How to switch real estate brokerages in Florida

Changing your employing broker in Florida is a short administrative process, not a licensing ordeal. Here is what actually happens, in order.

Most agents put off a move because they assume it means downtime, paperwork and a gap where they cannot work. In Florida it does not. The state charges nothing to change employers, and the change itself can take effect the same day. The real work is the part around it: your listings, your pending contracts, and your MLS and board records.

The steps, in order

• Read your current agreement first. Your independent contractor agreement with your present brokerage governs what happens to pending deals, who gets paid on them, and whether any notice period applies. This is the single most important document in the whole process, and it is the one most agents have not looked at since the day they signed it.
• Agree on terms with the new brokerage. Split, fees, lead policy, support. Settle this before anything is filed. You should know exactly what you are walking into.
• Tell your current broker. Do it directly and professionally. Florida is a small industry and brokers talk. A clean exit costs you nothing and a messy one follows you around.
• File the change of employer with the state. This is a Department of Business and Professional Regulation transaction. It can be filed on paper using form DBPR RE 11, Change of Status, or submitted electronically through the state licensing portal. There is no state fee for a change of employer.
• Update your MLS and board records. This is separate from the state. Your MLS and your local Realtor association each need to know your license now sits with a new brokerage. Until that is done, your listings and your profile may still show the old firm.
• Move your marketing. Signs, business cards, your email signature, your social profiles and your website. In Florida, advertising must name the brokerage, so anything still carrying your old firm needs to come down.

What the state paperwork actually involves

Form DBPR RE 11 is the Change of Status form for sales associates and broker sales associates. For a change of employer it has two signing parties:

• You complete your own license and contact information and sign the affirmation.
• Your new qualifying broker provides the company information and signs the broker section.

Filing the change deactivates your relationship with the prior employer and activates your license under the new brokerage's qualifying broker. Filed electronically by the new broker, the activation is effectively immediate. On paper, add mail and processing time.

The part that actually matters: your listings

In Florida, a listing agreement is between the seller and the brokerage, not between the seller and you personally. When you leave, your active listings do not automatically travel with you. What happens to them depends on your agreement with your current brokerage and on whether the seller chooses to follow you.

The same is true of pending contracts. Who gets paid on a deal that closes after you leave is a question your independent contractor agreement answers, and it should be settled in writing before you give notice, not after.

More on what happens to your listings when you switch

Common mistakes

• Giving notice before reading the independent contractor agreement.
• Assuming the state change also updates the MLS and the board. It does not.
• Leaving old brokerage branding up on signs, profiles or ads after the move, which is an advertising compliance problem.
• Not getting the commission treatment of pending deals in writing.
• Moving for a split number alone without asking what the brokerage actually does for you.

This page is general information for licensed Florida real estate professionals and is not legal advice. Your own contract and your local board and MLS rules govern your situation. Mangrove Realty, Inc. is a licensed Florida real estate brokerage.