Who needs a real estate license in Florida?

What the law says

• The law defines a broker as someone who, for pay or the hope of pay, sells, buys, rents, appraises, auctions, or advertises real property for another person, or helps find buyers, sellers, or renters (475.01(1)(a)).
• A sales associate does those same acts, but under the direction, control, or management of another person (475.01(1)(j)).
• A single such act is enough to count as operating as a broker or sales associate, and each prohibited act is a separate offense (475.01(3)).
• Operating as a broker or sales associate without a valid and current active license is a felony of the third degree (475.42(1)(a)).
• The license law does not apply to a person or company selling, exchanging, or leasing its own real property, unless it pays someone on a per-deal basis to make sales to the public in the ordinary course of business (475.011(2)).
• Other people left out include attorneys and CPAs acting within their duties, court-appointed personal representatives and trustees, and licensed appraisers doing appraisals (475.011(1) and (9)).
• A sales associate may collect money in a deal only in the name of their employer and with the employer's express consent (475.42(1)(d)).

“A person may not operate as a broker or sales associate without being the holder of a valid and current active license therefor.”

475.01, Florida Statutes

Who this is for

Buying · Selling · For agents

Last checked against the official text on November 5, 2026. Laws change, and the official text always wins. This is general information, not legal advice. For your own situation, ask a Florida real estate attorney.