441-a. License and pocket card. 1. The department of state, if satisfied of the competency and trustworthiness of the applicant, shall issue and deliver to him a license in such form and manner as the department shall prescribe, but which must set forth the name and principal business address of the licensee, and, in the case of a real estate salesman, the name and business address of the broker with whom the salesman is associated.
2. Terms. A license issued or reissued under the provisions of this article shall entitle the person, co-partnership, limited liability company or corporation to act as a real estate broker, or, if the application is for a real estate salesman's license, to act as a real estate salesman in this state up to and including the date in which the license by its terms expires.
3. Place of business; business sign required. Except as otherwise provided in this article, each licensed real estate broker shall have and maintain a definite place of business within this state, and shall conspicuously post on the outside of the building in which said office is conducted a sign of a sufficient size to be readable from the sidewalk indicating the name and the business of the applicant as a licensed real estate broker, unless said office shall be located in an office, apartment or hotel building, in which event the name and the words "licensed real estate broker" shall be posted in the space provided for posting of names of occupants of the building, other than the mail box. Where the applicant for a real estate broker's license maintains more than one place of business, the broker shall apply for and the department shall issue a supplemental license for each branch office so maintained upon payment to the department of state for each supplemental license so issued the same fee prescribed in this article for a license to act as a real estate broker. Each such branch office shall be under the direct supervision of the broker to whom the license is issued, or a representative broker of a corporation or partnership or manager of a limited liability company holding such license, or a duly appointed office manager. Such fee shall accompany such application and shall be non-refundable. For purposes of this subdivision, the principal residence of a real estate broker or salesman shall not be deemed a place of business solely because such broker or salesman shall have included the residence telephone number in his business cards.
4. Display of license. The license of a real estate broker shall be conspicuously displayed in his principal place of business at all times. Licenses issued for branch offices shall be conspicuously displayed therein. The display of a real estate broker's license, the term whereof has expired, by any person, partnership, limited liability company or corporation not duly licensed as a real estate broker for the current license term is prohibited.
5. Change of address. Notice in writing in the manner and form prescribed by the department shall be given the department at its offices in Albany by a licensed real estate broker on his own behalf and on behalf of each salesman associated with him of any change in his or its principal business address. The filing fee of ten dollars for each licensee named therein shall accompany such notice. Such change by a licensee without such notification shall operate to suspend his license until such suspension shall be vacated by the department.
6. Pocket card. The department shall prepare, issue and deliver, with the assistance of the department of motor vehicles, to each licensee a pocket card in such form and manner as the department shall prescribe, but which shall contain the photo, name and business address of the licensee, and, in the case of a real estate salesman, the name and business address of the broker with whom he or she is associated and shall certify that the person whose name appears thereon is a licensed real estate broker or salesman, as may be. Such cards must be shown on demand. In the case of loss, destruction or damage, the secretary of state may, upon submission of satisfactory proof, issue a duplicate pocket card upon payment of a fee of ten dollars.
7. License term. From and after the date when this subdivision shall take effect, the term for which a license shall be issued or reissued under this article shall be a period of two years.
8. Death of broker. A license issued to a real estate broker who was, at the time of his death, the sole proprietor of a brokerage office may be used after the death of such licensee by his duly appointed administrator or executor in the name of the estate pursuant to authorization granted by the surrogate under the provisions of the surrogate's court procedure act for a period of not more than one hundred twenty days from the date of death of such licensee in order to complete any unfinished realty transactions in the process of negotiation by the broker or his salesmen existing prior to his decease. There shall be endorsed upon the face of the license, after the name of the decedent, the words "deceased", the date of death and the name of the administrator or executor under whose authority the license is being used. The period of one hundred twenty days may be extended upon application to the secretary of state, for good cause shown, for an additional period not to exceed one hundred twenty days. A license expiring during such period or extension shall be automatically renewed and continued in effect during such period or extension. No fee shall be charged for any such license or renewal thereof.
9. Except for changes made on a renewal application, the fee for changing an address on a license shall be ten dollars.
10. Except for changes made on a renewal application, the fee for changing a name or for changing the status of a real estate broker's license shall be one hundred fifty dollars. The fee for changing a salesperson's name shall be fifty dollars.
11. If a real estate salesperson shall leave the service of a real estate broker, the real estate broker shall file a termination of association notice on such form as secretary may designate. The salesperson's license may be endorsed to a new sponsoring broker upon the establishment of a new record of association filed with the department of state. The fee for filing a record of association shall be twenty dollars.
12. Whenever any person licensed as a real estate broker or real estate salesman is convicted in this state or elsewhere of a felony, of a sex offense, as defined in subdivision two of section one hundred sixty-eight-a of the correction law or any offense committed outside of this state which would constitute a sex offense, or a sexually violent offense, as defined in subdivision three of section one hundred sixty-eight-a of the correction law or any offense committed outside this state which would constitute a sexually violent offense, such real estate broker or real estate salesman shall within five days of the imposition of sentence, transmit a certified copy of the judgment of conviction to the department of state.
Last modified: February 3, 2019