Rhode Island

The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, Division of Commercial Licensing, Real Estate Section is at the John O. Pastore Center in Cranston and licenses salespersons and brokers under R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 5-20.5 and 230-RICR-30-20-2. It does not write the exam. Pearson VUE does, under Candidate Handbook #094000 (January 2026): salesperson national 80 scored items in 2.5 hours at $53, salesperson state 50 scored in 1.5 hours at $50, broker national the same 80 at $53, broker state 60 scored in 1.5 hours at $50. Passing is a scaled 70 on every exam. Candidates take the Pearson exam first, then apply to DBR.

Classroom is a defined term. 230-RICR-30-20-2.2 and 2.7 require 45 classroom hours for salesperson and 90 for broker, in person or live-virtual with the student on camera. On-demand pre-licensing is prohibited. The salesperson 45 cannot count toward the broker 90. Hours expire after two years (salesperson) or four years (broker). A separate 3-hour Lead Poisoning / Lead Hazard Mitigation certificate is a listed attachment on original and reciprocal files. Reciprocity is limited to Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Florida mutual recognition, and none of those paths skip the lead certificate.

The DBR application requires two separate payments ($140 salesperson original or $180 broker original to the Treasurer, plus $25 Recovery Account), an Attorney General BCI from 4 Howard Avenue, and errors-and-omissions insurance with a $50,000 / $150,000 individual floor. Licenses issued after January 1, 2020 expire on the anniversary; older licenses expire May 1 of even years. CE is 24 hours with 9 CORE including 3 fair housing. A Rhode Island broker license requires two years full-time as a salesperson and 90 new classroom hours, and it brings a principal-broker role that holds the escrow account. It is not a second 45-hour salesperson course.