Montana

The Montana Board of Realty Regulation, part of the Department of Labor and Industry, licenses salespersons and brokers and separately issues the supervising-broker endorsement a broker needs to sign a salesperson application. Pearson VUE delivers the exam. The January 2026 handbook (#092700) sets the exam format for both salespersons and brokers: $95 per portion; national 80 scored plus 5 pretest in 150 minutes at 75 percent; state 40 scored plus 10 pretest in 90 minutes at 75 percent. Taking both portions costs $190. ARM 24.210.611 governs the license application: no application until you pass the exam, then twelve months to apply before the results expire. Salesperson education is 70 hours within 24 months; broker education is 60 hours within 18 months, plus two years as a salesperson and 30 points in 36 months documented on Board forms.

Many school materials confuse that 12-month application deadline with statements in Pearson's handbook. Pearson also says exam results are good for three years, that salesperson authorization lasts five years after the first required education course, and that broker authorization lasts ten. Those are Pearson eligibility windows. The Board's 12-month deadline is what invalidates a score for licensure.

Montana has no recovery fund. Instead, it requires continuous E&O (MCA 37-51-325) and offers group-policy enrollment on the Board homepage. Neither the current salesperson application nor the 12/2025 broker checklist lists a fingerprint vendor; the background review is personal-history questions plus license verification from every jurisdiction where you have held any professional license. Original Board fees are $80 (salesperson) and $90 (broker) under ARM 24.210.401; the $150 on the 2018 checklist no longer applies. Renewal is annual, September 1 through October 31. CE is 12 hours every licensing year from November 1 to October 31 (ARM 24.210.667 as amended 9/7/2024), with no carryover.

The supervising-broker endorsement affects you at both career levels. A salesperson cannot apply without a broker who holds it. A new broker cannot supervise without taking the 8-hour pre-endorsement course and then 4 hours of CE with that title each year, within the 12. There is no endorsement fee. A terminated endorsement cannot be reinstated. Neighboring states' hour counts (Idaho 90, North Dakota 90, South Dakota's 116-hour broker associate, Wyoming's named courses) are covered in the comparison section.