What Is FREC? The Florida Real Estate Commission Explained for Agents

If you hold a Florida real estate license, you have seen the letters FREC on your pre-license course, your exam results and your continuing education certificate. The Florida Real Estate Commission is the board that sets and enforces the rules for every sales associate and broker in the state. Knowing what it does, and how it works with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), makes it easier to keep your license active and your renewals on time.

What FREC does

FREC's job is to protect the public through the education and regulation of real estate licensees. It enforces Chapter 475, Part I of the Florida Statutes, the state's real estate license law, and it adopts the rules agents must follow in Chapter 61J2 of the Florida Administrative Code. FREC regulates sales associates, brokers, real estate schools and instructors. It approves license applications, decides whether the license law has been violated and imposes penalties when it has.

Who sits on the Commission

Under section 475.02, Florida Statutes, FREC has seven members, each appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Florida Senate for four-year terms. Four members must be licensed brokers who have held an active license for the five years before their appointment. One member must be a licensed broker or sales associate with an active license for the two years before appointment. Two members must be consumers who are not, and have never been, brokers or sales associates. At least one member must be 60 years of age or older. The mix is intentional: experienced practitioners set the standards, and consumer members keep the public's interest at the table.

FREC and DBPR: who does what

FREC sets policy and makes decisions, while the DBPR Division of Real Estate, based in Orlando, handles the day-to-day work of supporting the Commission. The Division also supports the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board, which oversees appraisers. In practice, you deal with DBPR when you apply for a license, renew it, update your address or employing broker, or check your education records, and those transactions run under the rules FREC adopts. FREC usually meets monthly, typically over two days around the third Wednesday of the month.

How FREC affects your continuing education

The 14 hours of continuing education you complete each renewal cycle exist because of FREC rules. Those rules set the required mix: 3 hours of Core Law, 3 hours of Ethics and Business Practices and 8 hours of specialty education (14-hour CE breakdown). They also set the separate post-licensing requirement for your first renewal (post-licensing vs. CE) and the education needed to reactivate an inactive license (reactivating an inactive license). Because FREC regulates real estate schools and instructors, the course you take must come from an approved provider. The free 14-hour course on this site is provided by Sunstate Real Estate School, a DBPR-approved provider.

What this means for you day to day

Most agents never appear before the Commission, and the goal is to keep it that way. Complete your CE before your license expires on March 31 or September 30, keep your contact and broker information current with DBPR, and confirm your hours have posted before you renew (check your CE hours with DBPR). The Core Law portion of your CE exists to keep you current on changes to license law and FREC rules, so it is worth paying attention to rather than clicking through.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Section 475.02, Florida Statutes; DBPR Florida Real Estate Commission information. This is general information, not legal advice.