Florida Real Estate License Renewal Deadline: Dates, Hours & How Not to Lose Your License
Every Florida real estate license expires on March 31 or September 30, on a two-year cycle. To keep an active license you must complete 14 hours of FREC-approved continuing education before that date, and it must be reported to the DBPR. Miss it and the license goes involuntarily inactive; leave it that way for two years and it becomes null and void. Here is exactly when your deadline is, how to confirm it, and how to finish your hours in a single $24.90 bundle before the clock runs out.
By Scott Schubiner
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker & Instructor · Published August 30, 2026
When is my renewal deadline?
Florida real estate licenses do not all expire on the same day. Renewal is staggered into groups, and the groups’ expiration dates are March 31 or September 30 (Fla. Admin. Code R. 61-6.001(4)) — which one was fixed when your license was first issued, and it stays the same every renewal. Licenses renew every two years, so your deadline is that date in your renewal year. Both sales associates and brokers follow this same two-date structure. The DBPR states that if the expiration date falls on a holiday or weekend, the renewal period extends to midnight Eastern on the next business day.
Find your exact date. Do not trust memory or a broker’s reminder. Look yourself up on the DBPR licensee search at myfloridalicense.com — search by your name or license number and your record shows your license status and the exact expiration date. That portal is the authoritative source for your deadline.
What you need to renew: 14 hours of CE
To renew an active license, Florida requires 14 hours of FREC-approved continuing education every two years, broken down as follows:
| Component | Hours every 2 years |
|---|---|
| Core Law (mandatory) | 3 |
| Ethics & Business Practices (mandatory) | 3 |
| Specialty electives | 8 |
| Total | 14 |
This 14-hour requirement is identical for sales associates, broker associates, and brokers (Fla. Stat. § 475.182; FAC 61J2-3.009). The one exception is your first renewal — see below.
All persons holding active or inactive licenses as brokers or sales associates must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 14 hours of instruction of 50 minutes each … during each license renewal period excluding the first renewal period of their current license. … The specialty course hours must total at least 8 hours.Read the full text
What happens if you miss the deadline
The cost of missing your renewal date escalates the longer you wait. This is why the deadline matters — an expired license is not a paperwork inconvenience, it is a status change that gets harder to undo:
Complete your 14 CE hours and renew by March 31 or September 30 and your license stays active — nothing changes, you keep practicing.
Miss the deadline and the license automatically reverts to involuntarily inactive status (Fla. Stat. § 475.182(3)). You cannot lawfully practice real estate on an inactive license, but it is recoverable.
The education depends on the lapse: 14 hours of continuing education for 12 months or less, and the 28-hour reactivation course for more than 12 months but fewer than 24 (Fla. Stat. § 475.183(2)(a); FAC 61J2-3.010), plus the applicable late and renewal fees.
If the license stays involuntarily inactive for more than two years it expires and becomes null and void (Fla. Stat. § 475.183(2)(b)) — it cannot be reactivated, and you would have to qualify for licensure all over again.
Do not run the clock down. Once a license is involuntarily inactive you cannot lawfully practice, and after two years inactive it becomes null and void. Completing your 14 hours now is the single thing that keeps your renewal a formality instead of a crisis.
The one exception: your first renewal
The 14-hour CE requirement applies to every renewal except your first. Newly licensed sales associates and brokers must complete post-licensing education before their first expiration date instead of continuing education. The March 31 / September 30 deadline structure is the same — only the education requirement changes. If this is your first renewal, read the Florida post-licensing deadline guide instead.
How to finish before your deadline
A single $24.90 purchase covers everything Florida requires this cycle — Core Law, Ethics, and specialty electives. Nothing else to add.
Pass each course and your certificate of completion is issued instantly, emailed to you and kept in your account — self-paced, on any device.
Comet CE files your completed hours with the Florida DBPR on your behalf. You simply complete your renewal online and pay the fee to the DBPR by your deadline.
Beat your renewal deadline today
All 14 hours, $24.90, on any device — with your completed hours filed to the DBPR on your behalf and your certificate issued the moment you finish.
Start the 14-Hour CE bundle — $24.90