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Colorado rules for licensed agents

How many continuing education hours does a Colorado broker need?

Colorado ties renewal, reactivation and reinstatement of a license to a continuing education requirement for the licensing cycle. As amended in 2026, the rules set a total of 24 hours, built from the Annual Commission Update plus electives, name three other ways to meet the requirement, and add a reactivation course for a license that was inactive or expired for up to 36 months.

Rule text read November 2, 2026 at the Colorado Secretary of State: rules changed by rulemaking 2026-00283, from the adopted rules filed there, and rules that filing left unchanged from the compiled 4 CCR 725-1. Informational, not legal advice.

When it is due

The rule is 4.1, Continuing Education Requirement, in 4 CCR 725-1, the Commission’s broker rules, as amended in 2026:

“Brokers must satisfy the continuing education requirement for a licensing cycle prior to applying to renew a License on Active status, to activate an Inactive License that was previously renewed on Inactive status, or to Reinstate an Expired License to Active status.”

The amended rule drops the sentence that listed the licensing cycles, and the amended rules repeal Rule 1.4, the definition of the Anniversary Year Cycle. Rule 1.10 keeps the Calendar Year Cycle, which runs from January 1 of year one to December 31 of year three.

How the hours are earned

Rule 4.2 gives four ways to satisfy the requirement. The usual one is 12 credit hours as the Annual Commission Update, in annual 4 hour parts the Commission develops, plus 12 more hours of electives, for a total of 24 hours in the cycle. The rule adds:

“A Broker may not take the same version of the Annual Commission Update more than once for continuing education credit”
“Beginning in 2027, the “Annual Commission Update” must be completed by July 1st of each calendar year.”

Rule 4.3 has the Commission develop and present the Update and furnish it only to approved course providers. The course is built to meet four hours of credit, and each broker completes it with a passing score of seventy percent on the course examination.

The other three ways

“Pass the Colorado portion of the Real Estate Licensing Examination”

Or complete the Commission approved 24 hour Broker Reactivation Course, which the rule makes available only to brokers that did not use the course to satisfy the requirement in the previous licensing cycle. Or complete 72 hours of coursework, 48 hours in Colorado Real Estate Contracts and 24 hours in Real Estate Closings.

Coming back from inactive or expired

Rule 4.9, new in the amended rules, has a broker whose license was inactive or expired for up to 36 months in all, and who did not complete the continuing education while it was, take the Broker Reactivation Course before going active again:

“prior to activating an Inactive License or Reinstating an Expired License to Active status.”

Renewal itself is in Rule 2.18, which says all broker licenses must be renewed, regardless of the status of the license at the time it is scheduled to expire. Rule 4.8 lets the Commission audit continuing education from a completed license cycle and places a license on inactive status if the broker fails to respond during the audit. The amended rules repeal Rule 3.11 on renewal and Rule 3.15 on reinstatement; we did not find where the reinstatement fees of the earlier version now sit.

What this page does not settle

The fees, the course lists and the electives topics are not here, and this page does not cover Rule 4.4 on course standards. The engrossed text of the 2026 act continuing the Division, HB26-1287, would let the Commission inactivate the license of a licensee who fails to comply with the continuing education section; we did not read the signed act. The Division’s current course calendar is the place for dates. For what inactive status does to the hours, see Colorado inactive licenses.

Common questions

How many continuing education hours does a Colorado broker need?

The rules describe a total of 24 hours for the licensing cycle, built from 12 hours of the Annual Commission Update and 12 hours of electives.

When does a Colorado broker complete continuing education?

Before applying to renew a license on active status, to activate an inactive license that was renewed on inactive status, or to reinstate an expired license to active status.

Is there an alternative for a Colorado broker who has been inactive?

Rule 4.9 has a broker whose license was inactive or expired for up to 36 months in all, and who did not complete the continuing education while it was, complete the Broker Reactivation Course before activating or reinstating. Rule 4.2 also lists passing the Colorado portion of the licensing exam and 72 hours of coursework in contracts and closings.

Can a Colorado broker take the same Annual Commission Update twice?

No. The rule says a broker may not take the same version of the Annual Commission Update more than once for continuing education credit.

Does Listing AutomatEr track Colorado continuing education?

No. The app builds and schedules posts for listings you have permission to market. Colorado continuing education 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.

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Sources

This is not legal advice. This page quotes a state 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.