Branch office

Key Takeaways

• A Washington real estate firm may run more than one office, but every additional location needs its own branch office license issued under the firm's name.
• Only the firm's designated broker can apply to open a branch office, and the application goes to the Director of the Department of Licensing.
• Each branch office must be run by a branch manager, and that person has to hold a managing broker license authorized by the designated broker.
• The Department of Licensing issues a duplicate license for each branch, and the duplicate must be prominently displayed in the office it was issued for.

What It Means

A branch office is any additional business location a licensed Washington real estate firm runs apart from its main office. The firm itself holds one license. Every extra location it opens for brokerage business needs its own branch license, issued under the same firm name, so the public and the Department of Licensing can see which firm the satellite office belongs to.

Only the firm's Designated Broker can open one. The designated broker applies to the Director of the Department of Licensing for authority to establish one or more branches and pays the fee set by rule. Once approved, the branch receives a duplicate license naming both the firm and that particular location, and the duplicate has to be posted in the office it covers.

A branch cannot supervise itself. Each one needs a branch manager, and that person must be a Managing Broker the designated broker has authorized to run the branch. Brokers assigned to the branch are still licensed to the firm, not to the location. How firm, branch, and individual licenses stack up is laid out in this comparison of broker and managing broker licenses.

How It Works in Washington

Branch licensing lives in RCW 18.85.241. Under that section a designated broker may apply to the director for authority to establish one or more branch offices under the same name as the real estate firm, on payment of a fee prescribed by rule. The director then issues a duplicate license for each branch showing the location of the firm and of the particular branch, and each duplicate license must be prominently displayed in the office for which it is issued.

The same section requires that each branch office have a Branch Manager who is a managing broker authorized by the designated broker to perform those duties. RCW 18.85.241 also carries one exception. No branch office license is required where real estate sales activity is conducted on, and limited to, a particular subdivision or tract, if a licensed office or branch office is located within thirty-five miles of that subdivision or tract. That is what lets a firm staff an on-site sales office at a new development without opening a branch.

Names are handled separately. RCW 18.85.221 lets a firm use one or more assumed names, but the firm must obtain a separate license for every additional assumed name before using it, and all brokerage services must be conducted in the name of the firm or a licensed assumed name. Branch offices fall under that same requirement. Branch applications and renewals go through the Department of Licensing. For the wider license framework, see this guide to Washington license law.

Example

Cascade Crest Realty LLC is a licensed Washington firm in Everett. Its designated broker, Dana Whitfield, wants a second office in Bellingham, 55 miles north. Dana applies to the Department Of Licensing for a branch office license under the name Cascade Crest Realty LLC, pays the branch fee, and names Marcus Bell, a managing broker with 6 years on his license, as branch manager. The department issues a duplicate license naming the firm and the Bellingham address, and Marcus posts it in the Bellingham lobby. The 12 brokers working out of Bellingham are licensed to Cascade Crest Realty LLC, not to the branch, and Marcus supervises them day to day while Dana stays accountable firm wide. Six months later the firm staffs a sales office inside the Alder Ridge subdivision, 8 miles from the Everett office. Because that office sells only lots in Alder Ridge and sits well inside the thirty-five mile limit, no third branch license is required.

Common Mistakes and Exam Traps

• A branch office license is issued to the firm, not to a person. Brokers who work out of a branch are still licensed to the firm.
• A firm has exactly one designated broker no matter how many branches it runs. Each branch adds a branch manager, not a second designated broker.
• A branch manager must already hold a managing broker license. A broker license alone is not enough to run a branch.
• The thirty-five mile exception is measured from a licensed office or branch office, and it only covers sales activity limited to one subdivision or tract.