California-specific tool
Unlicensed assistant activity checker
The practical line is between supervised administrative support and conduct that solicits, shows, advises, or negotiates. The responsible broker must know what the assistant is doing and keep the work inside that line.
Generally permitted with broker knowledge and consent
- Place signs, greet visitors, hand out licensee-approved materials, and arrange appointments at an open house, with the principal's consent
- Make general-interest canvassing calls, then refer an interested person to a licensee without soliciting for a specific property, transaction, or product
- Schedule appointments and order reports or services at a licensee's direction
- Let inspectors or repair workers into a property with the principal's consent, without showing the property to a prospective buyer or tenant
- Prepare a comparative market analysis for the licensee's approval and use
- Prepare advertising that a broker or associate licensee reviews and approves before publication
- Provide factual information from writings prepared by the licensee
Requires a license
- Show or exhibit a property to a prospective buyer or tenant
- Discuss price, terms, schools, neighborhood, property features, or the conditions of a possible sale at an open house
- Solicit a consumer for a specific property, transaction, or real estate product
- Negotiate, quote terms, recommend a price, or communicate a seller's or buyer's bargaining position
- Explain or interpret contracts, disclosures, financing documents, or legal rights
- Perform any other act for which a real estate license or MLO endorsement is required
The same line applies when the assistant is software
DRE's March 2026 AI advisory says using an AI tool to conduct licensed activity may be equivalent to asking an unlicensed assistant to do it. A licensee remains responsible for reviewing factual claims, advertising, disclosures, and consumer communications, and the responsible broker's supervision duty still applies.
DRE describes its unlicensed-assistant document as a guideline, not a substitute for the Real Estate Law. A real task can change character based on what is said, who receives it, and whether it becomes solicitation, advice, showing, or negotiation. When the boundary is uncertain, the broker should keep the task with a licensee.
Study supervision and licensed activities