Protect Your Professional License

The California Department of Real Estate, regulates Californians with real estate licenses.  Prior to the issuance of a real estate license, the DRE conducts a comprehensive background check on all license applicants, which includes mandatory fingerprinting. An original applicant for a real estate license must submit one set of classifiable fingerprints, acceptable to the State Department of Justice (DOJ) Live Scan. The DOJ then notifies the DRE of past arrests and criminal convictions. After a license is issued to an applicant, the licensee’s fingerprints remain in the DOJ’s database, which allows the DOJ to notify the CalBRE of a licensee’s subsequent arrest by a State or local law enforcement agency. This in turns results in a notification to you that your license may be affected by the DUI charge.

The DRE may deny the issuance of a license to an applicant if he or she has been convicted of a “substantially related” crime. The DRE uses Criteria of Substantial Relationship to determine if a crime is substantially related to the qualifications, functions, and the duties of a real estate licensee. As part of the DRE’s background investigation of applicants, the Bureau reviews all applicants’ criminal histories and determines if the applicant has committed any substantially related crime(s) which would serve as a basis for denial of the license. Additionally, pursuant to Section 485 of the Business and Professions Code, the bureau may deny an application for a license without first filing a Statement of Issues. However, when this occurs the applicant has 60 days from the date of the denial to request a hearing to contest the bureau’s denial.

An applicant for a real estate license is required to fully disclose any misdemeanor or felony criminal conviction(s). Additionally, an applicant must disclose if he or she has ever had a license in California or any other State denied, suspended, restricted or revoked, along with any pending criminal charges against them. More importantly, the failure to disclose any convictions on a real estate application may be considered an attempt to obtain a license by fraud or misrepresentation, and can result in the denial of a real estate license. An applicant for a real estate license is not required to disclose any Juvenile Court adjudication, any conviction sealed under Penal Code section 1203.45 or Welfare and Institutions Code section 781, and any conviction under Health and Safety Code section 11357(b), (c), (d), or (e), or Health and Safety Code section 11360(b) after at least two years have passed since the date of the conviction.

A person whose license has been revoked or suspended may petition the agency for reinstatement or reduction of penalty after a period of not less than one year has elapsed from the effective date of the decision or from the date of the denial of a similar petition.  The agency shall give notice to the Attorney General of the filing of the petition and the Attorney General and the petitioner shall be afforded an opportunity to present either oral or written argument before the agency itself.  The agency itself shall decide the petition, and the decision shall include the reasons therefor, and any terms and conditions that the agency reasonably deems appropriate to impose as a condition of reinstatement.  This section shall not apply if the statutes dealing with the particular agency contain different provisions for reinstatement or reduction of penalty.