A non-licensed persona can be a staff member of a brokerage, but cannot represent themselves as an agent; it's fraud in CA.

If you have an inactive license it's illegal to represent yourself as an active agent with a brokerage.

 Third degree felony in Florida. 

      They can only act as an unlicensed assistant to a licensed agent or Broker.  Assistants must comply with laws and rules set by the State of Florida DBPR.

No. An inactive license is the same as no license.

This is not a common practice.  It is illegal in California and imagine that is true in every state.  

No tickie, no washe! Be active or be gone unless working an administrative job not requiring a license.

Efren,

Not on our watch or in our company.  A

I don't think so in most cases. There are some agents who put their licenses on inactive status for a variety of reasons.

See what Thomas J. Nelson, Realtor, CRS says

It's all fun & games until they try to get paid. The buck definitely stops there. Hence, it's not too common.

Real life and textbook life can be quite different;  I wonder sometimes if the people writing the curriculum have actually practiced real estate.  LOL

Anyway, no, it is not a common practice, in fact, I have never personally heard of it happening at all.  I'm sure it does happen, but I don't have any direct experience. 

The DBPR in Florida did a mass hiring 2 years ago to go after "unlicensed activity".

They care more about snagging those that are doing real estate activities without a license more than they care about all the agents that are doing serious illegal stuff.

Eve

PS:  why do unlicensed people do it?  Because they can.  There are too many unscrupulous agent that will hire assistants to supplement their business by communicating with those that don't speak English.  So who is going to complain?  Certainly not those that hire them.

PSS: and yes, it is illegal in every state.

Engaged in real estate activities with an inactive license is consideration of the Texas Real Estate License.

Violation could any or a combination of the following:

Reprimand

Permanent loss of license

Requirement to attend additional course

Fine

Jail Time

Efren Ortiz Marrero An agent who is inactive is still licensed as a real estate agent; however, because they are not associated with a principal broker, they cannot practice real estate.

Rarely have I seen that, if fact in 27 years I can recall only one that was intentional. One didn't realize his licensed had lapsed and had to do some extra education.

It is not something I have seen.  Like a driver's license, you cannot practice or claim to be affiliated with an agency as an agent if your license is expired or revoked.  You can be employed for non-agent tasks by a broker (setting appointments, advertising, calling leads, answering phones... with some exceptions).  That's CA law, Utah may be a bit different.

Thanks for breaking the mold by the way and not only having a profile pic, but responding to Thomas J. Nelson, Realtor, CRS's answer!

No it's not common & I better not see it or they will get reported immediately. Jail time & fines are a deterrent.

What's the benefit to saying this is rampant? It's not.

In Oregon there are fines if the real estate agency discovers someone is acting as an agent without a license.  If they have broken the law during their activities, there may be criminal prosecution as well.

Not a common practice to my knowledge and it is a criminal offense to act as a licensed agent and not be one.

Practice medicine performing surgery w/o a license or revoked license?

Illegal

It is NOT common in our area. I have not even heard of an inactive agent in our area handling leads or even selling their own home Efren Ortiz Marrero .

I don't know.

Sounds like a foolish thing to do, why would they want to?

I know of someone like this and do not know how they get away with it.

It happens ... however I would not say it is common.  

If they are inactive as in just hanging their license somewhere but not selling real estate that is ok. If they are truly inactive and their status is as such with the real estate commission it is illegal to sell real estate. Some states have "referral only" brokerages where the agents can keep their license active for a nominal fee to receive referrals. What does the actual scenerio say? -Kasey

with an inactive license, they should not be representing themselves as an agent....

I've never run across an inactive agent acting as if they are affiliated with a Brokerage.

Well here in Louisiana, it is a problem for those practicing without a license. Last quarter the State published two cases. Lock em up!

better to say low when inactive

"....act as though they are affiliated...."

You really need to be more clear.

It is possible 'acting' means you found on the Internet a page with x'agent and the broker. That's because once on the Internet it is there FOREVER!

However, posing as an UNLICENSED PROFESSIONAL is always frowned upon by every State, county and local authority. 

Is it common practice? In the kingdom of real estate agents it IS common practice to make assumptions without asking questions.

Playing with perception is tight-roping the ethics line thus you will fall

In my jurisdiction, if you have an active licence then you are affiliated with a brokerage.  If you do not have an active licence then you are not licensed to conduct real estate trades or other activities governed by the relevant legislation.  Refer to the legislation to determine the repercussions.