Montana Real Estate Broker License requirements

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

1. 1

   Confirm two years as a licensed salesperson and start the 30-point tally on Board forms

   Closed residential = 1 point (max five leases); farm/ranch/ag/commercial = 3. Own-property and mortgage-broker work do not count. Teams: one credit total per side. Get the supervising broker of record to complete the transaction sheets — staff will not advise on point allocation (12/2025 checklist).

2. 2

   Complete the 60-hour broker prelicense inside 18 months of application

   Not the salesperson 70. Not the 8-hour supervising-broker pre-endorsement course. Course exam required (MCA 37-51-302(2)(e)).

3. 3

   Pearson broker exam — $95 per portion

   National 80/150 min/75% and state 40/90 min/75% including six broker-only items. Waiver candidates sit state only. Apply to the Board within 12 months of the exam.

4. 4

   File the $90 broker application with transaction sheets and E&O

   Accela/POL (aca-prod.accela.com/POL per the 12/2025 checklist). Attach 60-hour certificate, both score reports, Board forms only, license verifications, E&O. Nonroutine files go to the Board (611(10)).

5. 5

   If you will supervise salespersons, take the 8-hour pre-endorsement course

   The broker license does not include the endorsement. Keep it with 4 hours of "Supervising Broker" CE each year inside the 12. Miss it and the endorsement terminates and cannot be reinstated.

Minimum age

18 years old

Identification

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

Residency and identification

Montana residency is not required. Experience may be earned while licensed in Montana or in another jurisdiction (ARM 24.210.611(9)(c)), but it must be legally obtained as a real-estate licensee — not as an unlicensed assistant and not as a mortgage broker. Waiver applicants must hold a current active license in good standing (611(6)).

Qualifying education

ARM 24.210.611(9)(a) / MCA 37-51-302(2)(e): 60 classroom or equivalent hours in addition to the salesperson prelicense, obtained within 18 months immediately preceding the application, in a Board-approved course covering real estate principles, law, finance, and related topics, with a passing course examination. The Board homepage currently advertises 60-hour broker pre-licensing blocks separate from the 70-hour salesperson blocks and from the 8-hour supervising-broker pre-endorsement course. The salesperson 70 is not this 60.

Education or filing deadline

Broker prelicense ≤18 months at application (ARM 24.210.611(9)(a)). Exam ≤12 months at application (611(3)). Pearson broker authorization is ten years after the first course required to take the broker exams — Pearson eligibility, not the Board clocks.

Character review

Same good-repute standard (MCA 37-51-302(1)). Nonroutine applications are reviewed by the Board (611(10)). Personal-history "yes" answers require source documents; the 12/2025 checklist flags discipline documentation from the licensing board, federal agencies, or court.

Background process

12/2025 broker checklist: personal history and official license verification, not a fingerprint vendor. Same as the salesperson packet. ARM 24.210.401 has no fingerprint fee.

Experience

MCA 37-51-302(2)(c): two years actively engaged as a licensed salesperson, or equivalent the Board accepts. ARM 24.210.611(9)(b) currently requires 30 points in the 36 months before application, in any mix of transaction, education, supervision, and educator points, documented on Board transaction sheets. The 12/2025 checklist lists both the two-year floor and the 30-point test.

Broker affiliation

A Montana broker license authorizes independent practice. Supervising salespersons requires a separate supervising-broker endorsement: 8-hour pre-endorsement course, then 4 hours of titled "Supervising Broker" CE each licensing year inside the 12-hour CE total (Board endorsement page; ARM 24.210.604). No endorsement fee (MCA 37-51-302(6)(b)). The endorsement cannot be placed inactive; a terminated endorsement cannot be reinstated — retake the current pre-endorsement course. Reasonable-supervision duties for brokers who do hold the endorsement sit in ARM 24.210.605 (written office policy, etc.).

Pearson VUE, handbook #092700 (January 2026). Same $95-per-portion table as salesperson; broker rows are separate exam types. · Fee: $95

$95 per portion; both portions $190. Pass one, retake only the failed part. 48-hour change/cancel. Pearson broker authorization is ten years after the first required broker-exam course. ARM 24.210.611(3) still kills results not used in a license application within 12 months. Waiver applicants sit the state portion only. Walk-ins unavailable.

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

ARM 24.210.401 and the live broker page: original broker $90, active renewal $90, inactive renewal $45, activate from inactive $45. Pearson #092700: $95 per portion (national $95, state $95). Application and initialLicense are the same $90 original, not stacked. Supervising-broker endorsement has no licensing fee (MCA 37-51-302(6)(b)). Examination fees payable to Pearson (24.210.401(3)). All Board fees nonrefundable. No fingerprint line.

• !

  Treating the broker license as the supervising-broker endorsement

  Salespersons cannot hang under a broker who lacks the endorsement. The endorsement is an 8-hour pre-endorsement course plus 4 titled hours a year. Passing the broker exam does not confer it. Missing the 4 hours terminates it with no reinstatement path (ARM 24.210.604).

• !

  Submitting MLS printouts instead of Board transaction sheets

  ARM 24.210.611(5): all experience, including transactions, must be presented on Board forms. 12/2025 checklist: "No other form or computer printout will be accepted." Incomplete point math gets an incomplete determination; staff will not advise on allocation.

• !

  Counting own-property deals, unsold listings, or mortgage-broker work

  ARM 24.210.611(9)(d)–(f) and (h) strip those out. Teams share one credit per side. Lease caps are five residential and five commercial. Two years of licensure with the wrong kind of production still fails the 30-point test.

• !

  Letting the 60-hour broker course age past 18 months

  Salesperson education is 24 months. Broker education is 18 (ARM 24.210.611(9)(a)). The 12-month exam-to-application clock is on top of that. Pearson's 10-year broker authorization does not extend either Board fuse.

• !

  Paying $80 because that is the salesperson original

  Broker original is $90 (ARM 24.210.401(4); live broker page). Pearson is still $95 per portion. Waiver applicants who only sit state still pay $95 + $90, not a discounted Board fee.

• !

  Assuming a first-year CE holiday applies to a new broker

  ARM 24.210.667 as amended 9/7/2024 does not print a first-renewal exemption. Association pages that still recite a <12-month salesperson waiver are secondary, and they never applied to brokers. Budget 12 hours by October 31, including 4 supervising-broker hours if the endorsement is active.

No sister-state list. ARM 24.210.611(6)–(7): waiver applicant must hold a current active license in good standing and must pass the Montana state examination. 12/2025 out-of-state broker checklist: state-portion results, Board transaction sheets, official license verification from every jurisdiction of any professional license, discipline documents if any, $90. Experience earned in another jurisdiction counts if legally obtained while licensed (611(9)(c)), but it still has to fit the 30-point form. Idaho Brokerage Management 28 + Law 30 is not Montana's 60 without a waiver file.

Does the salesperson 70 count as broker education?

No. ARM 24.210.611(9)(a) is 60 hours of broker prelicense within 18 months of application, in addition to the salesperson hours (MCA 37-51-302(2)(e)). The 8-hour supervising-broker pre-endorsement course is a third, separate class.

Is two years as a salesperson enough?

It is the statutory floor (MCA 37-51-302(2)(c)). ARM 24.210.611(9)(b) also wants 30 points in the last 36 months on Board transaction sheets. The 12/2025 checklist lists both. Two quiet years with no closed deals will not fill 30 transaction points; education, supervision, and educator points can mix in, with the caps in 611(9).

What is the broker exam shape?

Same Pearson table as salesperson, priced per portion at $95: national 80 scored / 150 min / 75% (+5 pretest); state 40 scored / 90 min / 75% (+10 pretest). The state outline adds six broker-only items on trust accounts, supervision, place of business, recordkeeping, and closing. Waiver applicants sit state only.

Does passing the broker exam let me supervise salespersons?

No. Supervising Broker Endorsement is a separate Board product: 8-hour pre-endorsement course, then 4 hours of titled "Supervising Broker" CE per licensing year inside the 12. No endorsement fee. A terminated endorsement cannot be reinstated (ARM 24.210.604).

Can I use out-of-state broker experience?

ARM 24.210.611(9)(c) allows experience legally obtained while licensed in another jurisdiction, scored on the same 30-point form. Waiver applicants with a current active license sit the Montana state exam only (611(6)–(7)) and still file Board transaction sheets and license verifications (12/2025 out-of-state checklist). There is no sister-state reciprocity list.

What deals do not count toward the 30 points?

Own-property and deals by an entity you have an interest in, or that employed you as an employee (611(9)(d)). Mortgage-broker-only work (611(9)(e)). Listings that did not sell (611(9)(f)). More than five residential leases or five commercial leases. Team members share one credit total per side (611(9)(h)). Computer printouts in lieu of Board forms (12/2025 checklist).

Is E&O required of brokers too?

Yes. MCA 37-51-325 and qualification 7 on the 12/2025 broker checklist. The Board homepage enrolls the group policy. There is no recovery-fund fee on ARM 24.210.401.