North Carolina Continuing Education Requirements

North Carolina real estate licensees are required to complete 8 hours of continuing education by June 10th annually. 4 of those hours may be elective courses and can be completed online through Empire Learning.

The additional 4 hours will be the commission-mandated General Update or Broker-In-Charge Update and must be completed in a classroom setting or online live format. If you are a Broker-In-Charge or Broker-In-Charge eligible, you must complete the 4-hour Broker-In-Charge Update. Otherwise, you are required to complete the 4-hour General Update.

Please note that courses cannot be offered between June 11th and June 30th. As such, any in-progress courses should be completed by June 10th to avoid starting the course over when it becomes available again on July 1st, per NCREC CE regulations.

Expired license? Click here for additional information

Total Hours: 8
Final Exam: Yes
Mandatory Hours: 4.00
Passing Score: 70%
Elective Hours: 4.00
Max Final Exam Attempts: 2
Mandatory Topic(s): Broker-In-Charge Update OR General Update
Seat Timer: Yes
Education Completed By: 6/10

Additional Information:

All courses must be completed within 30 days of beginning the particular course. If 30 days have expired, you will be re-enrolled in the course at no extra cost; however, you will lose any previously completed progress.

Nonresident Brokers: The continuing education requirement can be fulfilled with two Commission-approved continuing education Elective courses, instead of an Elective course and an Update course. More information.

Reinstate Provisional Broker License:

  • Expired 6 months or less: Complete CE requirements and pay $90 reinstatement fee to the NCREC.
  • Expired over 6 months and up to 2 years: Complete a Postlicensing course (Empire Learning does not currently offer this) OR passing the National and State sections of the license exam, pay reinstatement fee, and complete a criminal background check.
  • Expired over 2 years: Expired over 2 years and up to 3 years: Complete a Broker Prelicense course AND passing the National and State sections of the license exam, pay reinstatement fee, and complete a criminal background check.

Reinstate "Full" Broker License:

  • Expired 6 months or less: Complete CE requirements and pay $90 reinstatement fee to the NCREC.
  • Expired over 6 months and up to 2 years: Complete a Postlicensing course (Empire Learning does not currently offer this) OR passing the National and State sections of the license exam, pay reinstatement fee, and complete a criminal background check.
  • Expired over 2 years and up to 3 years: Complete a Broker Prelicense course AND passing the National and State sections of the license exam, pay reinstatement fee, and complete a criminal background check.
  • Expired over 3 years: Can only initially obtain Inactive Provisional Broker status.

More information about reinstating expired NC licenses.

Regulatory Agency:

North Carolina Real Estate Commission
(919) 875-3700
http://www.ncrec.gov
CE Requirements: Broker and Broker-in-Charge

Renewal Information:

The annual period for renewal of your real estate license begins at midnight on May 15 and continues until June 30. Your license can be renewed online at https://www.ncrec.gov/.