Iowa Code § 543B.15 - Qualifications

1. Except as provided in section 543B.20 an applicant for a real estate broker’s or salesperson’s license must be a person whose application has not been rejected for licensure in this or any other state within twelve months prior to the date of application, and whose real estate license has not been revoked in this or any other state within two years prior to date of application. 2. To qualify for a license as a real estate broker or salesperson a person shall be eighteen years of age or over. However, an applicant is not ineligible because of citizenship, sex, race, religion, marital status, or national origin, although the application form may require citizenship information. 3. a. An applicant for a real estate broker’s or salesperson’s license who has been convicted of an offense specified in this subsection shall not be considered for licensure until the following time periods have elapsed following completion of any applicable period of incarceration, or payment of a fine or fulfillment of any other type of sentence: (1) For an offense which is classified as a felony, an offense including or involving forgery, embezzlement, obtaining money under false pretenses, theft, arson, extortion, conspiracy to defraud, or other similar offense, or any other offense involving a criminal breach of fiduciary duty, five years. (2) For any offense not described in subparagraph (1) involving moral turpitude, one year. b. After expiration of the time periods specified in paragraph “a”, an application shall be considered by the commission pursuant to subsection 6 and may be denied on the grounds of the conviction. An applicant may request a hearing pursuant to section 543B.19 in the event of a denial. c. For purposes of this section, “convicted” or “conviction” means a conviction for an indictable offense and includes a court’s acceptance of a guilty plea, deferred judgment from the time of entry of the deferred judgment until the time the defendant is discharged by the court without entry of judgment, or other finding of guilt by a court of competent jurisdiction in this state, or in any other state, territory, or district of the United States, or in any foreign jurisdiction. A copy of the record of conviction is conclusive evidence of such conviction. 4. An applicant for a real estate broker’s or salesperson’s license who has had a professional license of any kind revoked or suspended or who has had any other form of discipline imposed, in this or any other jurisdiction, may be denied a license by the commission on the grounds of the revocation, suspension, or other discipline. 5. A person who makes a false statement of material fact on an application for a real estate broker’s or salesperson’s license, or who causes to be submitted, or has been a party to preparing or submitting any false application for such license, may be denied a license by the commission on the grounds of the false statement or submission. 6. The commission, when considering the denial of a license pursuant to this section, shall consider the nature of the offense; any aggravating or extenuating circumstances which are documented; the time lapsed since the revocation, conduct, or conviction; the rehabilitation, treatment, or restitution performed by the applicant; and any other factors the commission deems relevant. Character references may be required but shall not be obtained from licensed real estate brokers or salespersons. 7. To qualify for a license as a real estate broker, a person shall complete at least sixty contact hours of commission approved real estate education within twenty-four months prior to taking the broker examination. This education shall be in addition to the required salesperson prelicense course. The applicant shall have been a licensed real estate salesperson actively engaged in real estate for a period of at least twenty-four months preceding the date of application, or shall have had experience substantially equal to that which a licensed real estate salesperson would ordinarily receive during a period of twenty-four months, whether as a former broker or salesperson, a manager of real estate, or otherwise. 8. A qualified applicant for a license as a real estate salesperson shall complete a commission approved short course in real estate education of at least thirty hours during the twelve months prior to taking the salesperson examination. 9. An applicant for an initial real estate broker’s or salesperson’s license shall be subject to a national criminal history check through the federal bureau of investigation. The commission shall request the criminal history check and shall provide the applicant’s fingerprints to the department of public safety for submission through the state criminal history repository to the federal bureau of investigation. The applicant shall authorize release of the results of the criminal history check to the real estate commission. The applicant shall pay the actual cost of the fingerprinting and criminal history check, if any. Unless the criminal history check was completed within the two hundred ten calendar days prior to the date the license application is received by the real estate commission, the commission shall reject and return the application to the applicant. The commission shall process the application but hold delivery of the license until the background check is complete. The results of a criminal history check conducted pursuant to this subsection shall not be considered a public record under chapter 22. [C31, 35, §1905-c30; C39, §1905.27; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §117.15; 81 Acts, ch 54, §6, 7] 85 Acts, ch 82, §1 C93, §543B.15 95 Acts, ch 64, §1; 2002 Acts, ch 1031, §2; 2005 Acts, ch 36, §1; 2006 Acts, ch 1055, §3; 2007 Acts, ch 187, §1, 2; 2008 Acts, ch 1099, §1, 2; 2010 Acts, ch 1068, §1 – 3; 2017 Acts, ch 71, §1 Referred to in §543B.28, 543B.29, 543B.43