To fill out California Form RE 251, enter your name and DRE license ID at the top, then list each continuing education course you completed under its correct category using the 8-digit certificate number, course title, completion date, and hours shown on your certificate of completion. Sign under penalty of perjury at the bottom and submit the form with your renewal application through eLicensing or by mail. The Department of Real Estate will not renew your license without it.
Pull Your Certificates of Completion First
The RE 251 is a transcription form. Every entry on it comes from a certificate of completion issued by a DRE-approved course provider. Each certificate shows an 8-digit certificate number, the designated category, a registration date, the completion date, the number of course hours, and the course title.1Department of Real Estate. Continuing Education Course Verification (RE 251) Those six pieces of information are what you copy onto the form.
Before you start, collect every certificate and confirm the hours add up to 45. If a certificate is missing the 8-digit number, contact the provider and get the correct one. Then sort the stack by category — mandatory subjects, consumer protection, consumer service — because the form itself is organized that way, and sorting first means you fill it in once rather than hunting back and forth.
Match the Courses to Your Renewal Type
The categories you’ll list on the form depend on whether you’re a salesperson or broker and whether this is a first renewal or a later one. Listing the wrong mix is a common reason the DRE kicks a renewal back.
First Renewal, Salesperson
You need five separate three-hour courses in Ethics, Agency, Fair Housing, Trust Fund Handling, and Risk Management, plus a two-hour Implicit Bias Training course. At least 18 of the remaining hours must be consumer protection courses. Anything left over to reach 45 can be consumer protection or consumer service.1Department of Real Estate. Continuing Education Course Verification (RE 251)
First Renewal, Broker
Same structure as salespersons, with one addition: a sixth mandatory three-hour course in Management and Supervision. The 18-hour consumer protection minimum and the flexible remainder are the same.1Department of Real Estate. Continuing Education Course Verification (RE 251)
Subsequent Renewals
After your first renewal you can either take one nine-hour survey course covering all seven mandatory subjects (Ethics, Agency, Fair Housing, Trust Fund Handling, Risk Management, Management and Supervision, and Implicit Bias Training), or take individual courses in each subject. The 18-hour consumer protection minimum still applies, and the remainder can be consumer protection or consumer service.2Department of Real Estate. Continuing Education Requirements Most licensees use the nine-hour survey on later renewals because it consolidates seven subjects into one course.
Implicit Bias Training deserves its own note. It applies to every renewal — first and subsequent, salesperson and broker — and it has a dedicated line on the RE 251. Don’t fold it into Fair Housing even though the subjects overlap.3California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code BPC 10170.5
Fill In the Form Line by Line
Download the current RE 251 from the DRE’s forms page or access it inside eLicensing.4Department of Real Estate. Licensing Forms Make sure you’re on the latest version before you start typing.
At the top, print your name exactly as it appears on your license and enter your DRE license ID number.1Department of Real Estate. Continuing Education Course Verification (RE 251) Even small discrepancies between the name you write and the name in the DRE’s system can slow processing, so check your license record if the format is at all uncertain.
The body of the form is split into sections by course category. For each course, enter:
- The 8-digit certificate number from the completion certificate
- The course title
- The date you completed the course
- The number of hours
Place every course in the category printed on its certificate. The two most common filing errors are putting a consumer protection course into the consumer service section and failing to list Implicit Bias Training on its own line.
At the bottom, sign under penalty of perjury that you actually completed every course you listed and that you’ll provide evidence to the DRE on request. Either an original ink signature or an electronic signature is accepted.1Department of Real Estate. Continuing Education Course Verification (RE 251)
Submit the Form With Your Renewal
You have two routes. The eLicensing portal is open around the clock and processes faster; you enter your course numbers and completion dates directly, and the renewal application and the RE 251 information move through as a single transaction.5Department of Real Estate. Renewing Your License
On paper, send the completed RE 251 together with your renewal application — RE 209 for salespersons, RE 208 for brokers, or RE 207 for corporate officers — to the DRE at 651 Bannon Street, Suite 500, Sacramento, CA 95811. Paper takes longer. Keep a copy of everything you mail and use a method that produces a tracking number. There is no separate fee for the RE 251 itself; the course verification is part of the renewal package.
Keep Your Certificates After You File
Submitting the form doesn’t close the file. The DRE randomly selects licensees for continuing education audits under Commissioner’s Regulation 3013 and will ask you to produce the original certificates of completion for every course listed on your most recent renewal.6Department of Real Estate. Continuing Education Audit Info
Hold on to your certificates for up to five years. If you’ve already lost one, contact the course provider; under Commissioner’s Regulation 3012.2 they’re required to keep attendance and exam records for five years.6Department of Real Estate. Continuing Education Audit Info A licensee who can’t produce certificates on request may face a fine or disciplinary action against the license.