Property Management Laws in North Carolina

Must North Carolina property management companies have a real estate broker's license?

YES. Key components of property management (leasing and renting) are considered real estate activities under existing North Carolina real estate licensing laws. If a property manager is going to lease, rent, or list, or offers to perform any of those acts, he or she will need a broker's license. A salesperson working under a broker may engage in such activities.

Are there any exceptions to the requirement that a North Carolina property manager have a real estate broker's license?

YES. For example, on-site managers and salaried employees of real estate brokers working for property owners are exempt if their employment is limited to certain activities, such as showing units to prospective tenants, accepting application for lease of the units, accepting security deposits and rent (when they are payable to the property owner) and accepting lease applications. Such employees may not negotiate security deposits, rental payments or leases.

For more information about these and other North Carolina property management requirements and exceptions, please contact the North Carolina Real Estate Commission.

Before hiring a property manager to manage your North Carolina rental property, you should always check that he or she is licensed appropriately. You can check the license status of North Carolina property managers at the North Carolina licensee database.

North Carolina Community Association Management Requirements

There is no requirement that a community association manager or condo association manager in North Carolina hold a real estate broker's license.

North Carolina Broker Licensing

North Carolina is a "broker license only" state. This means that there is one type of license in North Carolina - the broker license. However, there are a few "categories" of broker licenses. The Provisional Broker license is the entry-level license, and would be roughly equivalent to a salesperson license. The Broker license is the primary individual license, acquired after satisfying post-licensing education requirements to terminate the provisional license. A Broker-in-Charge license is a higher level license, requiring the applicant to have two full-time or part time years of brokerage experience. Each real estate office must have a Broker-in-Charge designated.

Real estate provisional broker licensing requirements in North Carolina include:

• Age: must be at least 18 years of age
• Citizenship: must be a US citizen, a non-citizen national or a qualified alien under federal law, with a social security number
• Education: pass 75 hour prelicense course
• Exam: pass the real estate license examination
• Trustworthiness: satisfy the character requirement

Please note that licensing reciprocity with other states ended in North Carolina on February 29, 2012.

For more information about these and other licensing requirements, please contact the North Carolina Real Estate Commission.