Ohio Code 4735.06 – Broker’s license application
(A) Application for a license as a real estate broker shall be made to the superintendent of real estate on forms furnished by the superintendent and filed with the superintendent and shall be signed by the applicant or its members or officers. Each application shall state the name of the person applying and the location of the place of business for which the license is desired, and give such other information as the superintendent requires in the form of application prescribed by the superintendent.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 4735.06
- Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Brokerage: includes the affiliated licensees who have been assigned management duties that include supervision of licensees whose duties may conflict with those of other affiliated licensees. See Ohio Code 4735.01
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Institution of higher education: includes all of the following:
(1) A state institution of higher education, as defined in section 3345. See Ohio Code 4735.01
- Licensee: means any individual licensed as a real estate broker or salesperson by the Ohio real estate commission pursuant to this chapter. See Ohio Code 4735.01
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Real estate: includes leaseholds as well as any and every interest or estate in land situated in this state, whether corporeal or incorporeal, whether freehold or nonfreehold, and the improvements on the land, but does not include cemetery interment rights. See Ohio Code 4735.01
- Real estate broker: includes any person, partnership, association, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation, foreign or domestic, who for another, whether pursuant to a power of attorney or otherwise, and who for a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration, or with the intention, or in the expectation, or upon the promise of receiving or collecting a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration does any of the following:
(1) Sells, exchanges, purchases, rents, or leases, or negotiates the sale, exchange, purchase, rental, or leasing of any real estate;
(2) Offers, attempts, or agrees to negotiate the sale, exchange, purchase, rental, or leasing of any real estate;
(3) Lists, or offers, attempts, or agrees to list, or auctions, or offers, attempts, or agrees to auction, any real estate;
(4) Buys or offers to buy, sells or offers to sell, or otherwise deals in options on real estate;
(5) Operates, manages, or rents, or offers or attempts to operate, manage, or rent, other than as custodian, caretaker, or janitor, any building or portions of buildings to the public as tenants;
(6) Advertises or holds self out as engaged in the business of selling, exchanging, purchasing, renting, or leasing real estate;
(7) Directs or assists in the procuring of prospects or the negotiation of any transaction, other than mortgage financing, which does or is calculated to result in the sale, exchange, leasing, or renting of any real estate;
(8) Is engaged in the business of charging an advance fee or contracting for collection of a fee in connection with any contract whereby the broker undertakes primarily to promote the sale, exchange, purchase, rental, or leasing of real estate through its listing in a publication issued primarily for such purpose, or for referral of information concerning such real estate to brokers, or both, except that this division does not apply to a publisher of listings or compilations of sales of real estate by their owners;
(9) Collects rental information for purposes of referring prospective tenants to rental units or locations of such units and charges the prospective tenants a fee. See Ohio Code 4735.01
- Real estate salesperson: means any person associated with a licensed real estate broker to do or to deal in any acts or transactions set out or comprehended by the definition of a real estate broker, for compensation or otherwise. See Ohio Code 4735.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
(B)(1) If the applicant is a partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or association, the names of all the members also shall be stated, and, if the applicant is a corporation, the names of its president and of each of its officers also shall be stated.
The superintendent has the right to reject the application of any partnership, association, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation if the name proposed to be used by such partnership, association, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation is likely to mislead the public or if the name is not such as to distinguish it from the name of any existing partnership, association, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation licensed under this chapter, unless there is filed with the application the written consent of such existing partnership, association, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation, executed by a duly authorized representative of it, permitting the use of the name of such existing partnership, association, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation.
(2) The superintendent shall approve the use of a trade name by a brokerage, if the name meets both of the following criteria:
(a) The proposed name is not the same as or is clearly distinguishable from a name registered with the division of real estate and professional licensing by another existing brokerage. If the superintendent determines that the proposed name is not clearly distinguishable from any other existing brokerage, the superintendent may approve the use of the trade name if there is filed with the superintendent the written consent of the existing brokerage with the same or similar name.
(b) The name is not misleading or likely to mislead the public.
(3) The superintendent may approve the use of more than one trade name for a brokerage.
(4) When a brokerage has received the approval of the superintendent to conduct business under one or more trade names, those trade names shall be the only identifying names used by the brokerage in all advertising.
(C) A fee of one hundred thirty-five dollars shall accompany the application for a real estate broker’s license. The initial licensing period commences at the time the license is issued and ends on the applicant’s first birthday thereafter. However, if the applicant was an inactive or active salesperson immediately preceding application for a broker’s license, then the initial licensing period shall commence at the time the broker’s license is issued and ends on the date the licensee‘s continuing education is due as set when the applicant was a salesperson. The application fee shall be nonrefundable. A fee of one hundred thirty-five dollars shall be charged by the superintendent for each successive application made by an applicant. In the case of issuance of a three-year license, upon passing the examination, or upon waiver of the examination requirement, if the superintendent determines it is necessary, the applicant shall submit an additional fee determined by the superintendent based upon the number of years remaining in a real estate salesperson‘s licensing period.
(D) The Ohio real estate commission may use the division of real estate operating fund created under section 4735.211 of the Revised Code in discharging the duties prescribed in divisions (E), (F), (G), and (H) of section 4735.03 of the Revised Code and may use it in the advancement of education and research in real estate at any institution of higher education in the state, or in contracting with any such institution or a trade organization for a particular research or educational project in the field of real estate, or in advancing loans, not exceeding two thousand dollars, to applicants for salesperson licenses, to defray the costs of satisfying the educational requirements of division (F) of section 4735.09 of the Revised Code. Such loans shall be made according to rules established by the commission under the procedures of Chapter 119 of the Revised Code, and they shall be repaid to the fund within three years of the time they are made. No more than twenty-five thousand dollars shall be lent from the fund in any one fiscal year.
The governor may appoint a representative from the executive branch to be a member ex officio of the commission for the purpose of advising on research requests or educational projects. The commission shall report to the general assembly on the third Tuesday after the third Monday in January of each year setting forth the total amount contained in the fund and the amount of each research grant that it has authorized and the amount of each research grant requested. A copy of all research reports shall be submitted to the state library of Ohio and the library of the legislative service commission.
(E) If the superintendent, with the consent of the commission, enters into an agreement with a national testing service to administer the real estate broker’s examination, pursuant to division (A) of section 4735.07 of the Revised Code, the superintendent may require an applicant to pay the testing service’s examination fee directly to the testing service. If the superintendent requires the payment of the examination fee directly to the testing service, each applicant shall submit to the superintendent a processing fee in an amount determined by the Ohio real estate commission pursuant to division (A)(2) of section 4735.10 of the Revised Code.
Last updated September 20, 2023 at 12:22 PM