How to Renew Your License 

Iowa REALTORS® School understands that you're a busy professional. That's why we offer courses that fit your needs, whether that's online or in-person. We offer a hybrid course option that allows students to attend in-person in our West Des Moines office or online via Zoom. You get to choose! 

Up to 24 hours may be taken by home study or online; with 12 hours taken through "live instruction" in-person or via Zoom. 

*In order to satisfy the Ethics requirement as a member of the National Association of REALTORS®, Ethics must be taken from NAR, IAR or a local board/association of Realtors. An Ethics course offered by a brokerage or outside school would not satisfy NAR's requirements. 

Some courses meet the requirements for the mandatory Law Update and/or Ethics courses:

After you complete a course, a course completion certificate will be issued to you. This certificate includes a course number that is used by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals & Licensing to verify your completion of the course. Save all of your course completion certificates. All course certificates provided through the IAR School of Real Estate are available online in the My Account section of our website. Log in to My Account to access (Click on "Events" and then "My Classes") and print your certificates. Please note that course certificates for courses taken with other education providers are not available in the My Account section.

License renewal opens November 16. Visit the Iowa Professional Licensing Bureau to renew your license. Note that online license renewal is available only during renewal periods (typically November through January). However, you can visit the Iowa Professional Licensing Bureau at any time to verify the status of any real estate licensee or company.

To renew your license, you must log into My Iowa PLB. If you forgot or are unsure of your My Iowa PLB username, please contact Commission staff at  (515) 725-9022, Ext. 8.

DO NOT click on “New User?” and create a second account.

Check out the Iowa Real Estate Tips & Tricks Page for helpful hints on renewing your license. 

Education Email: education@iowarealtors.com

License renewal is available online. Visit the Iowa Professional Licensing Bureau (PLB) to renew your license. Note that online license renewal is available only during renewal periods (typically November through January). However, you can visit Iowa PLB at any time to verify the status of any real estate licensee or company.

To renew your license, you must log into My Iowa PLB. If you have not yet logged into the system, click on a new user. Set up your account and link your license. Paper renewals are no longer accepted. During the renewal period, you will click on “Applications/Renewals.” Complete the checklist, upload your course completion certificates, and click “Submit for Review.”

Additional renewal information can be found on the Iowa Real Estate Commissions FAQ page.

Yes. As of June 2025, the Iowa Real Estate Commission has implemented a policy that allows real estate licensees to carry over up to 50% of excess completed CE hours from the previous cycle.

Carryover limit: The maximum number of hours that can be carried over is 18 hours.

Licensees cannot carry over hours toward the mandatory eight-hour Law update course or the four-hour Ethics course. These specific course requirements must still be met each renewal period.

Yes, contact the Department of Inspections, Appeals & Licensing for specific instructions on how to take the exam for renewal.