On December 21, 2021, the Real Property Law was changed to require that before appointment as an office manager, an associate broker shall have been active as a licensed associate broker for at least two of the four years preceding appointment. Additionally, office managers are required to exercise the same duty of supervision over salespersons and associate brokers as a licensed real estate broker. This change was made to New York Real Property Law Section 440(6) which now provides: “Office manager” means a licensed associate real estate broker who shall by choice elect to work as an office manager under the name and supervision of another individual broker or another broker who is licensed under a partnership, trade name, limited liability company or corporation. An associate real estate broker shall be required to have been active as a licensed associate broker for at least two of the four years preceding appointment as an office manager. Such individual shall retain his or her license as a real estate broker as provided for in this article and shall be required to exercise the same duty of supervision over salesmen and associate brokers as a licensed real estate broker; provided, however, that the practice of real estate sales and brokerage by such individual as an associate broker shall be governed exclusively by the provisions of this article as they pertain to real estate salesmen. Nothing contained in this subdivision shall preclude an individual who is licensed as an associate broker who elects to work as an office manager from also retaining a separate real estate broker's license under an individual, partnership, trade name, limited liability company or corporation.
