This week, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) will be mailing continuing education audit letters to Michigan real estate licensees as part of LARA’s random auditing process.  The audit covers the time period of November 1, 2015 through October 31, 2018, which is the previous three-year licensing cycle.
 
Every three years, all Michigan real estate licensees must renew their real estate licenses and also comply with the license renewal requirements.  One of the license renewal requirements is completion of all required real estate continuing education hours.  Even though most licensees are supposed to complete 18 hours of continuing education before renewing their real estate licenses, it is possible to actually renew a license without having the proper continuing education completed.  As a result, LARA performs a continuing education audit to ensure that all licensees are in full compliance.
 
The reason for this is that under the LARA’s online renewal system, there is no requirement that a licensee provide actual proof of continuing education completion before renewing a license.  Rather, each licensee must certify, by checking a box, that the renewing licensee is current on all of their continuing education.  Either due to a mistake, misunderstanding, or other reasons, some licensees may check the box certifying that their continuing education has been completed even though that is actually not the case.  LARA’s con ed audit is meant to confirm compliance with the continuing education requirements and ensure the certification was accurate.
 
1 Stop ConEd is here to help if you are missing any Michigan real estate con ed hours.  We can also help if LARA’s audit determines that you did not complete sufficient hours of continuing education before renewing your license.  All of our courses are CE Marketplace certified and guaranteed to satisfy all of LARA’s requirements.

CE Marketplace, a division of the Michigan Association of Realtors, is a statewide real estate association with more than 18,000 licensees.  As such, it is the only Michigan association that can approve real estate continuing education schools and courses.  This is according to the new rule that is set to take place in the O Cycle, which expires on October 31, 2021.  CE Marketplace further requires that continuing education providers upload attendance information to CE Marketplace no later than 10 business days from the completion date of the course. For more information, checkout www.CEMarketplace.net.

Remember, all 1 Stop ConEd LLC courses are CE Marketplace certified, and in addition to receiving a certificate of completion upon the conclusion of a course, 1 Stop ConEd LLC will also report your course completion to CE Marketplace. Be sure to checkout www.1StopConEd.com for details.

All Michigan real estate licenses expire on October 31, 2018, and need to be on or before that date.  How much real estate continuing education do you need to renew you real estate license depends on how long you have held an “active” real estate license.
 
IF YOU:

• Renewed your license in 2015; or
• Were issued a new license between 7/1/2015 – 10/31/2016; or
• Were relicensed between 7/1/2015 – 10/31/2016

THEN YOU NEED:

• 6 hours (2 hours each year) of continuing education that involves law, rules and court cases regarding real estate.
• 12 hours of other continuing education (all or part of those can be additional “law” hours)
• For a total of 18 hours of continuing education prior to renewing your license in 2018.

 
IF YOU:

• Were issued a new license between 11/1/2016 – 10/31/2017; or
• Were relicensed between 11/1/2016 – 10/31/2017

THEN YOU NEED:

• 4 hours (2 hours each year) of continuing education that involves law, rules and court cases regarding real estate.
• 8 hours of other continuing education (all or part of those can be additional “law” hours)
• For a total of 12 hours of continuing education prior to renewing your license in 2018.

 
IF YOU:

• Were issued a new license between 11/1/2017 – 7/3/2018; or
• Were relicensed between 11/1/2017 – 7/3/2018

THEN YOU NEED:

• 2 hours of continuing education that involves law, rules and court cases regarding real estate.
• 4 hours of other continuing education (all or part of those can be additional “law” hours)
• For a total of 6 hours of continuing education prior to renewing your license in 2018.

Note:  If you hold an associate and/or individual broker license and you have held an active salesperson license between 7/1/2015 – 10/31/2016 you are required to complete the entire 18 hours of continuing education.
 
If you were relicensed and used any courses to fulfill the previous year’s continuing education requirements, those courses cannot be used again for the 2018 renewal.

1 Stop Con Ed LLC can help you with all of your Michigan real estate con ed needs.  1 Stop ConEd LLC will also save your Certificate of Completion for you, so if for any reason you misplace your certificate, just let us know and we’ll send you a new one.   Additionally, all of our courses fully and completely comply with the LARA’s requirements for real estate continuing education course credit.  Our courses were prepared by licensed Michigan attorneys, who are also licensed Michigan real estate brokers, to ensure adherence to LARA’s regulations.  We absolutely guarantee that you will receive credit for any course you complete with us should you receive an audit letter from LARA.

An amendment to the Occupational Code changes the due date for real estate con ed from December 31 to October 31 of each year.  This is a significant change to timing, so make sure you complete your "legal update" courses before October 31.

Senate Bill 126, (now Public Act 56 of 2017) amends MCL 339.2504a of the Occupational Code, 1980 PA 299, by revising the continuing education requirements for licensed real estate professionals.  These requirements take effect on September 13, 2017.
 
Highlights of PA 56 of 2017 include the following:

• Two (2) hours of eligible continuing education courses involving statutes, rules, and court cases are required to be taken in each year of a license cycle.  As a result, the deadline to take the mandatory 2 hours of "legal update" continuing education has been moved up to October 31 (it's no longer December 31).
• Currently, a license cycle is 3 years and licensees must take 18 clock hours of continuing education hours per license cycle.
• If a licensee completes an education course to obtain a professional designation, the number of hours of that course will count towards the total number of hours of continuing education courses required in a license cycle.
• An applicant for license renewal must certify the number of hours of instruction included in the course, in addition to the prior requirement of providing a time statement from the continuing professional education program sponsor that states that the continuing professional education credits for the course were granted on a 50-minute hour.

The current license cycle runs November 1, 2015 to October 31, 2018. Each year of the license cycle starts on November 1 through October 31.

You used to be a Michigan licensed real estate agent, but you got out of the business for a while and let your license lapse.  Or maybe you thought you had an active license, but you recently learned that your license is in lapsed status on the State of Michigan's website.  Whatever the case may be, you no longer have an active license, but you want your license active again.  Now what do you do? 
 
If your license has been lapsed less than 3 years (expired October 31, 2015), you can apply for relicensure if you have 6 hours of con ed for year year you had a license, plus 6 hours for each you missed in the current 3-year cycle.  This is the ONLY option available to you if your license lapsed less than 3 years ago. 
 
If your license lapsed more than 3 years ago, you have some other options:
 
1) Successfully complete 6 hours of con ed for each year you held a license, plus 6 hours for each year missed in the current 3-year license cycle (which is the option above) OR
 
2) Successfully complete an approved 40-hour prelicensure course for salesperson relicensure or a 90 total hour prelicensure course for broker relicensure.   Please note that those courses cannot be completed more than 12 months before your relicensure application OR
 
3) Successfully complete/pass the State real estate exam
 
Until recently, the continuing education provider reported your course completions and those completions were registered with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA).  However, since January 1, 2015, individuals are required to save their own certificates of completion, and as a result, relicensure applications now require you to provide proof of course completion.  For that reason, you should select a continuing education provider that saves your course completions for you – or will provide proof of course completion should you lose yours.  Some providers who provide this service free are www.1StopConEd.com and www.123ConEd.com.

It’s time to renew Michigan real estate licenses again, as all Michigan real estate salesperson and broker licenses expire on October 31, 2015 (the end of the current 3-year licensing cycle), and must be renewed by that date.  There is often confusion about how many hours of Michigan real estate continuing education are required to renew a license.  This is a summary of those con ed requirements.

Within each 3-year real estate licensing cycle, a licensee must complete at least 18 clock hours of real estate continuing education that involve any subjects that are relevant to the management, operation, and practice of real estate or any other subject that contributes to the professional competence of a licensee, and at least 2 of those hours of con ed must be completed in each calendar year that involve law, rules, and court cases regarding real estate (law/legal update hours).  That means that during each licensing cycle, every licensed real estate salesperson or broker must complete at least 18 hours of con ed, including a minimum of 6 hours in the law or legal update category.  It is acceptable for all 18 hours of Michigan real estate con ed to be in the law/legal update category, as there is no maximum number of allowable law/legal update hours and all such hours count towards the 18-hour requirement.

The following is a summary of the number of hours of Michigan real estate containing education hours you will need to renew your real estate license broken down by how long you have held your real estate license:

If you:

• Renewed your Michigan real estate license in 2012 -or-
• Were issued a new Michigan real estate license between 7/1/2012 – 10/31/2013 -or-
• Were relicensed between 7/1/2012 – 10/31/2013

Then you need:

• 6 hours (2 hours each year) of CE that involves law, rules and court cases regarding real estate.
• 12 hours of other CE (those 12 hours can be additional law/legal update hours or elective hours, or a combination of both)
• For a total of 18 hours of CE prior to renewing your real estate license on or before October 31, 2015.  Remember that at least 6 hours of CE must be in the law/legal update category, although you can take more than 6 law/legal update hours since all such hours count towards the ultimate goal of completing 18 hours of Michigan real estate continuing education.

If you:

• Were issued a new Michigan real estate license between 11/1/2013 – 10/31/2014 -or-
• Were relicensed between 11/1/2013 – 10/31/2014

Then you need:

• 4 hours (2 hours each year) of continuing education that involves law, rules and court cases regarding real estate.
• 8 hours of other continuing education (those 8 hours can be additional law/legal update hours or elective hours, or a combination of both)
• For a total of 12 hours of real estate continuing education prior to renewing your license on or before October 31, 2015.  Remember that at least 4 hours of con ed must be in the law/legal update category, although you can take more than 4 law/legal update hours since all such hours count towards the ultimate goal of completing the 12 hours of Michigan real estate CE needed for license renewal.

If you:

• Were issued a new Michigan real estate license between 11/1/2014 – 7/3/2015 -or-
• Were relicensed between 11/1/2014 – 7/3/2015

Then you need:

• 2 hours of con ed that involves law, rules and court cases regarding real estate.
• 4 hours of other con ed (those 4 hours can be additional law/legal update hours or elective hours, or a combination of both)
• For a total of 6 hours of con ed prior to renewing your license on or before October 31, 2015.  Remember that at least 2 hours of continuing education must be in the law/legal update category, although you can take more than 2 law/legal update hours since all such hours count towards the ultimate goal of completing 6 hours of Michigan real estate continuing education.

Note: If you hold an associate and/or individual broker license and you have held an active salesperson license between 7/1/2012 – 10/31/2013, you are required to complete the entire 18 hours of Michigan real estate continuing education.

Note Also:  If you were relicensed and used any courses to fulfill the previous year's CE requirements, those courses cannot be used again for the 2015 renewal.

And remember that, effective January 1, 2015, Michigan real estate continuing education schools are no longer permitted to report course completions to LARA.  Pursuant to R339.2504a(2) of LARA’s Administrative Code, you must keep the Certificates of Completion for a minimum of four years.  Please make sure to hold onto your Certificate of Completion for at least four years in case you are audited by LARA.

1 Stop ConEd LLC can help you fulfill all of your Michigan real education requirements as efficiently as possible so you can renew your Michigan real estate license on time.

It’s time again for all of us licensed Michigan real estate salespersons and brokers to renew our licenses since 2015 is a license renewal year.  

According to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), a licensee must complete at least 18 clock hours of continuing education per 3-year license cycle before the licensee can renew his or her real estate license.   Licensees must certify they have completed the required continuing education on their license renewal application.  The current real estate licensing cycle ends on October 31, 2015, which means that every real estate agent and broker needs to complete 18 hours of real estate con ed on or before October 31.

Remember that a minimum of 6 hours must involve law, rules, and court cases regarding real estate, although you can take more than the minimum since all law/legal update hours count towards the ultimate goal of 18 hours of continuing education credit.

Have you completed your 18 hour of Michigan real estate con ed yet?  It not, the time is now!

Let 1 Stop ConEd LLC help you get your hours from the comfort or your home of office.   There is no longer any reason to sit in a conference room for hours to complete your mandatory Michigan real estate continuing hours, when 1 Stop ConEd LLC provides interesting and informative home study courses that you can complete on your own schedule and from anywhere.

1 Stop ConEd LLC is a Michigan company that specializes in Michigan real estate continuing education courses.

1 Stop ConEd LLC will also save your Certificate of Completion for you, so if for any reason you misplace your certificate, just let us know and we’ll send you a new one.   Additionally, all of our courses fully and completely comply with LARA’s requirements for real estate continuing education course credit.  Our courses were prepared by licensed Michigan attorneys, who are also licensed Michigan real estate brokers, to ensure adherence to LARA’s regulations.  We absolutely guarantee that you will receive credit for any course you complete with us should you receive an audit letter from LARA.