Firewise, Arizona Water and Deed Fraud - New Requirement for Continuing Education Hours

A renewing license is required to complete at least three hours of Continuing Education from each of the mandatory Categories defined under rule; being Agency Law, Contract Law, Commissioner's Standards, Real Estate Legal Issues, Fair Housing and Disclosure.  This equals 18 hours. 

Generally, the renewal applicant is required to submit proof of having completed at least either 24 or 30 hours, depending on the type of license.  To complete the remaining and additional hours required for renewal, the licensee must take additional courses from the mandatory categories, Broker Management Clinics as appropriate, or from the Business Brokerage or General Real Estate Categories.

On July 12, 2024, the Arizona Department of Real Estate announced to qualify to renew a real estate license on or after January 1, 2025, the individual applying to renew their license must complete one (1) hour of Continuing Education on each of the following current issues in the real estate community:

• Firewise
• Deed Fraud
• Arizona Water

The courses meeting this requirement are listed under the General Real Estate Category and the requirement is not adding to the hours required.  Instead, the requirement is specifying that of the current 24 or 30 hours required, 1 hour must be on Firewise, 1 hour must be on Deed Fraud and 1 hour must be on Arizona Water.

Three common scenarios related to the timing of renewal:

• If your license expires between now and Dec. 31, 2024, you will not need to take the courses during this renewal period.  However, you will need to complete these courses prior to your next renewal - between Jan. 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2026.
• If you renew on or after January 1, 2025 and you've already completed the minimum number of CE hours required, you will need to complete these additional 1 hour courses on each of the following: Water, Deed Fraud and Firewise.  You will be able to add the courses as you would any other course by simply logging in and adding them in your profile.  
• If you're able - by the Licensee Login - to renew before January 1, 2025 but your license is actually set to expire after January 1, 2025, you will need to have the required courses on Water, Deed Fraud and Firewise.  The system is set to recognize that your renewal date is after January 1, 2025 and the courses must be present for you to renew.

The Department notified the real estate education industry of the requirement at its March 2024 Education Townhall and on July 1, 2024, began providing outlines and course content to school administrators and educators so they may begin developing the courses to apply for approval.

Schools have started creating and applying for course approval for the courses.  As always, an individual may use the Public Database to, under Education and using the Advanced tab, Search for schools that are approved to teach courses in a particular category or subject.

Visit the Public Database at, https://services.azre.gov/PdbWeb/, then click on the second search option under Education.

On the Search Schools screen, click the Advanced tab, and then under Course Subject choose either "Firewise," "Deed Fraud," or "Water," to find schools with the approved courses.

If you have any licensing renewal questions, please contact ADRE Education through the Message Center.