What has to be ready before you apply
PALS is where everything from earlier steps comes together. Missing any one piece is the most common cause of application delay.
Before you apply
Confirm you have: completed the 75-hour education requirement, passed the required exam portions, an employing broker willing to certify or approve your affiliation, and a CHRC dated within 180 days of your planned submission date.
Applying through PALS
PALS is Pennsylvania's online licensing system. The salesperson application asks for education completion details, exam results, employing broker certification, and CHRC upload. Review each section carefully before submitting, since incomplete sections are a common source of delay.
What to expect after submitting
After submission, expect a review period during which the Commission verifies the education, exam, broker, and background-check pieces. Processing time can vary; check your PALS account for current status rather than assuming a fixed turnaround.
Who Does What in the Application Stage
| Party | Controls | Contact for |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant | Meeting eligibility, completing education, applying in Clarus, scheduling with Pearson VUE, timing CHRC documents, completing the PALS application | — |
| Education provider | Approved 75-hour pre-license education (Fundamentals + Practice), course completion records | Course scheduling, format, completion certificates |
| Pearson VUE / Clarus | Salesperson exam-eligibility applications, National/PA State exam applications, education-document review for exam eligibility, scheduling, score reports | Exam eligibility, scheduling, retakes, score reports |
| State Real Estate Commission / BPOA | Regulates licensure, reviews and approves PALS applications, issues the license, sets renewal/CE rules | Application status, licensing rules, complaints |
| PALS | License application after passing required exam portions, employing-broker certification workflow, license status, renewal | Application submission, status tracking, renewal, verification |
| Pennsylvania State Police / ePATCH | Pennsylvania Criminal History Record Check (CHRC), issued through ePATCH (not a volunteer check) | Obtaining a valid, dated CHRC for Pennsylvania |
| Employing broker | Willingness to supervise and train the applicant, certifying/approving the PALS application, receiving the issued license at the broker's main office | Sponsorship, certification of the PALS application |
"Send to Broker" Workflow
- Complete your PALS application.
- Send it to your employing broker for certification.
- Your broker certifies and submits it to the Commission.
- Commission review.
- License issuance — the physical license is mailed to the broker's main office.
CHRC Timing
You need a CHRC for every state where you lived, worked, or completed professional training or studies in the past five years, obtained through ePATCH for the Pennsylvania record (a volunteer record check is not accepted). Each report must be dated within 180 days of application submission — time these so they don't expire before your broker submits.