Real estate license lookup: every state

The details vary by state, but most lookups show the same core record:

• Name as licensed, sometimes with former names.
• License type: salesperson, associate broker, broker, or a company license for a brokerage firm.
• License number, which stays with the person in that state.
• Status: active, inactive, expired, suspended or revoked.
• Dates: when the person was first licensed and when the current license expires.
• Employing or supervising broker, which tells you the brokerage the agent works under.
• Address of record, often the office address, sometimes a mailing address.
• Disciplinary actions, in many states, with links to orders.

Some states publish more. Georgia and West Virginia include an email address in their public lists, and Iowa, Utah and Nevada include a phone number. Others publish less: Texas removed email, phone and address from its public data, and Illinois publishes only city and ZIP. Our per-state sources pages say what each regulator releases.

The table below lists the licensing regulator for every state and DC and how its records can be accessed. "Single-license lookup" means the regulator has a search page for one person at a time. "Public bulk download" means it also publishes the whole licensee list as a file. Search for the regulator's name to find its lookup page; the address changes more often than the agency does.

Where the table says details are being confirmed, the regulator's site did not publish its field list or did not load for automated checking when we surveyed it. We update those entries as each state is confirmed.

Checking one agent takes a minute if you know what to look for.

1. Search by license number if you have it. Names repeat, and many lookups match partial names. A license number gives one exact record.
2. Confirm the status says active. Anything else means the person cannot practice in that state right now.
3. Check the supervising broker. It should match the brokerage the agent says they work for. A mismatch often just means they moved recently, but it is worth asking.
4. Look for disciplinary history where the state publishes it. Most agents have none.
5. Check other states if the agent works near a border. Licenses do not transfer automatically, and an agent licensed in one state cannot practice in another without a license there or a formal cooperation arrangement.

Consumers use these steps to vet an agent before signing a listing agreement. Businesses use them to confirm a referral partner, check a new hire's license before onboarding, or clean up an old contact list.

A few issues trip people up.

Name changes. An agent who married or changed their name may be listed under a former name, or under both. Search by license number, or try the last name alone.

Team and brand names. Agents often market under a team name that is not their brokerage. The license record shows the brokerage, not the team.

Company licenses. Brokerage firms hold their own license, and some lookups mix firm and individual results. Filter to individuals if the lookup allows it.

Bot protection. Several regulators block automated searches. If a lookup fails, try it in a normal browser, and expect a limit on how fast you can search. Regulators built these tools for checking individuals, not for building lists, which is why our files use each state's published bulk data or purchased lists where they exist.

Most states issue two levels of individual license, and the difference matters when you are deciding who to contact.

A salesperson (called a sales associate in some states) must work under a licensed broker. They can list and sell property, but the broker supervises them and holds the client funds. Most agents hold this license.

A broker has more training and experience requirements and can run a brokerage, supervise other agents and hold escrow funds. Some brokers own or manage offices; others work as agents under another broker and are usually called associate brokers.

A few states, including Oregon, use only the broker title for everyone, with a separate principal broker license for those who run an office. Others license teams or have special categories for property management or timeshares.

For outreach, the distinction tells you who makes decisions. A title company or software vendor selling to offices wants brokers and principal brokers. A lender or inspector looking for referrals wants the much larger group of active salespersons. Our files map every state's titles to three values (Salesperson, Associate broker, Broker) in the License type column, so one filter works across every state.

Active means the person is licensed and, in most states, attached to a broker, so they can practice now.

Inactive means the license is current but the person cannot practice: they may have left their brokerage, paused their career or not completed continuing education. Inactive agents can usually reactivate without retesting.

Expired means the renewal deadline passed. Most states allow a grace period, after which the person must reapply.

Suspended or revoked means the regulator has taken disciplinary action.

Only active licenses go into our files. That keeps your outreach focused on people who are actually working, and it is why our counts are lower than the raw number of license records some regulators publish. Status changes every week as licenses renew, lapse and move between brokerages, which is one reason each state is rebuilt monthly.

License records are public in every state, but public does not mean unrestricted. Before you use them for marketing, three things are worth knowing.

Some states limit commercial use. Washington bars giving lists of individuals for commercial purposes. South Carolina's Family Privacy Protection Act bars using personal information from a public body for commercial solicitation. New Hampshire does not release licensee contact details. Kentucky treats solicitation as a commercial purpose under its records law. Where a state limits use like this, we do not use its list as a marketing source, and agents there are added only from other permitted sources.

License records rarely include contact details. Most states publish a name, a brokerage and an office or mailing address. To reach agents by email or phone you need the business details they publish themselves, which is what our files add, along with the source of each one.

The outreach rules still apply. Email to agents falls under the CAN-SPAM Act, and calls and texts fall under the TCPA and Do Not Call rules. Our guide to CAN-SPAM for B2B email covers the email side.

If you need a few agents, the state lookups are free and authoritative. If you need every agent in a state with verified contact details, that is what a state file is for, and a free sample shows you exactly what one contains.