How to Fill Out and Submit the Georgia GREC Change Application

The GREC Change Application is the form Georgia real estate licensees use to report a brokerage transfer, a switch between active and inactive status, a legal name change, or an address update to the Georgia Real Estate Commission. You download the fillable PDF at grec.state.ga.us, check the box for the reason you are filing, gather any signatures and supporting documents, print and sign the form, and mail it to the Commission’s Atlanta office. Most changes have to be reported within 30 days, and missing that window costs $25.

When You Need to File

Four situations trigger the Change Application:

You are transferring from one broker to another. Once your license is released, you cannot perform any brokerage activity until you affiliate with a new broker and mail the form in. You have one month from the date the Commission receives your wall certificate from the releasing broker to either transfer or apply to go inactive.¹²
You are moving between active and inactive status.¹
Your legal name has changed through marriage, divorce, or court order, and the Commission’s records and your wall certificate need to match your current identity.
Your mailing address, residence address, or email address has changed. Every licensee has to notify the Commission in writing within one month.³

Address and phone number updates are the one shortcut. You can log in to your account at grec.state.ga.us and change them instantly instead of mailing a paper form.⁴

The 30-Day Deadline and the $25 Fee

The Commission charges $25 whenever you fail to notify it in writing within 30 days of an address change, a transfer to a new brokerage, or a move to inactive status after leaving a firm. The same $25 applies if you don’t affiliate with a new broker or apply for inactive status within 30 days after the Commission receives notice that your broker released you. And it applies any time the Commission has to return your application because it came in incomplete.³

The Change Application itself has no standard processing fee when it is submitted correctly and on time.

Filling Out the Form

Download the PDF from grec.state.ga.us. Type directly into it before printing. At the top, check the box that matches your reason for filing. Checking the wrong box, or forgetting to check one at all, is a common way to have the form sent back.

Your Identifying Information

Enter your full legal name exactly as it reads on your current license, along with your license number. If you are transferring between brokerages, you also need the name and license number of both the releasing broker and the new broker.⁴

Broker Transfer Signatures

Both brokers have to sign. The releasing broker signs to confirm the release, and the new broker signs to confirm your affiliation. When a broker releases a licensee, the broker must immediately sign the release and either forward your wall certificate to the Commission or notify the Commission in writing that the certificate has been sent to the new broker.²

Getting both signatures before you mail is where most transfers stall. If either is missing, the application comes back and you owe $25.⁴

Name Change Documentation

Write your new legal name in the designated field and indicate the reason for the change. Attach the supporting document with the mailed application: a marriage certificate, a divorce decree, or a court order for a legal name change. Without the proof, the form gets returned.

Address Fields

Record the full street address, city, state, zip code, and county, and include apartment or suite numbers. If the only thing changing is your address or phone number, use the online account instead of the paper form.⁴

Mailing the Form

Print two copies of the completed PDF. Sign one and keep the other for your records. Attach any supporting documents and any required fee to the signed copy, then mail everything to:

Georgia Real Estate Commission
229 Peachtree Street NE
Suite 1000, International Tower
Atlanta, GA 30303-1605⁴

The Change Application does not spell out accepted payment methods beyond telling you to attach any required fee. The Commission’s related Firm Address Change Form states that checks or money orders are accepted and that cash and credit cards are not.⁵ Check or money order is the safe default for any mailed payment.

After You Submit

The Commission processes the application once it has the completed form and every supporting document. No official processing timeframe is published. When both brokers handle their portions electronically, a transfer can go through in as little as a day. Paper submissions that pass between brokers and the Commission take longer.

A transfer or status change is not official until the Commission’s records reflect it, and until then you are not authorized to perform brokerage activities under the new affiliation.¹ Check your license status on the GREC website after mailing to confirm the update posted. If weeks pass with no change, call the Commission and ask whether something is holding it up.

Mistakes That Get the Application Returned

A returned application costs $25 and pushes you closer to blowing the 30-day window. The problems that come up most often:

Missing broker signatures. Both the releasing and receiving broker have to sign before the form goes in the mail.
Wrong or missing license numbers. Your number and both brokers’ numbers all have to be on the form for a transfer. A blank field or a transposed digit means rejection.
No supporting document for a name change. The marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order has to be attached.
Filing late. Address changes, transfers, and moves to inactive status all have to be reported within 30 days, and a late but otherwise perfect application still owes the $25.³
Mailing when you could have gone online. Address and phone changes take two minutes in your GREC account.

If You Are Reactivating an Inactive License

Filing a Change Application to move from inactive back to active is not enough on its own. You must first complete all the continuing education you would have needed during every renewal cycle your license was inactive, as if you had been active the whole time. If you kept up with CE while inactive and can furnish proof, the Commission will accept that instead.¹

1
Georgia Comp. R. & Regs. Georgia Comp R Regs R 520-1-.05 – Maintaining a License
2
Georgia Comp. R. & Regs. Georgia Comp R Regs R 520-1-.07 – State Regulations
3
Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Code 520-1 – Licensure and Brokerage
4
Georgia Real Estate Commission. GREC Change Application Form
5
Georgia Real Estate Commission. Georgia Real Estate Commission Firm Address Change Form