).

Pearson VUE, under contract to AREC. Handbook #093300 (August 2024; fee updates August 1, 2025; rev 02/2026). pearsonvue.com/us/en/al/realestate.html; (888) 926-9488. $73 salesperson/broker; $53 reciprocal. · Fee: $73

Six-month authorization from course completion, unlimited attempts, $73 each sitting. Fail the overall scaled 70 and retake the entire exam — Alabama does not bank a passed national section. After six months, retake the 60-hour course for a new authorization. Passing score good 90 days. 24-hour wait to rebook. 48-hour change/cancel. Payment not accepted at the center. Palm vein is not collected. Reciprocal $53 state-only, also inside six months of the six-hour Alabama course.

These are commission or testing-vendor amounts we can cite. School tuition and optional preparation products are private-market prices.

Live AREC Licensing Application PDF (fetched 2026-09-02): temporary salesperson Active $210 ($150 license + $30 Research and Education + $30 Recovery Fund); Inactive $180 (Recovery Fund paid when activated). Pearson handbook table (fee updates August 1, 2025): salesperson/broker exam $73; reciprocal $53. Live original-salesperson application covering 10/01/2025–09/30/2026: original license $85.00 ($170.00 for licenses issued 10/01/2026–09/30/2027); Recovery Fund $30.00 first-time active only if not already paid on the temporary. Application ($210 temporary active) and initialLicense ($85 original this cycle) in this object are sequential, not stacked as a second $210. Fieldprint is a separate vendor dollar this page does not freeze from a school flyer. 2024 Special Renewal Issue printed salesperson renewal $185 if paid by August 31 (then a $150 late penalty); confirm the live 2026 cycle on arec.alabama.gov rather than treating 2024 dollars as frozen. Unrenewed licenses go inactive October 1. Expiration is September 30 of even years on the current two-year hanging.

• !

  Sitting at 18

  Alabama’s handbook age is 19. Florida and Georgia will seat an 18-year-old; Montgomery will not.

• !

  Banking a national section

  Fail the overall scaled 70 and you retake both parts. Kentucky’s split-retake rule does not apply here.

• !

  Wrong fingerprint vendor

  Fieldprint Alabama. A leftover Live Scan or GCIC is a rejected file.

• !

  Missing September 30

  The license does not glide on a birthday cycle. October 1 is inactive. Temporary licenses are not in the renewal pool — convert them.

• !

  Treating a Florida 63 or Georgia 75 as Alabama’s 60

  Different hour count, different 70% course pass, different Pearson (not PSI) sitting, different temporary-then-original design. Reciprocity is six Alabama hours plus a $53 state paper, not a transcript swap.

• !

  Enrolling in postlicense before the temporary license number exists

  Rule 790-X-1-.06: a person shall have a temporary license issued prior to beginning a postlicense course. Instructors must collect the number.

• !

  Letting the temporary license hit month thirteen

  Twelve months from issuance to postlicense + original application or you start over as if you never had a license. Active status past month six is a shorter fuse.

• !

  Booking Pearson before the Authorization to Test email

  School has three business days to submit credit; AREC then pushes eligibility to Pearson. The whole chain can take a week. Scheduling into a name Pearson does not have is how people donate $73.

• !

  Reading scaled 70 as 70 of 80 or as 70 of 120

  Equated 0–100 overall. Passes see Pass. Failures see a number. It is not Wyoming’s scaled 75 and not a raw percent.

• !

  Skipping RECAD because the national paper already tested agency

  Three of forty Alabama items. The new RECAD form is a Commission product. Brokers see five RECAD items.

• !

  Paying IdentoGO or bringing a palm vein

  Fieldprint. AREC opted out of Pearson palm-vein collection. Acknowledge the privacy screen; do not give a palm.

AREC reciprocal salesperson (handbook + Rule 790-X-1-.18): six hours of Commission-approved Alabama coursework, then the $53 state-only Pearson VUE exam (40 scored + 5–10 pretest, 1 hour, scaled 70), plus a certification of licensure from the state where the applicant originally passed a full exam. Current license in another state. This is not Florida mutual recognition and not a national compact. Military-spouse reciprocal is a separate AREC row. A Florida sales-associate certificate does not become an Alabama salesperson by itself.

How old do I have to be?

19. Pearson VUE’s handbook lists age 19, not 18. Florida and Georgia will seat an 18-year-old; Montgomery will not.

How many prelicense hours?

60 clock hours, 70% course grade. Verified from Pearson handbook #093300, Rule 790-X-1-.06, and AREC’s own “Salesperson Prelicense - 60 Hours” course-search product. Finish within one year of start; max six hours credit per day after the 2025 amendments; 90% attendance. Then Pearson within six months of completion.

Is it salesperson or sales associate?

Salesperson. Sales associate is Florida’s title. Qualifying broker is Alabama’s company-qualifying status, not a NAR designation.

Exam fee, items, cut?

Handbook table: $73. 80 national / 2.5 hours + 40 Alabama / 1 hour + 10–15 pretest, 3.5 hours total. Scaled 70. Fail the overall score and retake both parts. Reciprocal is $53 / 40 items / 1 hour.

Can I keep a passed national section if I fail Alabama law?

No. The handbook scores an overall scaled 70. Fail and retake the entire exam inside the six-month authorization.

Does Florida mutual recognition get me an Alabama license?

No. Mutual recognition is FREC’s inbound path. AREC reciprocal is a separate six-hour-plus-$53-state-exam application with a certification from the original full-exam state.

When do licenses expire?

September 30. Unrenewed licenses become inactive October 1. Temporary salesperson licenses are not renewable — convert with the 30-hour postlicense and original application before they die.

What does original cost this cycle?

Live original-salesperson application: $85.00 for licenses issued 10/01/2025–09/30/2026, plus $30.00 Recovery Fund if first-time active. Pearson $73. Fieldprint is extra. Confirm the live temporary-license row rather than stacking a second $85.

What is the temporary license?

Issued after you pass Pearson and file. 30-hour postlicense required. Active temporary: finish postlicense and original inside six months or go inactive. Every temporary: finish inside twelve months or the license lapses and you start over as if you never had one. You must hold the temporary before enrolling in postlicense.

What CE?

15 hours for activation and renewal (live AREC home page): salespersons take the mandatory 3-hour Risk Management: Initial Contact to Accepted Offer plus 12 electives. Brokers take that course and the Mandatory Broker CE Course plus 9 electives. Postlicense can satisfy the first renewal CE (Rule 790-X-1-.12(11)).

Fingerprints?

Fieldprint Alabama. Not IdentoGO, not Live Scan, not a Georgia GCIC. Nonresidents who cannot find a site call AREC Licensing.

Do I have to live in Alabama?

No. Handbook: bona fide residency in any U.S. state. You still need a qualifying broker to practice.

Palm vein?

No. Pearson’s account creation shows a palm-vein privacy statement; AREC has elected not to require collection. Acknowledge the statement; do not give a palm.

Where do I sit?

Pearson centers in Birmingham (two), Decatur, Dothan, Mobile, Montgomery, plus community-college sites and a Fort Rucker military center. Not PSI. Schedule at pearsonvue.com/us/en/al/realestate or (888) 926-9488 after the Authorization to Test email.