Colorado real estate licensing
Colorado Independent or Employing Broker License requirements
A practical, source-checked guide to qualifying, passing the exam, applying, and keeping this license active.
By Gabriel Giner, Editor · Verified · RE License Guide Editorial Desk
- Required education
- 168 hours plus 24-hour Brokerage Administration (employing)
- Exam fee
- $49
- Published fees
- See fee table
- Typical timeline
- Two years of Colorado associate-broker time is the long pole
What to know first
Independent broker and employing broker are Colorado upgrades, not a second lap around the 168 hours. Independent broker: the same 168-hour (or degree) education plus two years of active associate-broker experience. Employing broker: two years of active broker experience plus a 24-hour Brokerage Administration course. The Division's published rule that wrecks out-of-state files: experience as a salesperson in another state does not count toward either upgrade. An Arizona salesperson's three years, a Texas sales agent's four years, and a Wyoming salesperson history are not Colorado associate-broker years. You generally have to spend two years as a Colorado associate broker first.
The 24-hour Brokerage Administration course is the employing-broker tell. Oregon's BASS, Arizona's BMC #1–#3, and Washington's 90-hour managing-broker stack are different machines. Do not mail those certificates to DORA and expect them to post. Application, exam, and renewal dollars sit on the same tables: $83 application, PSI $49/$48 (bulletin) versus the Division's $44.95 line, $252 base renewal. Pay the live table.
Fingerprints and individual E&O still apply. An employing broker supervises associate brokers. Independent brokers can practice without employing others but still are not salespersons — Colorado does not have that title. Corporate, partnership, and LLC brokerage filings have their own rows ($120 entity). Trust-account and record-keeping rules that showed up as an eight-hour pre-license course reappear as employing-broker supervision duties and as 5 items on the state outline.
Wyoming still licenses salespersons. New Mexico's qualifying-broker path wants transaction points and a commission-meeting appearance. Utah uses sales agent as entry. Colorado remains the jurisdiction that will look at your out-of-state salesperson license and tell you it does not count toward independent or employing.
Your path to the license
Follow these steps in order. Deadlines and affiliation requirements can make a passed exam unusable if they are missed.
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Hold an active Colorado associate-broker license for two years
Out-of-state salesperson years do not substitute.
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Independent: file the upgrade. Employing: complete 24-hour Brokerage Administration first
Named Colorado course. Not BASS, not BMC.
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Individual E&O (and entity E&O if you will employ others)
Rule 3.9 inactivates the shop when the individual policy is missing.
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Calendar the same 24-hour / three-ACU CE cycle
Employing status does not shrink the ACU requirement.
Education and eligibility
- Minimum age
- 18 years old
- Identification
- The source materials do not mark an SSN as required. An ITIN is accepted.
- Residency and identification
- Same SB 21-077 identification rule as original issuance. Two years of Colorado associate-broker (independent) or Colorado broker (employing) experience as the Division currently defines active engagement.
- Qualifying education
- Independent: original 168-hour path plus two years active associate-broker. Employing: two years active broker plus Commission-approved 24-hour Brokerage Administration. BASS, BMC, and a Washington 30-hour law course will not post as Brokerage Administration.
- Character review
- Same Commission character review. A new PAO is available if the criminal history has changed since original issuance.
- Background process
- CABS as the upgrade application currently requires.
- Experience
- two years of active Colorado associate-broker experience for independent; two years of active Colorado broker experience plus 24-hour Brokerage Administration for employing. Out-of-state salesperson experience does not count.
- Broker affiliation
- Employing brokers supervise associate brokers and must carry individual E&O (and entity E&O once they employ others, per Rule 3.9). Independent brokers do not hire salespersons because the title does not exist.
Documents to prepare
- Evidence of two years of active Colorado broker/associate-broker licensure
- 24-hour Brokerage Administration certificate (employing)
- Division upgrade / transfer application ($5 on the live fee table for some upgrades)
The licensing exam
Same PSI national-plus-Colorado family as original issuance: 80/60/120 and 74/53/110, one-year bank, $49/$48. The 24-hour Brokerage Administration course is education for the employing upgrade, not a second PSI series. Reciprocal candidates who already hold a broker license elsewhere book the Reciprocal Licensure state product. Supervisory-responsibility and property-management items on the national outline are marked BROKER ONLY — they are why this paper is not a salesperson exam from a neighboring state.
PSI (same bulletin). No second series for the upgrade unless you are using the state portion as a CE alternative. · Fee: $49
| Part | Questions | Minutes | Pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broker National (original exam family) | 80 | 120 | 80 items / 60 correct / 120 minutes on the live PSI bulletin 649. Already passed at original issuance for most upgrade applicants. The 24-hour Brokerage Administration course is education, not a second national paper. |
| Broker Colorado State (original exam family) | 74 | 110 | 74 items / 53 correct / 110 minutes. CE-alternative sitting is the Continuing Education product (same 74/53/110) — do NOT register for Broker State or the credit will not post as CE. Reciprocal Licensure is the same table, different product. |
Upgrade applicants who already passed both portions at original issuance do not sit a second 80/74 paper unless the Division or a CE-alternative path says so. Confirm the live employing-broker page.
What to study
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Division employing-broker / independent-broker pages
Colorado DRE
Experience counting rule and the 24-hour course name.
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Commission Rule 3.9 (E&O)
Colorado Real Estate Commission
Individual policy, entity policy, inactivation.
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Colorado Real Estate Manual — supervision and trust accounts
Colorado DRE
The duties the state paper already tested and the Division still audits.
Application costs
These are commission or testing-vendor amounts we can cite. School tuition and optional preparation products are private-market prices.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Application | $83 |
| Examination | $49 |
| Renewal (every 3 years) | $252 |
Some upgrades post as a $5 transfer/upgrade/activation on the Division table rather than a second $83. Entity $120. Confirm the live row for the exact upgrade you are filing.
| Commission | Colorado Division of Real Estate (303) 894-2166 C.R.S. Title 12, Article 10 (including §§ 12-10-203 qualifying education, 12-10-217 recovery fund); Commission Rules 2.1 (168 named hours), 2.2 (exam, Rule 2.2.D finish education before PSI), 2.5.C (employing broker), 3.9 (individual E&O), 4.2 (CE). Live DRE Broker Qualifying Education page, Broker Applications/Documents/Fees page, Broker Continuing Education page, and Broker License Application Requirements page fetched 2026-09-02. PSI Colorado Real Estate Candidate Information Bulletin at test-takers.psiexams.com/core, Updated 10/1/2023, bulletin 649, fetched 2026-09-02. PSI (855) 744-0313. |
|---|---|
| Pre-licensing | 168 hours plus 24-hour Brokerage Administration (employing) Independent: original 168-hour path plus two years active associate-broker. Employing: two years active broker plus Commission-approved 24-hour Brokerage Administration. BASS, BMC, and a Washington 30-hour law course will not post as Brokerage Administration. |
| Sponsoring broker | Employing brokers supervise associate brokers and must carry individual E&O (and entity E&O once they employ others, per Rule 3.9). Independent brokers do not hire salespersons because the title does not exist. |
| Fingerprints | Same CABS CBI/FBI print as original broker issuance if the Division requires a fresh set on the upgrade. Confirm the live employing-broker checklist. |
| CE / renewal | Same 24 hours / three ACU courses as associate brokers. Employing status does not replace ACU with Brokerage Administration — that course was original-upgrade education. |
| Recovery fund | Independent and employing brokers remain inside the Real Estate Recovery Fund. A paid claim can suspend the license until reimbursement. Not E&O. |
Mistakes that delay applicants
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Importing salesperson years
The Division does not count out-of-state salesperson experience toward independent or employing.
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Skipping Brokerage Administration
Live QE page: employing broker is twenty-four (24) hours of Brokerage Administration plus Rule 2.5.C and the Experience Affidavit. Not BASS, not BMC.
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Entity-only E&O
Responsible brokers still need an individual policy (Rule 3.9). Missing it inactivates the shop.
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Treating independent as a salesperson upgrade from another state
There is no salesperson license to upgrade from. Independent is two years of Colorado associate-broker time.
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Booking Broker State as CE
The bulletin is capitalized: you must select the Continuing Education examination. Do NOT register for the Broker State examination.
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Assuming the $5 upgrade is always the row
Live Fees page has $5 Transfer/Upgrade/Activation and $83 Broker Application. Confirm the live row for the exact upgrade you are filing.
Reciprocity and recognition
| Partner / path | Accepted exam | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| No formal bilateral reciprocity is published for this credential. | ||
Reciprocal Licensure is a PSI state-only sitting plus whatever education the Division currently waives. It does not convert an out-of-state salesperson license into Colorado employing-broker status.
Renewal and staying active
Same 24 hours / three ACU courses as associate brokers. Employing status does not replace ACU with Brokerage Administration — that course was original-upgrade education.
Applicant checklist
- Two years of active Colorado associate-broker / broker experience
- 24-hour Brokerage Administration (employing only)
- Division upgrade filing
- Individual E&O (entity E&O if employing others)
How Colorado is different
Washington managing broker: 90 hours (30+30+30) and three years. Oregon principal broker: three years plus BASS. Arizona broker: BMC #1–#3 and three years in five. Colorado employing broker: 24-hour Brokerage Administration and two years of Colorado broker experience that cannot be imported from a salesperson title elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Colorado issue a salesperson license?
- No. This page is the independent / employing upgrade on an associate-broker base. There is no salesperson title to convert.
- Will my Texas sales-agent years count?
- No. Out-of-state salesperson experience does not count toward independent or employing. Live employing-broker path wants two years of Colorado broker experience plus 24-hour Brokerage Administration.
- Is Brokerage Administration the same as Oregon BASS?
- No. Live Qualifying Education page: twenty-four (24) hours of instruction in Brokerage Administration, plus Employing Broker Qualifications Rule 2.5.C and the Employing Broker Experience Affidavit. BASS, Arizona BMC #1–#3, and a Washington 30-hour law course will not post.
- Do I sit PSI again?
- Not for a routine upgrade if you already passed both portions at original issuance. The state portion as a CE alternative is the Continuing Education product (74/53/110) — do not book ordinary Broker State. Reciprocal Licensure is a different product for out-of-state brokers.
- What does the upgrade cost?
- Live Fees page: Broker Transfer / Upgrade / Activation $5 for some upgrades; Broker Application $83 if you are filing a new credential. Entity $120. Confirm the live row for the exact upgrade. PSI $49 is already paid years earlier for most Colorado associates.
- Independent vs employing?
- Independent: two years of active Colorado associate-broker experience — practice without an employing broker, still not a salesperson. Employing: two years of active Colorado broker experience plus 24-hour Brokerage Administration — the credential that lets you supervise associate brokers.
Primary Sources
Regulatory requirements on this page are drawn from the official board, statute, and exam-provider materials listed below.
- Colorado DRE — Broker Qualifying Education (Brokerage Administration 24)
- Colorado DRE — Fees
- PSI Colorado CIB
- Colorado DRE — Broker Continuing Education
Verified 2026-09-02 · Next scheduled review 2026-12-01