Broker Compliance

There are 5 possible options:

1. Pay a Nonmember Assessment

   You, as the Designated REALTOR® (Broker), are billed a nonmember assessment of $717 for each individual who is a nonmember licensee. Even when this assessment is paid, the licensee is not a REALTOR® member and there are no association benefits or services provided. Use of the REALTOR® trademark is prohibited.

2. Licensee Joins as a REALTOR®

   The licensee joins and pays REALTOR® dues and receives all the benefits of being a REALTOR®. With this option, you do not pay the nonmember assessment.
   
   How to Join

3. Drop Agent from your Brokerage

   You terminate the nonmember licensee by removing the licensee from DRE records. This can be done via eLicensing or submitting Form 214. You will not be charged the nonmember assessment for this licensee.

4. Exemption for Referral Agents

   Licensees working for a separate entity owned by the Designated REALTOR® (Broker), which is exclusively engaged in referring clients, can be excluded from your dues calculation. Any licensees identified on the Limited Function Referral Office (LFRO) Certification Form are excluded from paying REALTOR® Dues and the Designated REALTOR® (Broker) is not responsible for paying the non-member assessment. This form needs to be submitted annually.
   
   Submit the LFRO Certification Form

5. Exemption for Mortgage Loan Originators

   Affiliated MLO licensees in your firm may be excluded from your dues calculation. You must provide a list of the affiliated MLO licensees and certify that all of the listed licensees: (1) have an MLO license or endorsement; (2) are not engaged in real estate licensed activities except those for which an MLO is required; and (3) are not participants or subscribers in any 'Multiple Listing Service (“MLS”)'. This form needs to be submitted annually.
   
   Submit the MLO Certification Form

6. Commercial Certification

   In the case of a Designated REALTOR® member in a firm, partnership, or corporation whose business activity is substantially all commercial, any assessments for non-member licensees shall be limited to licensees affiliated with the Designated REALTOR® in the office where the Designated REALTOR® holds membership, and any other offices of the firm located within the jurisdiction of this Association. In order for a commercial agent to qualify for the exemption status, all three conditions must apply: (1) the office must be substantially all commercial; (2) the office must be outside of the board’s jurisdiction; and (3) the office must not be the broker’s main office that he/she works out of. This form needs to be submitted annually.
   
   Submit the Commercial Certification Form

You must submit the LFRO form because OCR’s records indicate that your office is an active real estate office, and LFROs are required to be in a separate entity or a registered Doing Business As (DBA).

For example, if the name on record for your office is “ABC Realty and Associates” and our records indicate that this is an active real estate office, the LFRO agents can be in the “XYZ Real Estate Group” instead of “ABC Realty and Associates.”

If you do not have a separate entity or DBA on file with the DRE, you need to do the paperwork necessary to create another entity and/or file a DBA as soon as possible.

• Registering a Fictitious Business Name in California
• Submitting a DBA to the DRE

You must resubmit the LFRO and MLO certifications to OCR every calendar year.

The tool C.A.R. has provided to track broker compliance is refreshed weekly, when it compares DRE records (the names of agents affiliated with your firm) with those tagged as a paid REALTOR®, a referral agent, Mortgage Loan Originator, or paid nonmember. If agents are found on the DRE record for a broker’s firm but are not in any of these four categories, OCR is required to contact the broker.

Full payment of dues owed is required for membership in a local Association of REALTORS® (AOR). Partial payment does not satisfy the dues obligation. If a Designated REALTOR® (Broker) refuses to pay his or her full dues under the Variable Dues Formula, he or she, along with his or her entire office, will have their local membership suspended—this will also suspend C.A.R. and NAR membership.

Because this process has been mandated by C.A.R., if you do not pay, your account will be active only until C.A.R. notifies OCR to suspend your benefits—this will include access to zipForms®.

Review the Broker Compliance Q&A from C.A.R. and our Broker Compliance Flow Chart.

Contact OCR Broker Compliance Department. Email is the preferred method of communication as it provides a record of our correspondence with you on this issue.