Your principal broker of record with the Tennessee Real Estate Commission. Tennessee writes more into its statute than most states do, and the parts that catch people out are the office, the sign and a hard limit on how many firms one broker may serve. All three are below, from the statute.
Tennessee real estate is regulated by the Tennessee Real Estate Commission (TREC) under the Tennessee Real Estate Broker License Act of 1973. A company does not simply hire a broker and start operating. The company holds a firm license, and that firm license is tied to a named principal broker who answers to the Commission for it.
Tenn. Code Ann. §62-13-309(a)(1)(A): “Each office shall have a real estate firm license, a principal broker and a fixed location with adequate facilities for affiliated licensees.”
Three requirements in one sentence. A firm license. A principal broker. And a fixed location. Most out-of-state operators plan carefully for the first two and meet the third on the way to a returned application.
Tennessee still writes physical presence into the statute, and then writes a sign requirement on top of it. This is the single biggest difference between Tennessee and the other states we cover, and it is worth reading in full before you budget a launch date.
The practical read: a hot desk in a coworking space is a poor fit for a statute that expects a sign on the outside of the office, and a virtual mailbox is worse. Settle the address before anything else, because every other date in the plan hangs off it.
Not for the broker personally. §62-13-314 provides that a nonresident applicant “need not maintain a place of business within this state; provided, that the applicant is regularly engaged in the real estate business and maintains a place of business in the other state.” Nonresidents also file an irrevocable consent to service of process in Tennessee, which is routine paperwork rather than a hurdle.
That provision is real and useful, and it is also where confident answers on the internet get out ahead of the statute. §62-13-314 addresses the nonresident licensee. §62-13-309(a)(1)(A) addresses the office of the firm. They are not the same question, and how the Commission applies the first to a Tennessee-chartered company whose office sits out of state is something to confirm in writing with TREC before a filing goes in, not after one comes back. We treat that as step one of a Tennessee engagement. If the answer changes the plan, it changes it while it is still cheap.
Tenn. Code Ann. §62-13-309(g): “A principal broker may act as a principal broker for two (2) firms as long as both firms are in the same location.”
Two firms, and the same-location condition is part of the rule rather than a footnote on it. Tennessee also allows only one active license per broker at a time under §62-13-309(e). Put together, Tennessee is the most restrictive state in our footprint on broker capacity, and it is restrictive by design.
This is worth knowing before you choose any outside broker, not just this one. If a provider advertises unlimited Tennessee coverage sitting under a single named broker, they are describing something §62-13-309(g) does not permit. The question to ask any Tennessee broker of record is simple: how many Tennessee firms are you principal broker for today, and where are those firms located. Both halves are verifiable, and the answer tells you whether your firm is going to be supervised or merely listed. The same logic applies in reverse in the other states we cover, where the caps are looser, which is why we publish what each state allows on the Texas, Florida, Georgia and Utah pages rather than a single national claim.
Most states leave errors and omissions coverage to the firm and its counsel. Tennessee does not.
Tenn. Code Ann. §62-13-112: “Each licensee who is licensed under this chapter shall, as a condition to licensing, carry errors and omissions insurance to cover all activities contemplated under this chapter.”
The consequences are written into the same section. A lapse suspends the license. Reinstating after thirty days of suspension carries a penalty. A suspension that runs beyond one year results in automatic revocation. The Commission contracts for a group policy through competitive bidding and makes it available to every licensee, and independent coverage is accepted where it meets the Commission’s minimum requirements. Budget for it at the start of a Tennessee engagement rather than discovering it at renewal.
Tennessee puts the escrow account on the principal broker personally, which is the same structural point that makes broker selection a real decision rather than a formality.
There is a genuine way out for firms that never touch client money. §62-13-323 lets the principal broker of a firm “that does not engage in activities that require the acceptance of any funds belonging to others” request a waiver of the escrow account. If the firm later opens one, the principal broker acknowledges responsibility under §62-13-321 and notifies the Commission within one business day with the bank, the account name and the account number.
Technology platforms, referral businesses and brokerages that route earnest money to a closing attorney or title company commonly qualify. Property management companies collecting rent and holding deposits generally do not, and should plan for the account and the audit discipline that comes with it.
Tennessee carves short-stay lodging out of brokerage licensure entirely, and it is the kind of thing a broker of record has an obvious incentive not to mention.
Tenn. Code Ann. §62-13-104 defines a vacation lodging service as a business providing “the services of management, marketing, booking and rental of residential units owned by others as sleeping accommodations furnished for pay to transients or travelers staying no more than fourteen (14) days.”
A vacation lodging service holds a firm license and names a designated agent. It does not require a licensed real estate broker to supervise it, and no examination is required for issuance or renewal. The designated agent completes an eight-hour introductory course and then eight classroom hours every two years.
If every stay is fourteen days or fewer and the business never crosses into longer leases, listings or sales, that route can be the correct and cheaper one. Where it breaks is predictable: a stay that runs long, an owner who asks you to list the property, or a second line of business built on annual leases. Any of those puts the company back under the broker requirement. We would rather tell you which side of that line you are on before an engagement starts. More on the model in vacation rental and short-term rental coverage.
Tennessee real estate broker license active and current, issued by the Tennessee Real Estate Commission. Verifiable through the state license lookup at verify.tn.gov. License number shared during scoping. Broker licenses also held in Texas, Florida, Georgia and Utah, each verifiable with its own state regulator.
A Tennessee engagement moves in a fixed order, and the order matters more than the speed. The firm’s entity standing and its office address come first, because §62-13-309 makes the address a licensing fact rather than an administrative detail. The firm license application and the principal broker designation follow. Errors and omissions coverage has to be in place as a condition of licensure, and it is usually the slowest item to arrive, so it is worth starting on day one.
State filing fees are modest and are quoted at scoping rather than published here, because published fee figures go stale quietly and an out-of-date number is worse than no number.
§62-13-309(a)(1)(A) requires the firm to have a fixed location with adequate facilities. §62-13-314 says a nonresident applicant need not maintain a place of business in Tennessee provided the applicant is regularly engaged in the business and maintains a place of business in the other state. Those provisions answer different questions, so the treatment of a Tennessee firm with an out-of-state office gets confirmed with the Commission in writing before filing.
Two, and only if both firms are in the same location. §62-13-309(g). Tennessee capacity is finite, and any claim to the contrary is a claim against the statute.
Rule 1260-02-.09(2) requires the principal broker to maintain one for trust money. §62-13-323 allows a waiver for a firm that does not accept funds belonging to others. Which one applies to you is decided by how money actually moves through your business, not by how the business is described.
Yes, as a condition of licensure under §62-13-112, with suspension and eventual revocation as the consequence of a lapse. The Commission makes a group policy available and accepts qualifying independent coverage.
The firm license does not survive without a principal broker, so an exit is sequenced rather than announced. We agree the replacement or the wind-down first, file the change with TREC, and hand over the supervision record and policies. The off-boarding is written into the engagement at the start, which is the only time anyone is calm enough to write it well.
Tell us about your Tennessee firm and we’ll come back with a scoping call and a quote within one business day.
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