Arizona rules for licensed agents

What can an agent with an inactive Arizona license do?

Arizona does not let an inactive licensee do what needs an active license. The Department’s rule says the holder is prohibited from those activities until the license is reactivated, an inactive licensee who acts in a transaction still owes the duties of a licensee other than those owed to a client, and inactive status can run for up to 15 years.

Rule text read from the 2026 Law Book of the Arizona Department of Real Estate, azre.gov, read November 1, 2026. Informational, not legal advice.

The rule

The rule is R4-28-307, Inactive License, in the Department’s Law Book. It begins with how a license becomes inactive and for how long:

“an active licensee must sever from the employing brokerage before requesting inactive status.”

“On forms prescribed by the Commissioner, the active licensee may then request the Department inactivate the licensee’s current license for a period not to exceed 15 years.”

What an inactive license may not do

“The holder of an inactive license is prohibited from performing activities which require an active license until the license is reactivated as an active license.”

The unlawful activity rule, R4-28-306, counts this case in its first definition, which covers the performance of acts requiring a license under A.R.S. 32-2122:

“by a person who fails to hold a license or holds a license that is not active”

The rule does not list the acts. It points to the statute that says what needs a license. Whether a given task by an inactive licensee, a referral included, needs an active license is a question for your designated broker. We did not find a Department answer for a single referral.

Duties that stay

“An inactive licensee that acts directly or indirectly in a transaction must comply with all duties of a licensee required under”

The rule names R4-28-1101 and then says “except those duties owed to a client.”

The duties rule is the one covered in what an Arizona licensee has to disclose.

Fees, expiry and the way back

“Inactive status shall not relieve the licensee from renewing and paying the required fees.”

“An expired inactive license will remain expired for one year and may be renewed within that year to return to inactive status.”

“A license that is not suspended or revoked and that is inactive may be reactivated as an active license on 30 days’ written notice to the Department on forms prescribed by the Commissioner.”

Reactivation comes with education hours taken in the 24 months before the application, and the count depends on how long the license sat inactive:

• Inactive for less than three years: the same hours the renewal statute sets.
• Three years or more but less than six: six additional hours.
• Six years or more but less than ten: 15 additional hours.
• Ten years or more but less than 15: 30 additional hours.

The rule lets the Commissioner name categories or courses and allows the Commissioner to approve a waiver of the additional hours for an inactive licensee who worked continuously in real estate where no license was required, or in related government work. It also covers the end of the 15 years:

“An examination may not be required to reactivate an inactive license if reactivated less than 15 years after changing to inactive.”

After 15 years the rule calls for a new application with prelicensing education and the state examination.

What the statute says

The renewal statute, A.R.S. 32-2130 subsection K, speaks to the same license, and the Law Book marks it as amended by the 2024 session laws. On education while inactive:

“A licensee with an inactive license does not need to complete continuing education credit hours during the period that the license is inactive.”

On the 15 year point it reads differently from the rule:

“if the license has been inactive for more than fifteen years, the commissioner shall require that the applicant successfully pass an examination specific to the laws of this state relating to this chapter before activating the license”

Subsection L has the Department send a notice to the licensee’s last known address of record one year before the 15 year period ends. The rule calls for a new application with prelicensing education and the state examination, and the statute requires a state law examination before activating. We did not find how the Department squares the two, so what a licensee inactive for 15 years or more has to do is a question for the Department.

Common questions

Can an Arizona agent with an inactive license do showings or take referrals?

The rule says the holder of an inactive license is prohibited from performing activities which require an active license. It does not list the activities. Ask your designated broker whether a task needs an active license.

How long can an Arizona real estate license stay inactive?

The rule allows inactive status for a period not to exceed 15 years and then calls for a new application with prelicensing education and the state examination. The renewal statute requires a state law examination before activating a license inactive more than 15 years. We did not find how the two are reconciled, so ask the Department.

Does an inactive Arizona license still have to be renewed?

Yes. The rule says inactive status does not relieve the licensee from renewing and paying the required fees, and an inactive license that is not renewed expires.

How does an Arizona licensee go from inactive back to active?

On 30 days’ written notice to the Department on its forms, with education hours that depend on how long the license was inactive, if the license is not suspended or revoked.

Does Listing AutomatEr handle an Arizona license status change?

No. The app builds and schedules posts for listings you have permission to market. Arizona license status is outside what it does.

Where Listing AutomatEr fits

Listing AutomatEr is a desktop app for Mac and Windows that posts the listings you have permission to market to Facebook Marketplace on a schedule. By default it puts your name on the post as the agent marketing the home and credits the brokerage that holds the listing.

It does not obtain the permission for you, and it does not decide whether a post meets a rule. That stays with you and your broker.

Sources

• R4-28-307, R4-28-306 and A.R.S. 32-2130 in the 2026 Law Book, Arizona Department of Real Estate
• Arizona continuing education, the renewal statute and the rule behind the hours

This is not legal advice. This page quotes a rule so you can read it yourself. It is not a lawyer's opinion about your situation. The official text, your brokerage and your own lawyer are the authorities, and the official text wins over this page.