CA Real Estate License Lookup: Verify Status and Report Fraud

To run a California real estate license lookup, go to the Department of Real Estate’s free Public License Lookup at www2.dre.ca.gov/publicasp/pplinfo.asp. No account, no fee. Search by the person’s name, the brokerage name, or the eight-digit license ID, and the results page will tell you whether that agent or broker is currently authorized to represent you.¹

How to Run the Search

The lookup accepts three kinds of input. Enter a licensee’s last name followed by first name when you’ve just met someone or have a business card in hand. Enter a company name to pull up a brokerage or corporation. Enter the eight-digit license number for the most precise result; agents sometimes print it on their cards and marketing materials.

If you’d rather find a brokerage by where its office sits, the same lookup page includes a separate link to search by main office or branch address.¹ That one is handy when you’ve driven past an office and want to confirm it’s actually licensed before you walk in.

Reading the Results

A matching record shows the eight-digit license number, the license type (Salesperson, Broker, Officer, or Corporation), the issuance and expiration dates, and the business address on file.² The field that matters most is the license status. That one line tells you whether this person can legally represent you right now.

Statuses That Allow Practice

Only two statuses authorize someone to conduct real estate business in California:

Licensed. The person is authorized to perform real estate activities. For salespersons, this means they’re affiliated with a responsible broker. For brokers and corporations, it means a current California main office address is on file.
Restricted. A probationary license following a DRE disciplinary action. The holder can still practice, but under terms the department has set. Nothing stops you from working with a restricted licensee, but the restriction itself means past misconduct was serious enough that the DRE imposed conditions on their continued work.³

Statuses That Prohibit Practice

If you see any of the following, the person cannot legally act on your behalf, and you should not proceed until the status changes:

Licensed NBA (No Broker Affiliation). The license is valid but in a non-working status. A salesperson has no supervising broker, or a broker or corporation has no current main office address on file.
Expired. The license term has ended and the holder hasn’t renewed. Administrative, not disciplinary, but the effect is the same.
Conditional Suspension. The licensee missed required continuing education. The license stays suspended until the requirements are met, and if the four-year term runs out first, the renewal right is lost.
Voided. The license was voided for nonpayment of required fees.
Revoked. The DRE permanently removed the license through a disciplinary proceeding. The most severe status, and the result of serious violations of real estate law.
Flag Suspended. A temporary suspension imposed through disciplinary action.
Withheld Denied. The license has been withheld because the licensee failed to meet child or family support obligations under state law.³

A handful of less common codes appear from time to time, including Canceled Officer, Government Service, Military Service, and Deceased. None of them permits real estate activity either.³

Why an Expired License Isn’t a Minor Detail

California real estate licenses, for both brokers and salespersons, run on four-year terms.⁴ At renewal, the licensee files an application, pays the fee, and shows completed continuing education.

Miss the deadline and there’s a two-year grace period to renew late, at 150 percent of the normal fee. Throughout that two-year window, the person cannot legally perform any real estate activities. If the window closes without renewal, the license is gone and the holder has to start over with a new application and exam.⁵ So when the lookup shows “Expired,” it doesn’t necessarily mean the agent did anything wrong. It does mean they can’t represent you until they renew.

If Your Agent Also Handles the Mortgage

Some California real estate agents hold a mortgage loan originator (MLO) endorsement so they can help with financing as well. The DRE lookup confirms the real estate license, but the MLO endorsement sits in a separate system: NMLS Consumer Access at nmlsconsumeraccess.org.⁶ It’s free and searches by name, company, city, state, or NMLS ID.

Verifying both credentials matters because acting as a mortgage loan originator without the proper license or endorsement is a criminal offense in California, with fines up to $20,000 for an individual.⁷ If one person wants to handle both your purchase and your loan, run both searches.

What to Do If the License Is Bad

If the lookup turns up an expired, revoked, suspended, or otherwise non-working license on someone soliciting your business, you have two choices: walk away, or report them. You can do both.

The DRE accepts complaints against licensed agents and brokers, and against unlicensed people performing real estate activities. File through the department’s online Enforcement Online Complaint System or by mailing Form RE 519 to a DRE district office, with a written account of what happened, witness contact information, and copies of the transaction documents.⁸

Know what the DRE can and can’t do. It’s not a court. It cannot order a refund, cancel a contract, or award you damages. What it can do is investigate and take administrative action against the licensee, from a citation with a fine up to $2,500 all the way to revocation.⁹ For money, the DRE points consumers to small claims court for disputes of $7,500 or less, and to an attorney for larger amounts.

Unlicensed practice carries its own criminal penalties: a fine up to $20,000, up to six months in county jail, or both; a corporation faces fines up to $60,000.⁷ The DRE also publishes lists of people and entities that have received Desist and Refrain Orders for unlicensed activity, loan modification fraud, and short sale violations on its Disciplinary Actions page.¹⁰ It’s worth a glance alongside the license lookup if anything about the person feels off.

If a Licensed Agent Defrauds You

California maintains a Consumer Recovery Account, funded by licensee fees, for cases where a licensed agent defrauds a client and the client can’t collect on a court judgment. To qualify, you first need a final court judgment or confirmed arbitration award against the licensee for fraud, intentional misrepresentation, or conversion of trust funds, committed in a transaction where the person was acting under their real estate license.¹¹

Once the judgment is final, you have one year to apply to the DRE, in person, by certified mail, or electronically, with a certified copy of the judgment, a narrative of the facts, and proof you tried to collect directly from the licensee first. The account has statutory caps per transaction and per licensee, so it may not cover a full loss, but it’s a meaningful backstop when the person who wronged you has nothing collectible.¹¹

1
Department of Real Estate. Public License Lookup
2
Department of Real Estate. Record Format for Licensee and Examinee Data Files
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California Department of Real Estate. Public License Status Codes
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California Department of Real Estate. 2026 Real Estate Law
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California Department of Real Estate. FAQ – Real Estate Licenses
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NMLS Consumer Access. NMLS Consumer Access
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California Legislative Information. California Business and Professions Code 10139
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California Department of Real Estate. Filing a Complaint
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California Legislative Information. California Business and Professions Code 10080.9
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California Department of Real Estate. Disciplinary Actions
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California Legislative Information. California Business and Professions Code 10471