Iowa 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

   Start the FBI packet the same week you start class

   My Iowa PLB → RE - Background Request → $51. 5–6 weeks after the card returns, then a 210-day fuse. This is the long pole.

2. 2

   Finish the 60-hour principles course (live or online)

   Named 12+12+12+12+12 curriculum (193E—16.2). Sit PSI only after this 60 is posted. 12-month fuse to both the sitting and the application.

3. 3

   Complete the three live 12s — Buying, Listing, Professionalism/Ethics

   Live only. Any order. Due at application, inside the same 12 months. Not a substitute for the 60 and not CE.

4. 4

   Sit PSI ($95): 80/120 min at 56 and 40/60 min at 28

   Both portions must still be alive (sixth-month fuse) when the application lands. Retake is another $95.

5. 5

   Sit PSI with the hard-copy 60-hour certificate and matching photo ID

   90-day registration. Arrive 30 minutes early. Remote or West Des Moines / Cedar Rapids / Council Bluffs. Fail one portion: retake that portion at another $95; both must still be alive at application.

6. 6

   E&O, sponsoring broker, $125 license fee in My Iowa PLB

   Original cannot be inactive. Broker signs electronically after background clears. RISC group policy or a Chapter 19 / 481-2019-compliant independent policy. File by the last business day of the sixth month. Bad payment nullifies the original (193E—9.2(5)).

Minimum age

18 years old

Identification

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

Residency and identification

No Iowa residency requirement and no citizenship requirement on the DIAL salesperson-by-exam page. Age 18 at the time the license application is submitted — you may sit PSI before 18, but you must be 18 to apply, and the application still has to arrive before the score dies. Licensure requires U.S. citizenship or lawful-presence verification through SAVE. High school diploma is not separately itemized on the DIAL exam page the way Nebraska itemizes it; 543B.15 qualifications plus Commission application fields control. Nonresidents use the same exam path unless 543B.21 recognition applies — confirm live.

Qualifying education

193E—16.2 and DIAL salesperson-by-exam. The 60-hour principles-and-practices course may be live or distance/online and is the eligibility key for PSI. Named 60-hour split: Introduction to Real Estate and Iowa License Law 12; Ownership, Encumbrances, Legal Descriptions, Transfer of Title and Closing 12; Contracts, Agency and Antitrust 12; Valuation, Finance and Real Estate Math 12; Property Management/Leasing, Fair Housing, Environmental Risks and Health Issues 12. The three 12-hour courses — Buying Practices, Listing Practices, Developing Professionalism and Ethical Practices — are live instruction only (classroom or real-time visual/audio). All education, 60 plus the three 12s, must be completed during the 12 months prior to the date the application is postmarked or received. The 60 must also be less than one year old when you sit and pass PSI. Provider course exams are part of completion; exam time counts as hours. An hour is 50 minutes. Substitution of substantially similar courses is a written request; courses older than 12 months do not substitute (16.2(3)). Nebraska Course #0003 and Missouri MREP are not these three live 12s.

Education or filing deadline

12-month fuse: the 60 must be under 12 months old at the exam sitting and at application, and all 96 hours (60+12+12+12) must sit inside the 12 months before the Commission receives the application. PSI scores die the last working day of the sixth month following the pass date. Background dies at 210 days. Three clocks. Miss any one and the file restarts.

Character review

Iowa Code § 543B.15: a rejected application in this or any other state inside 12 months, or a revoked real estate license inside two years, bars the file. Specified felony / fiduciary / fraud-type offenses: five years after incarceration, fine, or sentence before the Commission will even consider the application; other moral-turpitude offenses: one year. After those clocks, the Commission may still deny on the conviction. 272C.15 eligibility determinations exist. Disclose. Non-disclosure is independently disqualifying.

Background process

National FBI criminal-history check through the Commission packet. $51. Valid 210 calendar days before the license application is received (§ 543B.15(9)). Average 5–6 weeks after the completed card arrives. The Commission processes the license application but holds delivery until the background is done. Do not mail the card to the FBI or DCI.

Experience

No licensed experience is required for the salesperson license. Broker is a later credential: 24 months of active salesperson experience plus 60 named broker hours.

Broker affiliation

A salesperson is assigned to a licensed broker or firm and cannot conduct business independently (193E—4.1(3)). Original salesperson licenses cannot be issued inactive (193E—4.1(1)). After the background clears, the employing broker is sent the application electronically to review and sign; you then pay the $125 license fee. Transfers let you work immediately for the new broker (193E—4.1(2)).

PSI Services LLC (https://test-takers.psiexams.com/iare; (855) 898-0712). Bulletin effective 2/8/2024. · Fee: $95

Bulletin: $95 salesperson or broker, not refundable or transferable. Fail one portion: retake only the failed portion at $95 with a new PSI registration. Iowa-portion-only requires prior written IREC authorization at the center. Both portions must still be valid — last working day of the sixth month following each pass date — when the Commission receives the electronic application. Example: pass any day in June and the score is dead December 31. You may sit before age 18; you may not apply before 18, and the sixth-month fuse still runs.

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

193E—9.1: salesperson original or renewal $125; broker $170; firm $170; branch / trade name / additional officer $50; certification $25. Late renewal January 1–30: salesperson $150 (125+25 reinstatement), broker $195. After January 30 the file is a reinstatement under 193E—4.6, not a late renewal. PSI $95 per sitting (bulletin). FBI packet $51 (DIAL criminal-history page) plus whatever the rolling location charges. Application and initialLicense in this object are the same $125 original, not stacked. E&O premium is separate (RISC group or independent). Bad-check original is null and void (9.2(5)).

• !

  Treating the three 12s as optional CE or as online self-study

  They are live-instruction prelicense, due at application, inside the 12-month fuse. Distance/online 12s will not post. They are not Nebraska Course #0003.

• !

  Sitting PSI on a 60-hour course that is 13 months old

  The 60 must be less than a year old at the sitting and at application. All 96 hours must sit inside the 12 months before the Commission receives the file. Substitution requests also die at 12 months.

• !

  Letting the FBI check age past 210 days

  § 543B.15(9) rejects the application. Start the packet early; 5–6 weeks after the card returns is typical. Do not mail the card to the FBI.

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  Banking a PSI score for a year

  Iowa scores die the last working day of the sixth month following the pass date. A June pass is dead December 31. Nebraska's 30-day issuance fuse and Washington's one-year application fuse are different clocks.

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  Applying without E&O or without a broker who will sign

  Original salesperson cannot be issued inactive. Chapter 19 E&O proof is a condition of issuance. RISC or a conforming independent policy.

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  Using a Nebraska 96-hour transcript or a Missouri 48+MREP as Iowa's 60+12+12+12

  Different named courses, different live-instruction rule, different 12-month fuse. Recognition is a Commission product, not a transcript swap. 16.2(3) substitution is written and dies at 12 months.

• !

  Treating 56 + 28 as one combined 84

  You must clear each portion. Combined 84 is the arithmetic, not a banked total you can make up on the other paper. Fail state at 27 and a 70 national does not save the sitting. Retake is another $95 and another 90-day registration.

• !

  Confusing the 90-day PSI registration with the sixth-month score fuse

  Registration unused at 90 days is a forfeited $95. A passing score unused at the last working day of the sixth month is a dead score. Schedule soon after the confirmation notice; the bulletin warns that waiting until day 80 risks weekends and holidays eating the last ten.

• !

  Showing up without the hard-copy 60-hour certificate

  Bulletin: no certificate (or Commission authorization letter), no sitting, missed appointment, fee gone. Brokers who bring one certificate instead of nine get the same result. A phone photo of the certificate is not the hard copy the center photocopies.

• !

  Using first-renewal CE as a substitute for the live 12s

  Law Update 8 and Ethics 4 are renewal products (193E—16.4). The original live 12s are Buying, Listing, and Developing Professionalism and Ethical Practices. They are not interchangeable. Newly licensed salespersons also cannot recycle the salesperson 60 as first-renewal CE (16.10(1)).

• !

  Paying original with a bad check

  193E—9.2(5): a bad payment on an original license makes the application incomplete and the license null and void. Renewal bad payments go null at December 31 plus the reinstatement adder. Two checks that bounce are two different disasters; neither is a payment plan.

• !

  Mailing the fingerprint card to the FBI or to DCI

  DIAL is explicit: do NOT submit the card, or any portion of the background, directly to the FBI or the Division of Criminal Investigation. The entire check runs through the Commission packet. IdentoGO, a leftover Nebraska State Patrol print, and a Kansas Pearson digital print are not substitutes.

Iowa Code § 543B.21 is the nonresident / recognition statute; it is not a 50-state compact this site will copy. DIAL: no residency requirement on the original-by-exam path. Iowa-portion-only exams exist for candidates the Commission has authorized in writing. Nebraska 96-hour Course #0003, Missouri MREP, and Illinois 75+45 do not swallow Iowa's three live 12s. Confirm live waivers with IREC before skipping a named course.

Is it 60 hours, or 60 plus three live 12s?

Both. 193E—16.2 and the DIAL exam page: 60-hour principles (live or online) to sit PSI, plus 12-hour Buying Practices, 12-hour Listing Practices, and 12-hour Developing Professionalism and Ethical Practices that must be live instruction. All 96 hours inside the 12 months before the Commission receives the application. Nebraska's 96 (30+30+30+6) is a different grid.

Can I take the three 12s online?

Not as ordinary distance learning. Live instruction is classroom or electronic delivery with real-time visual and audio contact (193E—16.1). Self-paced online 12s will not post. The 60-hour principles course may be online.

What is the passing score?

PSI bulletin effective 2/8/2024: 56 of 80 national points and 28 of 40 state points (84 of 120 combined). Broker is 60 of 80 national points and 30 of 40 state. Not Nebraska's 75 percent and not a scaled 70.

How long after passing do I have?

Until the last working day of the sixth month following the exam pass date. A June pass is dead December 31. Both portions must still be valid when the electronic application is received. That is tighter than a one-year score bank and looser than Nebraska's 30-day issuance fuse.

When should I fingerprint?

As soon as you open My Iowa PLB. Request the RE - Background Request packet, pay $51, return the card through the Commission. Valid 210 days from completion. Average 5–6 weeks after the card is in. Do not mail it to the FBI. A background that ages past 210 days rejects the application.

Is E&O optional?

No. Iowa Code § 543B.47 and 193E ch. 19 require uninterrupted E&O for every active license. Original applications need proof before issuance. RISC is the Commission group policy; independent policies must meet Chapter 19. Inactive licensees are exempt while inactive and must re-prove on reactivation after more than 20 days.

Can the original salesperson license be issued inactive?

No. 193E—4.1(1). You need a sponsoring broker who will sign. You cannot warehouse an original Iowa salesperson license on the shelf.

What is the renewal cycle?

Three years, counting the remaining portion of the year of issue as a full year, expiring December 31 of the third year (193E—16.4(1)). A license issued in 2026 expires December 31, 2028. Active CE is 36 hours: 8 Law Update, 4 Ethics, 24 electives, with a maximum of 24 distance/online and therefore at least 12 live. A course may be taken for credit only once per cycle unless course number and instructor both change. Up to 18 elective hours may carry forward; Law Update and Ethics cannot. Fee $125; January 1–30 late is $150. Notice may go to the email of record ~45 days prior; failure to receive it is not an excuse.

Can I sit PSI before finishing the three live 12s?

Yes. DIAL and 193E—16.2: the 60-hour principles course is the eligibility key for PSI. The three live 12s — Buying, Listing, Professionalism/Ethics — are due at application, inside the same 12 months. Do not treat that as permission to skip them; original issuance will not post without them.

What do I bring to the PSI center?

Bulletin: a hard-copy 60-hour completion certificate (or a Commission authorization / 193E—5.3 letter) and one unexpired photo ID whose name matches the PSI account. Salespersons present one certificate; brokers present nine. No certificate, no sitting, and the $95 is forfeited as a missed appointment. Arrive 30 minutes early. Remote-proctored sittings have their own camera/lighting rules and no scratch paper.

Is the 90-day PSI registration the same as the sixth-month score fuse?

No. Registration dies at 90 days if you have not TAKEN the exam (not merely scheduled it). After you pass, the score dies on the last working day of the sixth month following the pass date. Two clocks. Mix them and you pay $95 twice.

Can I use the exam as continuing education later?

193E—16.9: a salesperson (or broker) may satisfy all CE deficiencies by taking and passing the corresponding licensing examination, but only with a Commission authorization letter obtained before scheduling. If you pass inside the six months immediately preceding expiration, that sitting can cover the current term and previous deficiencies. This is a deficiency product, not a shortcut around original prelicense.

Can prelicense hours count as CE?

193E—16.10: salespersons and brokers may take up to 24 hours of the salesperson prelicense courses specified in 16.2(1) as CE, but a newly licensed salesperson cannot use those credits on the first renewal. Broker prelicense taken by a salesperson can count as salesperson CE and still count later toward the broker 60. A newly licensed broker cannot use the broker-qualifying courses as first-renewal CE.

What is an instructional hour?

193E—16.1: an hour is 50 minutes of instruction. School finals count as hours of instruction (16.2(2)). Live instruction is a classroom or electronic delivery with real-time visual and audio contact — not a recorded webinar you play back later.

Does Iowa have a recovery fund?

No. Mandatory E&O under Iowa Code § 543B.47 and 193E ch. 19 (DIAL now points independent policies at IAC 481 ch. 2019) is the statutory instrument. RISC is the Commission group policy. Proof is due on original, on reactivation after more than 20 days inactive, on transfer, and if selected for a random E&O audit. Firm licenses cannot go inactive.

I am licensed in Nebraska / Missouri / Illinois. Do I skip the 60 and the live 12s?

Not automatically. 193E—5.3 Iowa-portion-only sittings exist for people the Commission has authorized in writing — bring that letter. Substitution of substantially similar courses is a written 16.2(3) product and dies at 12 months. Nebraska Course #0003, Missouri MREP, and Illinois 75+45 are not Iowa Buying/Listing/Ethics. Nonresident consent is a section on the application, not a waiver of hours.

What convictions actually matter?

Iowa Code § 543B.15 sets waiting periods (five years after incarceration/fine/sentence for specified felony / fiduciary / fraud-type offenses; one year for other moral-turpitude offenses; a rejected application in any state inside 12 months, or a revoked real estate license inside two years, bars the file). DIAL also publishes a 272C.15 potentially-disqualifying list (drugs, sex offenses, forcible felonies, dishonesty, public-health offenses). A listed conviction is not an automatic bar; the Commission still reviews whether the conduct is inside the scope of practice. 272C.15 eligibility determinations exist. Disclose. Non-disclosure is independently disqualifying.