Washington Fair Housing CE: Why You Almost Certainly Need Just 3 Hours
If you've come across both a 3-hour and a 6-hour Washington Real Estate Fair Housing course and wondered which one you actually need, here's the short version:
If you earned your license by completing Washington's pre-license courses, you only ever need the 3-hour Fair Housing course — at your first renewal and at every renewal after. You do not need the 6-hour course.
That covers almost everyone renewing today. If that's you, you can stop reading and go pick your courses. There are two narrow exceptions that call for the one-time 6-hour course, and we cover them below — but for most brokers, it's 3 hours, every time.
Why there are two courses at all
In 2022, Washington added fair housing to its real estate education requirements (Substitute Senate Bill 5378). The change had two parts:
- A new ongoing requirement. Every broker now takes a 3-hour Washington Real Estate Fair Housing course at each license renewal.
- A one-time catch-up. Brokers who were already licensed — and who had never had any fair housing training — took a 6-hour course once, to bring everyone up to the same baseline.
At the same time, the state built fair housing directly into the pre-license Fundamentals course. So anyone who takes Washington's pre-license courses now completes fair housing before they're ever licensed. That single fact is what makes the 6-hour course unnecessary for the vast majority of brokers.
The simple rule
Took Washington's pre-license courses (the standard path)? You take the 3-hour course — at first renewal and every renewal after. Fair housing was already part of your Fundamentals course, so you're covered.
The one-time 6-hour course applies in only two situations, where Washington fair housing was never part of how you got licensed:
- You came in from another state by reciprocity. Washington waives its pre-license education (and the national exam) for brokers already licensed elsewhere — you take only the Washington state-law portion of the exam. Because you never took Washington's Fundamentals course, you never completed the fair housing piece. So at your first Washington renewal you take the 6-hour course once, then 3 hours at every renewal after. This is true no matter what year you got your Washington license.
- You were licensed before June 1, 2022 and never took any fair housing course. This is rare today — usually someone reactivating a license that sat inactive for years. Same path: 6 hours once, then 3 hours thereafter.
How to tell in ten seconds
- Did you complete Washington's pre-license Fundamentals and Practices courses to get licensed? → You're a 3-hour broker. Done.
- Did you get your Washington license from another state by reciprocity (or before June 2022 without ever taking fair housing)? → You take the 6-hour course once at your first renewal, then 3 hours after.
What your renewal actually includes
First renewal (90 clock hours):
- 30 — Advanced Real Estate Practices
- 30 — Real Estate Law
- 3 — Core (Current Issues in Washington Residential Real Estate)
- 3 — Washington Real Estate Fair Housing (or the 6-hour version, if one of the two exceptions above applies to you)
- 24 — approved electives
Every renewal after (30 clock hours):
- 3 — Core
- 3 — Washington Real Estate Fair Housing
- 24 — approved electives
The fine print, for the curious
The rule isn't tied to "first renewal" or to a calendar date — it's tied to whether you completed Washington fair housing when you first qualified for your license:
- RCW 18.85.101 requires Washington's pre-license Fundamentals course to include fair housing instruction. If you took those courses, you've already met it.
- RCW 18.85.211 makes the 6-hour course a one-time requirement — only for brokers who did not complete fair housing as part of their qualifying education.
- WAC 308-124A-790 confirms it: the 6-hour course is required only "if Washington real estate fair housing education was not completed during initial qualification for licensure." That's exactly why reciprocity brokers — who skip Washington's pre-license courses — take the 6-hour version once.
- The Department of Licensing renewal page states the same conditional rule.
Still not sure?
For most brokers this is a ten-second answer. If your path was unusual — a license from another state by reciprocity, a license that lapsed, or a long inactive period — call us at 425-775-2313 and we'll confirm exactly what you need, or check directly with the DOL education team. You can also browse what's required for your stage here:
