The short version
Under s. 475.22, F.S., every active broker must maintain at least one registered principal (main) office in Florida and display an entrance sign readable from the adjoining street or roadway. The sign must show the broker's trade name (if any), the name of the broker, and the words “Licensed Real Estate Broker” or “Lic. Real Estate Broker”. Every registered branch office needs its own sign meeting the same rule.
What the office requirement actually says
An active broker must register and maintain a principal office in the state — a registered place of business where the brokerage records are kept and where business is conducted. Everything else about the brokerage's structure rests on that address being real and on record.
A residence can serve as the office. But it does not get an exemption: a real estate office located at the broker's home must be registered as the principal office and must still meet the sign requirement. That surprises people who work from a spare room and assume the rule is about storefronts.
What must appear on the sign
The purpose of the wording is identification, not decoration. The public must be able to tell, from outside, that the office belongs to someone the state has licensed as a broker — and who that broker is.
Principal office or branch office?
The line is drawn by activity rather than by size or signage ambition. If a broker opens a second physical location, separate from the principal office, where real estate business is conducted, that location must be registered as a branch office.
| The situation | Register as a branch? |
|---|---|
| A second location in another city where business is transacted | Yes |
| Any additional location separate from the principal office where the broker transacts business | Yes |
| The broker's home, used as the main office | Register as the principal office |
Each registered branch office carries two obligations: it must display its own entrance sign meeting s. 475.22, and it must be supervised by an active broker or broker associate responsible for that location. A branch is not a satellite desk — it is a place with a named person answerable for what happens there.
Trade names on the sign
A brokerage operating under a name other than the broker's legal name must register that fictitious (trade) name and have it noted on the broker's license record before using it in business. Once registered, the DBA may appear on the sign and in advertising.
One limit applies to the name itself: it must not imply the firm is something it is not, or otherwise be deceptive to the public. A trade name is permitted to be distinctive; it is not permitted to be misleading about the nature of the brokerage.
Team names follow the same logic
The office sign and team advertising are solving the same problem — making the responsible licensee visible. Florida advertising rules require that a real estate team name in advertising be accompanied by the registered brokerage name, clearly and conspicuously. Teams are not separately licensed entities; they operate under the brokerage and stay subject to the broker's supervision.
Advertising that shows the team name prominently and omits the brokerage name entirely is a violation, for the same reason an unsigned office is: the public cannot tell who is actually responsible.
This page describes the statewide requirements of Chapter 475 and the FREC rules. Local sign ordinances, landlord rules and building standards apply on top of them and vary by jurisdiction. Verify current requirements with the DBPR and your local authority.
Where this sits on the broker exam
Office registration and signage belong to Brokerage Offices, Ownership & Entities, one of the twelve content areas on the Florida Real Estate Broker Examination. Questions on it tend to be precise rather than conceptual — what the sign says, who supervises a branch, whether a home office is exempt — which makes them free points if you have read the rule once and lost points if you have not.
Precise rules make for precise questions
FLBrokerPro drills all 12 content areas with 344 exam-style questions and a plain-English explanation on every answer — including the office, entity and supervision rules you will use on day one.