New York: your license, the contract and the attorneys, and the rules of a deal
New York licenses real estate agents through the Department of State, Division of Licensing Services. This guide covers how to get the license, the Department of State's rules for your listings and your ads, agency disclosure and the buyer agreement, the contract of sale and the attorneys, co-ops, seller disclosures, and transfer taxes. Many facts are New York State law and apply across the state. A fact or a section that applies only in New York City says so. Every fact comes from a New York statute or rule, a New York State or New York City agency, a New York City law, or a source such as the NYC Bar contract form, REBNY, OneKey MLS, or the EPA, and links to its source.
Every fact links to its source. Checked Oct 9, 2026
Getting your New York license
You may not work as, or present yourself as, a real estate broker or real estate salesperson in New York without first getting a license. For a salesperson license, you must be over the age of 18; for a broker license, 20 or over. If you were convicted of a crime, in New York or elsewhere, you are not entitled to a license unless the Secretary of State finds, under the law, including Article 23-A of the Correction Law, that the convictions do not bar licensure. You must also meet the requirements of General Obligations Law section 3-503. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
As a salesperson, you are associated with a licensed real estate broker to do work such as listing, selling, buying, leasing, or renting real estate, negotiating a purchase, sale, or exchange, or collecting rent for or on behalf of that broker. An associate broker is a licensed broker who chooses to work under the name and supervision of another broker. An associate broker keeps the broker license, the law's provisions for salespersons alone govern that work, and an associate broker may also keep a separate broker license. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
Before you apply, you attend at least 77 hours of, and successfully complete, a real estate course or courses approved by the Secretary of State, and your application comes with proof of it. Your application names the broker you will be associated with, and you take a written exam that the Department of State prepares, at a time and place it designates. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
Every approved salesperson course uses the same syllabus: 77 hours of instruction plus a 3-hour final exam, 80 hours in total. It includes 11 hours of law of agency, 10 of legal issues, 10 of commercial and investment properties, and 6 of human rights and fair housing. If you fail the final exam, you fail the course. (Source: New York Department of State)
The Department of State's FAQ says a proctored exam that your school administers is required in addition to the qualifying exam that the Department of State administers. (Source: New York Department of State)
The Department of State says you schedule the salesperson exam online, with an eAccessNY account. The exam is multiple choice and based on the 77-hour pre-licensing curriculum, and you have 1 1/2 hours. You get a pass or fail result with no numerical score, and a passing result is valid for two years. If you fail, you can schedule another exam in eAccessNY. (Source: New York Department of State)
The Department of State lists, among its requirements, sponsorship by a New York licensed real estate broker and a current New York photo driver's license or non-driver ID card. After you pass the exam, you apply online in eAccessNY for an initial license (qualifying by exam only). If you apply based on attorney status, for an additional salesperson license, or after being licensed before, you send a paper application by regular mail. Your principal broker logs on and authorizes your application, the Department reviews it, and after a successful review it mails your license to your business address. (Source: New York Department of State)
For a license issued or reissued, the fee is $55 plus a $10 surcharge for a salesperson and $155 plus a $30 surcharge for a broker. The surcharges go to the anti-discrimination in housing fund for statewide fair housing testing. The exam fee is $15. These amounts are in Real Property Law 441-b, whose most recent revision on the Senate's site is from August 19, 2022. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
Keeping your license
The Department of State says your salesperson license is good for two years, and its expiration date is printed on it. Three months before it expires, the Department sends you an email and a postcard with instructions to renew online through eAccessNY. You must have a sponsoring broker to be eligible to renew. (Source: New York Department of State)
To renew, you complete at least 22.5 hours of approved continuing education in the two years before the renewal. They include at least 2 hours of cultural competency, 3 of fair housing and/or discrimination in the sale or rental of real property, 2 of implicit bias, 2.5 of ethical business practices, 1 of recent legal matters, and 1 of the law of agency; in a salesperson's first two-year term, the agency instruction is 2 hours. You show compliance with an affidavit in a form the Department accepts, and any further proof it requires. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
Your license does not continue past the end of its term if your continuing education proof is not submitted and accepted before it expires. When your failure to submit the proof is not your fault, the Department may issue a temporary renewal license to give you time to submit it. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
The Department of State says that, effective July 1, 2021, every licensee except an attorney admitted to the New York State bar must complete the 22.5 hours; the 15-year broker exemption was removed. If you are a salesperson and complete an approved broker qualifying course, including passing its final exam, within your current term, you get continuing education credit for it, and you must also complete 2.5 hours of ethical business practices and 1 hour of recent legal matters. (Source: New York Department of State)
The Department of State says that while your license is expired, you cannot do real estate activities that require a license, and no grace period lets you keep working. You have two years from the expiration date to renew. After that, you must meet the current education requirements, pass the state written exam, and submit a new application and fee; no continuing education is required to repeat the licensing process. (Source: New York Department of State)
When your association with a broker ends, for any reason, the broker notifies the Department of State at once; when you move to a new broker, the new broker notifies the Department of the change. Until you are associated with a licensed broker again, you may not perform any act covered by the license law's prohibitions. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
For a broker license, you pass a written exam and attend and complete at least 152 hours of approved real estate courses, including fair housing instruction and a broker's duty to make sure supervised salespersons follow federal, state, and local fair housing and anti-discrimination laws, rules, and regulations, and you show you took a class on cultural competency training. You also show at least two years of active work as a licensed salesperson under a licensed broker's supervision, or at least three years of equivalent experience in general real estate business, by sworn affidavit and/or other proof the Department requires. If you are a licensed salesperson and submitted proof of a 77-hour approved course with 6 hours on fair housing and discrimination, within eight years of the date of the application, the Department may credit it against the 152 hours. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
The regulation asks for two years of full-time experience as a licensed salesperson under a broker's supervision, or equivalent full-time experience in general real estate business for at least three years, and counts it in points: 3,500 points equal two years of full-time experience. For licensed salesperson activity, for example, a residential sale (a single-family home, condo, co-op unit, 2- to 8-unit multi-family building, or farm with a residence under 100 acres) earns 250 points, a residential exclusive listing 10, and a residential rental or sublease you effected 25. You must show, to the Department's satisfaction, that you actually did the work, and you give proof when the Department asks, before or after licensure; not giving it promptly, or a false claim, is grounds to deny the application or to suspend or revoke the license. (Source: New York Department of State)
For an exclusive listing of a one- to four-family house, a condo, or a co-op, the owner signs or initials the required explanation of "exclusive right to sell" and "exclusive agency". When the broker is in a multiple listing service, the agreement gives the owner the choice to have offers sent through the listing broker or the selling broker. (Source: New York Department of State)
Advertising and teams
Only the broker places ads. An ad by a salesperson or a team needs the broker's approval. An ad names the broker or the brokerage and gives its address or phone number. (Source: New York Department of State)
You advertise under your licensed name, and a nickname appears with your full licensed name. "Sales associate", "licensed sales agent", and a plain "broker" are not allowed as titles. (Source: New York Department of State)
An ad for another broker's exclusive listing needs that broker's permission and says "Listing by" that broker. A paid ad on a third-party site says "advertisement". (Source: New York Department of State)
A team name includes the members' licensed names or ends with "at" or "of" the brokerage. It uses the word "team", and it never uses "group", "realty", "associate", or the name of a person who has no license. (Source: New York Department of State)
Agency disclosure and buyer representation
The listing agent gives the seller the agency disclosure form before the listing agreement, and gives a buyer the form at the first substantive contact. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
The agent gets a signed acknowledgment. When a party refuses to sign, the agent records the refusal under oath, and keeps the records for at least 3 years. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
For a rental, the landlord's agent gives the Disclosure Form for Landlord and Tenant (DOS-1735-f) to the landlord before the listing agreement, and to a prospective tenant at the first substantive contact. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
The agent gives the Housing and Anti-Discrimination Disclosure Form (DOS-2156) at the first substantive contact to every prospective tenant, landlord, buyer, or seller, and the broker keeps it for 3 years. This rule is in effect from June 20, 2020. (Source: New York Department of State)
New York law does not require a written buyer agreement. When there is a buyer-broker agreement, the broker keeps it for 3 years. (Source: New York Department of State)
The general rule that an agreement to pay a fee for negotiating a real estate deal must be in writing does not apply to a licensed real estate broker. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
In New York City, REBNY's co-brokerage rules require a co-broker to have a signed written buyer representation agreement before any showing of an RLS listing. (Source: REBNY)
The contract of sale and the attorneys
A licensee may fill in only the non-legal terms of a simple fill-in-the-blanks form (names, dates, property, price), and each party's attorney must approve the contract. A licensee must not give legal advice, discourage a party from using an attorney, or charge a separate fee to prepare the contract. (Source: New York Department of State)
A person who is not an attorney and takes pay for preparing deeds, mortgages, or other instruments affecting real estate practices law without a license. There is no exception for brokers. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
An attorney who holds the down payment keeps it in an attorney escrow account at a New York bank, apart from the firm's own money. (Source: New York State Courts)
A broker who holds the down payment uses a separate, special, federally insured account, deposits it within 3 business days, and never mixes it with the broker's own money. (Source: New York Department of State)
A title insurance policy must be filed with the Superintendent of Financial Services before it is issued, and title insurance rates are regulated. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
TIRSA is the rate service organization for title insurance in New York. It keeps the Title Insurance Rate Manual under the Superintendent's supervision. (Source: TIRSA)
In New York City: the NYC Bar contract form
On the NYC Bar residential contract of sale form, the seller's attorney is the escrowee. That attorney holds the down payment and pays it to the seller at closing. In a dispute, the attorney holds it until the parties agree or a court decides. (Source: New York City Bar)
On the NYC Bar form, the parties fill in the days to the commitment date. The mortgage commitment must come from an institutional lender, and a commitment that depends on an appraisal counts only once the appraisal is approved. (Source: New York City Bar)
On the NYC Bar form, with no commitment by the commitment date, the buyer may cancel by notice within 5 business days after that date. Once a commitment is issued, the buyer is bound even if the lender later fails to fund. (Source: New York City Bar)
In New York City, a co-op sale transfers the shares in the cooperative corporation together with the proprietary lease. (Source: New York City Council)
New York law lets a residential co-op charge a fee on the sale or transfer of shares (a flip tax), when liquidation rights, maintenance, and voting are substantially equal per share. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
No statute sets the amount of the flip tax or who pays it: the co-op's proprietary lease or bylaws do. Read them for each sale. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
On written request, the corporation gives a shareholder the annual balance sheet and profit and loss statement for the preceding fiscal year. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
The co-op's offering plan and its amendments are filed with the New York Attorney General. The Attorney General's online database shows the filing data only; a copy of the plan comes through a public records (FOIL) request. (Source: New York Attorney General)
In New York City: co-op board approval
Under Local Law 58 of 2026, for applications made on or after July 28, 2026, the co-op gives its application and transfer requirements to the buyer and the seller on request. (Source: New York City Council)
The co-op acknowledges an application within 15 days, by email and registered mail, and says whether it is complete. With no acknowledgment, the application is deemed complete. (Source: New York City Council)
The board decides within 45 days after the application is complete: granted, granted with conditions, or denied. It may take one extension of up to 14 days without the buyer's consent. A summer recess notice pauses the clock in July and August. (Source: New York City Council)
There is no automatic approval, and the law does not require reasons for a denial. Co-ops with fewer than 10 units, HDFC co-ops (Housing Development Fund Corporations), and co-ops that need a government agency's approval are excluded. HPD (the Department of Housing Preservation and Development) enforces the law. (Source: New York City Council)
Co-op board members can be held liable under the NYC Human Rights Law. (Source: NYC.gov)
Seller disclosures
A seller of residential real property delivers the Property Condition Disclosure Statement (PCDS) to the buyer or the buyer's agent before the buyer signs a binding contract of sale. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
The PCDS has 56 questions. Question 10 asks whether the property is in a FEMA-designated floodplain, question 11 whether it is in the 100-year floodplain, and question 12 whether it is in the 500-year floodplain. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
The law has no $500 credit that a seller can give the buyer instead of the PCDS. A seller who willfully fails to comply is liable for the buyer's actual damages. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
The PCDS does not apply to a condo or a co-op: the law excludes condominium units and cooperative apartments from "residential real property". (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
For housing built before 1978, the seller gives the buyer the "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" pamphlet, discloses known lead-based paint and its records, and puts the Lead Warning Statement in the contract. The buyer gets a 10-day inspection opportunity, which the parties can change in writing. The agents share the duty, and the signed copies are kept for 3 years. (Source: EPA)
In New York City, the state transfer tax on a residence of $3 million or more has an additional $1.25 for each $500 of the price. The seller pays both, and the buyer pays when the seller does not or is exempt. (Source: New York Department of Taxation and Finance)
In New York City, a supplemental tax applies to the whole price of a residence of $2 million or more: 0.25% from $2 million, 0.5% from $3 million, 1.25% from $5 million, 2.25% from $10 million, 2.5% from $15 million, 2.75% from $20 million, and 2.9% from $25 million. The buyer pays it, and the seller pays when the buyer does not or is exempt. (Source: New York Consolidated Laws)
In New York City, the Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT) on a residence is 1% at $500,000 or less and 1.425% above $500,000. It covers a one- to three-family house, a condo unit, and a co-op apartment. (Source: NYC.gov)
In New York City, the Department of Finance can collect the RPTT from the seller or the buyer. (Source: NYC.gov)
In New York City, the RPTT applies to transfers of co-op shares, at the residential rates. Both parties sign the RPTT return, which is due within 30 days even when no tax is due. (Source: NYC.gov)
Listing services
In New York City, under the co-brokerage rules of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), an exclusive listing goes to every Residential Listing Service (RLS) participant at the same time as its first public marketing or its first showing to a buyer, whichever comes first. Public marketing includes websites, social media, portals, and mass email. (Source: REBNY)
OneKey MLS covers Kings (Brooklyn), New York (Manhattan), and Queens counties in the city, and not the Bronx or Staten Island. (Source: OneKey MLS)
Under OneKey's Clear Cooperation rule, a residential listing (a one- to four-family home, a co-op, a condo, a rental, or residential land) goes into the MLS within 1 business day after public marketing starts. Commercial property is not covered, and one-to-one broker messages are not public marketing. A Coming Soon status lasts 14 days at most. (Source: OneKey MLS)
In New York City: rentals
Under the FARE Act, a broker who represents the landlord cannot charge the tenant a broker fee. This includes a broker who publishes a listing with the landlord's permission. (Source: NYC 311)
The FARE Act's ban covers a fee from a broker the tenant did not hire. A tenant who hires their own broker can pay that broker. (Source: NYC 311)
Listings and leases must disclose every other fee the tenant must pay. (Source: NYC 311)
A listing must not refuse vouchers or prefer tenants without them: "No vouchers accepted" is illegal. Lawful source of income includes Section 8, SSI, HASA, CityFHEPS, and G.I. Bill housing allowances. (Source: NYC.gov)
The source-of-income rule does not apply to a unit in a two-family building where the owner or the owner's family lives and that was not publicly advertised, or to a room in the owner's own unit. (Source: NYC.gov)
Not in this guide
A license for a nonresident or for a person licensed in another state, a license based on attorney status, education waivers, and options for military service members and their spouses: the New York Department of State, Division of Licensing Services.
The broker exam and application, branch offices, office managers, fees to change a name, an address, or a broker association, and continuing education extensions for hardship: the New York Department of State, Division of Licensing Services.
Commission amounts: the parties agree on them.
What a buyer agreement should say: your broker's own form.
Compensation offers in the RLS: REBNY and the RLS do not set, collect, or show them.
The terms of a given contract of sale, the down payment amount, and a contract on a form other than the NYC Bar form: the contract itself, or the attorneys who write it.
Who customarily pays for the owner's title policy, the title premium for a given price, the mortgage recording tax, and attorney fees: the closing attorney.
Other exemptions from the Property Condition Disclosure Statement: confirm them with the seller's attorney.
The contents of a co-op buyer's board package: each co-op sets them.
Whether a co-op's underlying mortgage changes the taxable consideration on a resale.
How a disclosure form may be delivered electronically.
Fines for a late OneKey MLS entry.
Rental application fees, security deposits, the notices a lease must carry, rent-stabilized leases, and reasonable accommodation requests.
Local rules outside New York City, and your MLS's other rules: your broker.
Working in New York City?
New York City, its agencies, and its listing services add local rules on top of New York State law. The New York City page shows what Reddy knows about that market.
Reddy handles the paperwork side of real estate: deadlines, documents, drafts, and reminders. Ask it something like:
“My buyer submitted a co-op board application today. Remind me when the board's acknowledgment is due, and track the decision deadline once the application is complete.”
“This Manhattan condo sells for $3.2 million. Which transfer taxes apply, and who pays each one?”
“Remind me to give my new buyer the agency disclosure form and the DOS-2156 form at our first meeting.”
