Does a Transaction Coordinator Need a License?

Each state’s license law defines brokerage by activity, typically selling, buying, listing, negotiating or leasing real estate for someone else in exchange for compensation. Anyone who performs those acts needs a license, whatever their title.

Texas’s regulator put it plainly in a 2024 article: titles like transaction coordinator are popular, but the real estate license status determines what a person can do. The other regulators in this guide take the same approach.

That’s why the answer is usually no. A TC’s core work, which is calendaring contract deadlines, collecting signed documents, ordering reports and keeping the parties updated, is administrative support. None of the 12 states we cover issues a separate transaction coordinator license or registration. If you’re new to the role, start with what a transaction coordinator does.

The regulators that publish task lists, including California’s Department of Real Estate, the Georgia Real Estate Commission, Virginia’s Real Estate Board, Nevada’s Real Estate Division and the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, broadly agree on the administrative core. With the broker’s knowledge and supervision, an unlicensed TC can generally:

• Schedule inspections, appraisals, walk-throughs and closings, and order the reports and services the agent asks for
• Assemble closing documents and keep the file complete for broker review
• Prepare or type documents and contract forms for the licensee to review and approve
• Deliver documents and collect signatures, without explaining what the documents mean
• Follow up on loan status after the contract is negotiated
• Give the parties factual status updates, such as when a report will arrive
• Obtain public records and submit listing data to the MLS

California’s Guidelines for Unlicensed Assistants are a useful model. They let assistants order pest, roof, title and appraisal reports, prepare documents that a licensee reviews before delivery, and obtain signatures, as long as the assistant doesn’t discuss the content or significance of what’s being signed.

Unlicensed transaction coordinator duties that cross the line

The tasks that require a license are consistent across these states:

• Negotiating price, repairs, earnest money, fees or commissions
• Explaining, interpreting or advising on a contract, listing or other real estate document for anyone outside the firm
• Answering questions about the listing, title, financing or closing beyond factual or public information
• Showing property or hosting open houses (state rules on open houses vary)
• Prospecting or soliciting buyers and sellers
• Giving pricing advice or opinions of value

Note: Negotiation is read broadly. California’s DRE warns that courts have applied the term to activity that directly assists or aids in the negotiations or closing of a transaction, not just bargaining over price and terms.

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Texas

TREC’s guidance is specific. Unlicensed staff may input data into a contract or type it, but only as a license holder specifically directs, and may schedule showings for the agent who will show the home. TREC says an unlicensed assistant can’t review a contract or facilitate a transaction, and it treats unlocking a property or allowing a prospective buyer access as showing, which requires a license. Only a license holder may withdraw or transfer trust account funds.

California

The DRE’s guidelines allow a wide range of support: scheduling, ordering reports, preparing documents for review, collecting signatures, reviewing files for completeness (with the licensee making the final call) and letting inspectors or repair people in with the principal’s consent. The broker must supervise all of it, and Business and Professions Code §10137 makes it unlawful for a broker to pay an unlicensed person for acts that require a license.

Florida

Florida’s statute defines a broker broadly. It includes anyone who, for compensation, assists in procuring prospects or in the negotiation or closing of a transaction, and licensees can be disciplined for paying an unlicensed person for those services. Keep an unlicensed Florida TC firmly on administrative tasks performed at the agent’s direction, and route every question about terms to the licensee.

• Virginia adopted 18VAC135-20-335, effective April 1, 2026. It lists what unlicensed staff may do, including preparing contract forms for the licensee’s and supervising broker’s approval and assembling closing documents, and what only licensees may do.
• Nevada’s Informational Bulletin #010 lets unlicensed and virtual assistants draft and assemble transaction documents, but not draft contract terms or complete blank portions of a purchase agreement or its addenda.
• Arizona’s Substantive Policy Statement 2025.02 limits assistants to clerical and administrative work under a licensee’s direct supervision and employment, and says they may not originate documents.
• Georgia’s Rule 520-1-.07 limits support personnel to ministerial duties and requires a written agreement listing their permitted and prohibited duties.
• North Carolina’s Real Estate Commission lets unlicensed assistants fill in preprinted forms using information a broker supplies and prepare closing documents, while only brokers may explain offers or negotiate due diligence fees.
• Tennessee’s Real Estate Commission FAQ allows unlocking property under a licensee’s direction, unlike Texas.
• South Carolina’s license law bars unlicensed assistants from discussing or explaining contracts, showing property for sale or hosting open houses.
• Washington and Colorado don’t publish task lists. Washington exempts office personnel who don’t perform brokerage services, and Colorado requires employing brokers to supervise all unlicensed employees, including agents’ personal assistants.

In some states, yes. State license laws generally bar paying unlicensed people for licensed activity, and several go further:

• South Carolina’s statute says unlicensed assistants may not be paid solely on the basis of real estate activity, such as a percentage of commission or an amount based on a listing or sale.
• Tennessee’s Real Estate Commission lists receiving compensation that depends on, or is directly related to, a real estate transaction among the activities that require a license.
• Arizona’s Department of Real Estate says it considers how an unlicensed assistant is paid, not just what the assistant does.
• Georgia requires the broker to approve any compensation arrangement an agent has with support personnel.
• Nevada makes it unlawful for a licensee to pay an unlicensed person any share of a transaction’s commission or compensation for services performed.

If you pay a TC per file or only when a deal closes, ask your broker how your state’s rules treat that arrangement. For common pricing models, see what a transaction coordinator costs.

Tip: Put the TC’s duties in writing. Georgia requires it, South Carolina’s supervision guidelines tell brokers-in-charge to review prohibited activities with unlicensed employees and contractors and keep a signed acknowledgment, and even where it isn’t required, a written task list protects the agent, the broker and the TC.

For most agents, an unlicensed TC handling administrative work is enough. A licensed TC can make sense when you want help with tasks your state reserves for licensees, such as giving a buyer access to a property in Texas or filling in purchase agreement terms in Nevada.

Licensed work happens under a brokerage’s supervision, so ask how a licensed TC’s license is held. Georgia’s rule shows why it matters: an inactive licensee may work as support personnel, but an actively licensed person working for a different firm needs written consent from the broker of each firm.

Whichever route you choose, ask three questions. Who supervises the TC? Which tasks are in writing? Who answers the parties’ questions about terms? For more, see how to hire a transaction coordinator, the difference between a transaction coordinator and an assistant, or transaction coordinators near you.

• Route every question about price, terms, repairs or what a document means to the agent.
• Have the agent review documents the TC prepares before they go to clients or the other side.
• Keep the TC away from trust funds beyond what your state allows. Texas, for example, reserves trust account withdrawals for license holders.
• Don’t send an unlicensed TC to unlock doors or host open houses unless your state’s rules allow it.
• Document the arrangement and the broker’s approval.

Note: This guide summarizes regulator guidance as of October 2026 and isn’t legal advice. Rules change (Virginia’s rule, for example, took effect in April 2026), so check your state real estate commission’s current guidance and your broker’s policies before relying on it.