Brokerage License Needed? - Property Management

[Cory Cox]

I have been getting real conflicting information every time I bring this subject up so figured I would throw it up to the group for any insights on it.

My question is, what action makes a property management company an actual property management company?  I know in Arkansas you have to have a broker's license to manage properties for other owners but where is that line actually crossed at?  Accepting of payments from tenants?  Handling lease documents?  Doing background checks for prospective tenants?

I would figure that you could essentially be labeled as just an assistance company (for lack of another creative term at the moment) to owners to do odd end jobs like virtual assistants do with taking maintenance requests, showing properties, preparing documents, etc.  I would love to be able to start a property management company to help other owners out and basically just plug them into my system of how I deal with my properties but I have zero desire to become a real estate agent to become a broker.  

I would figure all the bookkeeping, phone calls, coordination, etc. wouldn't need to have a license to perform those acts and you could just sign a contract per say with the owner saying I'll provide X services at X fee that I bill you for every month.

I even considered going underneath someone else's broker license and just build up from there but the fact that they are going to take a big percentage of my already small percentage off rent just irks me when I'm willing to just build off my systems that I have already built/tested.  Maybe if terms were better than the ones I have heard so far.  Could maybe make a play with someone in a different part of Arkansas that is looking to expand to the Little Rock area perhaps.

Thanks for the insight!!

[Russell Brazil]

Typically license laws state once you receive a fee for the service provided you have to be licensed.

Dont like someone else taking a portion of the cut? Get your brokers license then. I think you might be pretty surprised at the overhear a broker provides. E&o insurance and liability insurance alone on property management is going to run into the many thousands of dollars per yeat for a small portfolio.