North Dakota License Law and Real Estate Commission Rules
Who may be licensed, and how the Commission enforces it
The North Dakota Real Estate Commission licenses and disciplines brokers, associate brokers, and salespersons, and adopts administrative rules that fill in the Century Code. Licensing requires meeting the Commission's age, education, examination, and background requirements, and every active salesperson or associate broker must be affiliated with a licensed North Dakota broker; no one practices independently without a broker license.
Broker responsibility. Each brokerage operates under a licensed broker who supervises licensees, approves advertising, and is accountable for trust funds and records. Licensees must notify the Commission of changes of name, address, and employing broker, and must complete the continuing education the Commission requires before each renewal.
Prohibited conduct. Practicing without a license; sharing compensation with an unlicensed person; commingling or converting trust funds; failing to account; misrepresentation or omission of material facts; undisclosed dual agency; net listings; misleading advertising; and failing to respond to a Commission inquiry. Discipline may include a reprimand, probation, fines, additional education, suspension, or revocation, and can reach conduct that occurred outside a transaction or before licensure.
Unlicensed assistants. Aides may do clerical and ministerial work - scheduling, delivering documents, answering general questions, placing ads with broker approval. They may not negotiate price or terms, interpret contracts, or hold themselves out as agents.
Trap: questions suggest an unlicensed assistant can quote a seller's bottom line or host an open house alone and discuss terms. That is negotiation and requires a license. Another trap is assuming a license travels - a licensee must be affiliated with a North Dakota broker to act.
Rule of thumb: if the task involves a client's money, a client's confidential information, or persuading someone about price or terms, only a licensee may do it.
Worked example: A salesperson changes brokerages but keeps advertising under the former broker's name. That is a misrepresentation; she must update the advertising and notify the Commission of the change of employing broker.