How to apply for your Alabama Real Estate Salesperson License

Once you complete you prelicense course and pass your state exam, it is time to apply for your salesperson license.

AREC provides the following instructions on its website. 

• IMPORTANT: The following information is necessary to complete the application instructions that are given with the applicant’s score report. Failure to utilize this information in pursuing the licensing application process may result in delays due to incomplete application materials or inadequate documents. Such delays will not waive the 90-day deadline.
• 90-Day Deadline: The completed applications, all additional materials and fees MUST be complete and submitted to the Alabama Real Estate Commission within 90 days of your examination date. The 90-day timeframe is measured from examination date to postmark for those applications mailed into the Commission. Failure to meet this deadline will mean your exam score is null and void.

• A complete application consists of the following:

• Application for Real Estate License: which is accessible using the website link provided in the passing examination score report.

• Fees: Fees vary depending upon the license-type you are seeking. Refer to the license application for an accurate accounting of the fees owed.

• Fingerprint-Based Background Check: Applicants must submit to a fingerprint-based federal and state criminal background check, mandated by 34-27-32 Code of Alabama, by working with the Commission’s processing company, Fieldprint.

• IMPORTANT: License issuance will not proceed until the Commission has received and reviewed the criminal history record information (CHRI) along with your application. The criminal record information will come to the Commission directly from Fieldprint and will only be available to the Commission for 30 days; therefore, we recommend that applicants submit this form (by mail or in-person) to the Real Estate Commission on the same day that they go to a fingerprinting site to be scanned.

PROCEDURES RELATED TO FINGERPRINT-BASED CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS INFORMATION

Applicants for licensure must follow the instructions for fingerprint scanning and processing found at fieldprintalabama.com. The Commission can only utilize fingerprints processed through Fieldprint. We also cannot accept fingerprints completed for any reason outside of pursuing a real estate license from the Alabama Real Estate Commission. The fingerprints will be utilized to conduct a federal and state criminal background check per Ala. Code Act 2016-322.

Non-resident applicants who cannot find a fingerprint scanning site in their area should contact the Commission's Licensing Division for information.

The applicant is notified that he/she may challenge or appeal any portion of his/her own Criminal History Record Information (CHRI) that he/she believes to be incomplete or inaccurate by contacting the Records & Identification Division within ALEA 334-353-4340.

If your intention is to CHALLENGE any part of your CHRI maintained by ALEA, the documentation submitted to ALEA must include, at a minimum:

• a. A copy of the Alabama Criminal History Record being challenged;
• b. The charge and DATE of each specific arrest or disposition being challenged;
• c. The Name of the ARRESTING AGENCY OR COURT for each arrest or disposition being challenged;
• d. A listing of each specific arrest or disposition being challenged;
• e. The details related to why each specific arrest is inaccurate;
• f. What the applicant believes to be the correct information for each arrest or disposition being challenged;
• g. Where the applicant obtained what he/she believes to be the correct supporting information (if applicable); and
• h. Official documentation from the arresting agency or court (if applicable) to support each arrest or disposition being challenged.

ALEA PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT
This privacy act statement is located on the back of the FD-258 fingerprint card.

Authority: The FBI’s acquisition, preservation, and exchange of fingerprints and associated information is generally authorized under 28 U.S,C. 534. Depending on the nature of your application, supplemental authorities include Federal statutes, State statutes pursuant to Pub. L. 92-544, Presidential Executive Orders, and federal regulations. Providing your fingerprints and associated information is voluntary; however, failure to do so may affect completion or approval of your application.

Principal Purpose: Certain determinations, such as employment, licensing, and security clearances, may be predicated on fingerprint-based background checks. Your fingerprints and associated information/biometrics may be provided to the employing, investigating, or otherwise responsible agency, and/or the FBI for the purpose of comparing your fingerprints to other fingerprints in the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system or its successor systems (including civil, criminal, and latent fingerprint repositories) or other available records of the employing, investigating, or otherwise responsible agency. The FBI may retain your fingerprints and associated information/biometrics in NGI after the completion of this application and, while retained, your fingerprints may continue to be compared against other fingerprints submitted to or retained by NGI.

Routine Uses: During the processing of this application and for as long as thereafter as your fingerprints and associated information/biometrics are retained in NGI, your information may be disclose pursuant to your consent, and may be disclosed without your consent as permitted by the Privacy Act of 1974 and all applicable Routine Uses as may be published at any time in the Federal Register, including the Routine Uses for the NGI system and the FBI’s Blanket Routine Uses. Routine uses include, but are not limited to, disclosures to: employing, governmental or authorized non-governmental agencies responsible for employment, contracting licensing, security clearances, and other suitability determinations; local, state, tribal, or federal law enforcement agencies; criminal justice agencies, and agencies responsible for national security or public safety.

Applicants must fill out a registration form found on Fieldprint’s website at fieldprintalabama.com. Fieldprint’s registration form requires the applicant’s User Identification Number assigned by the Commission. Fieldprint will then assign their own registration i.d. number (REG ID) to the applicant who must submit the REG ID when they appear at the fingerprinting/scanning site of their choosing. An extensive list of all fingerprinting sites and hours of availability is kept current on Fieldprint’s website.

The applicant will be asked to pay a fee for the background check. Follow the instructions on Fieldprint’s website fieldprintalabama.com for proper forms of payment.

At the scanning site, applicants will be required to supply proper I.D. See instructions on Fieldprint’s website fieldprintalabama.com in this regard.

Occasionally, there is trouble with the fingerprint image, should that occur you will be contacted by Fieldprint and required to submit another set of prints. One re-scan is done free of charge.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have been convicted of a felony, you will be required to submit court documents concerning your conviction. These are in addition to the FBI report that we will get. These are your responsibility. We recommend that you expedite your application process by proceeding to obtain these court documents as early as possible.

Proof of age: Applicant must be at least 19 years old and must document with a legible copy of both sides of ONE of the following:

1. a copy of a valid driver’s license; or
2. a U.S. passport; or
3. a birth certificate; or
4. any other documentation acceptable to the Alabama Real Estate Commission.

Proof of U.S. citizenship, permanent resident alien, or legal presence in the United States: Acceptable documentation is a legible copy of both sides of ONE of the following:

1. Driver’s license or non-driver identification issued by any state of the United States; or
2. Birth certificate issued by any state in the United States; or
3. Permanent Resident Card; commonly known as a “green card”; or
4. Any visa issued by the United States; or
5. Any other documentation issued by the United States indicating legal presence in the United States.

Proof of residency in your state of domicile, document with a copy of both sides of ONE of the following:

1. driver’s license; or
2. car tag receipt; or
3. deed to home; or
4. lease agreement on a home or residential apartment; or
5. property tax bill; or
6. voter’s registration card

1. *If you are NOT a resident of Alabama, you must also complete the 

Consent to Jurisdiction Form

1. .

Certification of Licensure: This is required of those seeking a reciprocal license. Please see information on the application instructions that accompany your passing examination score report. All other applicants who hold or have held a real estate license in another state within the last 3 years must also supply this document. The document must not be more than 120 days old. COPIES OF LICENSES will NOT substitute.

Proof of successful completion of high school or the equivalent: This is NOT required of those seeking a reciprocal license. If you have submitted this to the Commission before, you may check to see if the Commission has retained it or if you will need to supply it again. To document proof of high school graduation, attach a copy of one of the following:

1. high school diploma
2. college transcript or diploma
3. GED certificate
4. teaching certificate
5. DD-214 indicating verification of high school completion
6. HiSet or a TASC certificate

ALABAMA REAL ESTATE APPLICANTS, SALESPERSONS OR ASSOCIATE BROKERS MAY NOT ENGAGE IN REAL ESTATE BUSINESS UNTIL THEIR LICENSE HAS BEEN ISSUED TO THEIR QUALIFYING BROKER.

QUALIFYING BROKERS SEE BELOW.
Broker license applicants must also:

1. If you currently hold an active salesperson license, have your qualifying broker return it to the Commission when these application materials are ready to be submitted.
2. If you will be the qualifying broker for a company or branch, the appropriate application for such license may be obtained HERE and must be submitted with the application for license and the appropriate fees.
3. If you will replace a qualifying broker for an existing company please include a Change of Qualifying Broker form with the appropriate fees.

IF YOUR BROKER’S LICENSE WILL BE ISSUED TO THE SAME COMPANY THAT HOLDS YOUR SALESPERSON’S LICENSE, YOU MAY CONTINUE TO WORK. IF YOUR BROKER’S LICENSE WILL BE ISSUED TO A DIFFERENT COMPANY, YOU MAY NOT ENGAGE IN BUSINESS UNTIL YOUR BROKER’S LICENSE HAS BEEN ISSUED. SENDING THIS APPLICATION CERTIFIED MAIL WILL NOT PERMIT YOU TO WORK PRIOR TO THE TIME THE LICENSE IS ISSUED.