Question:

Do I need to put my Georgia real estate license on active status or inactive status?

Answer:
Active or inactive is up to the individual. A real estate agent in Georgia cannot activly sell real estate with a license that is held inactive. Inactive licenses are held with the Georgia Real Estate Commission and they simply hold it. Active real estate licenses are placed with real estate brokers for whatever the purpose of the brokerage is for.

(a) Every active Georgia associate broker, salesperson, and community association manager shall be licensed under an active Georgia broker; and said associate broker, salesperson, or community association manager cannot be licensed under more than one Georgia broker during the same period of time. An active Georgia associate broker, salesperson, or community association manager may also affiliate a license issued by another state’s real estate licens ing regulatory body with a broker in that state provided:
1. said state’s laws allow affiliations in both states; and
2. said Georgia resident associate broker, salesperson, or community association manager has the written permission of the broker holding his Georgia license to affiliate with a broker in another state and said written permission clearly delineates (1) the duties that the licensee may undertake for each broker and (2) that the licensee may not undertake brokerage activity on property located in Georgia except in behalf of the active Georgia broker.
(b) After making an original application for licensure to the Commission, a salesperson or a community association manager shall not commence work in real estate brokerage activities until the broker has received the licensee’s wall certificate of licensure.
(c) After a licensee makes application to change the status of his or her license to a broker of a sole proprietorship or qualifying broker of a corporation, limited liability company, or partnership, the applicant shall not commence work in real estate brokerage activities until the applicant has received the wall certificate of licensure for the sole proprietorship, corporation, limited liability company, or partnership.
(d) Any licensee whose license is released by a broker shall not engage in the activities of a real estate broker until the licensee:
1. affiliates his or her license with a new broker and mails a Change Application to the Commission; or
2. receives from the Commission a wall certificate of licensure authorizing the licensee to serve as the broker of a sole proprietorship or the qualifying broker of a corporation, limited liability company, or partnership.
(e) Any licensee who seeks to activate a license which has been on inactive status for two years or longer shall be required to attend a Commission approved course or courses of study totaling at least six hours for each year the license was on inactive status. The course or courses must be taken no more than one year prior to the date of the reactivation of the license.
(f) This requirement shall not apply to an inactive licensee who can furnish to the Commission evidence that he or she has met the continuing education requirement for each renewal period that his or her license has been on inactive status.
(g) Every active licensee seeking to perform real estate brokerage activity must do so as a broker or on behalf of a real estate broker. Inactive licensees may not perform real estate brokerage activity on any real estate except real estate owned solely by the inactive licensee. Real estate brokerage activity includes sales, leasing, community association management services, property management services, and any of the activities identified under the definition of “Broker” in O.C.G.A. Section 43-40-1.
(h) The license law contains an exception (not available to licensees) that allows an unlicensed person who is a full-time employee of an unlicensed person to perform real estate brokerage activity on property owned by that unlicensed person’s employer.
(i) A licensee may not place the licensee’s license on inactive status and perform rea l estate brokerage activity for an unlicensed person. Whenever a real estate licensee wishes to be employed by an unlicensed person in order to perform real estate brokerage activity on real estate owned by that unlicensed person, such licensee must first surrender such licensee’s license to the Commiss ion and may not reinstate that license without first qualifying as an original applicant.
(j) A licensee on inactive status may be an employee of an unlicensed person to perform work other than real estate brokerage activity for the unlicensed person.