Property Management - Creative contract

[Eric NA]

From everything I have read, you have to be a "Licensed Real Estate Broker" to manage a property UNLESS you own the property. So then I started thinking about lease option contracts. With lease option (unless I'm missing something) the owner is still holding the mortgage, I am the middle man who sets up the lease option contract and then I'm basically landlording in that sense but I have never seen anything that says you need a license for that.

So my question is, am I just missing something on using lease option to control a property? Whether I'm right or wrong, would there be some way to avoid getting the license yet still manage the property by creating a contract between myself and the individual?