Broker Staffing and Supervision Limits by State: Which Jurisdictions Restrict How Many Firms One Broker Can Serve

There is no uniform national category of exclusive states. Restrictions are jurisdiction-specific and take different forms: a single-firm limit, a two-firm limit, a same-address condition, a one-sponsoring-broker affiliation rule binding the individual licensee, or an approval-based exception granted by the regulator. Some provisions bind an individual's affiliation; others bind the firm's supervising broker. Read the operative provision in each state before assuming a cap applies.

Last reviewed: August 8, 2026. Source text last checked 2026-08-12. General information, not legal advice. Requirements vary by jurisdiction and change over time. This page is general information, not legal advice — confirm current rules with the state regulator or qualified counsel before acting.

Confirmed restrictions, with the source for each

Each row states only what its cited provision establishes for that jurisdiction, and whether the provision binds an individual licensee's affiliation or a firm's supervising broker. 8 jurisdictions are recorded here; no row describes a national rule.

Jurisdiction, restriction type, who the provision applies to, the capacity or exception it allows, what the cited source establishes, the official source and the date the text was checked.
Jurisdiction	Restriction type	Applies to	Capacity or exception	What the cited source establishes	Official source	Checked
Arizona	one-sponsoring-broker affiliation	individual licensee affiliation	The one-broker limit runs per licence category, so a licensee may have a separate employing broker in the cemetery, membership camping and real estate categories.	A real estate licensee may have only one employing broker in each licence category, and not more than one licence may be issued to a licensee at any one time. This binds where an individual licensee hangs their licence; it does not by itself cap how many firms a designated broker may be designated for.	A.R.S. § 32-2125.01(B) (Arizona Revised Statutes)	2026-08-12
Colorado	single-firm limit	individual licensee affiliation	The rule states no exception: the Commission Rule allows no broker to be licensed to conduct brokerage services under more than one brokerage firm name.	Commission Rule 6.10.A.1, citing C.R.S. § 12-10-203(9), provides that no broker will be licensed to conduct real estate brokerage services under more than one brokerage firm. The provision sits in the advertising and names rule and governs the firm a broker is licensed under; it does not state a separate supervision headcount.	4 CCR 725-1, Commission Rule 6.10.A.1 (Colorado Secretary of State, Code of Colorado Regulations)	2026-08-12
Illinois	one-sponsoring-broker affiliation	individual licensee affiliation	The statute provides no numeric firm cap and no approval route; it fixes the sponsorship relationship at one at a time.	A licensee must have only one sponsoring broker at any one time. This is an affiliation rule for the individual licensee. It does not state, at the firm level, a cap on how many brokerage companies a managing broker may be designated to supervise.	225 ILCS 454/10-20 (Illinois General Assembly, Real Estate License Act of 2000) The Illinois General Assembly host refused automated retrieval; the operative sentence was read from an indexed copy of this same official page.	2026-08-12
Minnesota	approval-based exception	firm supervision / supervising broker	An additional broker's licence is issued only on showing a legitimate business purpose, supervisory capability (or no supervisory responsibility under the additional licence), and either at least 20 percent ownership in each entity or officer/signing-partner/managing-member status in both the existing and the affiliated entity.	Minn. Stat. § 82.63, subd. 2 sets the conditions under which an individual who already holds a broker's licence may be issued an additional broker's licence for another business entity. Subdivision 4 separately provides that a salesperson may not be licensed to act on behalf of more than one broker at the same time.	Minn. Stat. § 82.63, subds. 2 and 4 (Office of the Revisor of Statutes)	2026-08-12
Nevada	one-sponsoring-broker affiliation	individual licensee affiliation	The provision offers no approval route and no numeric firm cap; it fixes association at one broker or owner-developer at a time.	No real estate broker-salesperson or salesperson may be associated with or employed by more than one broker or owner-developer at the same time. This binds broker-salespersons and salespersons. It is not, on its own, a cap on how many brokerage entities a licensed broker may be the broker of.	NRS 645.520(3) (Nevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 645) The Nevada Legislature host refused automated retrieval; the operative sentence was read from an indexed copy of this same official page.	2026-08-12
North Carolina	same-address condition	firm supervision / supervising broker	A broker-in-charge may serve as BIC for more than one office only where each of those offices shares the same physical office space and delivery address.	21 NCAC 58A .0110(a) requires every real estate firm to designate one broker-in-charge for its principal office and one for each branch office, allows no office to have more than one designated BIC, and permits a BIC to serve more than one office only where those offices share the same physical office space and delivery address.	21 NCAC 58A .0110(a) (NC Real Estate Commission, Real Estate Licensing Rule Book) Operative text also read in the NC Office of Administrative Hearings rule PDF for 21 NCAC 58A .0110.	2026-08-12
Ohio	approval-based exception	firm supervision / supervising broker	Approval may be granted where there is commonality in the names of all brokerages involved and the principal broker certifies and documents the conditions the rule lists for each brokerage.	Ohio Admin. Code 1301:5-1-03 requires a principal broker who wishes to serve as principal broker for more than one brokerage to seek the superintendent's approval by filing the prescribed applications, and sets the conditions on which the superintendent may approve. Serving multiple brokerages is therefore permitted only through that approval route.	Ohio Admin. Code 1301:5-1-03 (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules) The Ohio codes host refused automated retrieval; the operative text was read from an indexed copy of this same official page and its authenticated PDF.	2026-08-12
Tennessee	two-firm limit	firm supervision / supervising broker	Two firms are permitted only where both firms are in the same location.	T.C.A. § 62-13-309(g) provides that a principal broker may act as principal broker for two firms as long as both firms are in the same location. The Tennessee Real Estate Commission repeats the provision in its published firm guidance.	T.C.A. § 62-13-309(g), as published in the Tennessee Real Estate Commission Firm FAQs (TN Dept. of Commerce & Insurance) The Commission's support host refused automated retrieval; the quoted provision was read from an indexed copy of this same official page.	2026-08-12

Affiliation rules and supervision rules are not the same thing

Most of the provisions people cite as proof that a state is exclusive are affiliation rules. Arizona, Illinois and Nevada each fix the number of brokers or firms an individual licensee may hang a licence with at one. Those provisions govern the individual's licence, and none of them states a cap on how many brokerage entities a supervising broker may be designated for.

A smaller group of provisions bind the firm side. North Carolina conditions multi-office service by one broker-in-charge on a shared physical office space and delivery address. Ohio routes service as principal broker for more than one brokerage through superintendent approval. Minnesota conditions an additional broker's licence on ownership or officer status plus a supervisory-capability showing. Tennessee caps a principal broker at two firms, and only when both are in the same location.

Colorado sits between the two: the Commission rule states that no broker will be licensed to conduct brokerage services under more than one brokerage firm, which operates on the licence itself rather than on a separate supervision headcount.

Why these constraints affect broker availability and staffing lead time

Where a jurisdiction limits a licensee to one firm, or conditions a second designation on a shared address, common ownership or regulator approval, the pool of brokers who can lawfully take on an additional firm in that state is structurally smaller than in a state with no such provision. That is a function of the rule, not of any particular firm's capacity.

Approval-based provisions also introduce a filing step that is outside the applicant's control. Ohio requires applications to the superintendent, and Minnesota requires the applicant to demonstrate the statutory conditions before the additional licence is issued. Firms planning a multi-state footprint generally treat those states as needing their own timeline rather than assuming a single nationwide process.

Conditions attached to an exception can also constrain operating structure. A shared physical office space and delivery address in North Carolina, or a same-location requirement in Tennessee, may not fit a distributed operating model even where the underlying permission exists.

How to check a state properly

Restrictions in this area change by rule amendment rather than by headline, and secondary summaries frequently collapse an individual affiliation rule into a claim about firms. Reading the operative provision, and noting which party it binds, avoids most of the error in this topic.

Identify the operative provision by citation, not by a summary page, and read the current text on the regulator, legislature or administrative-code host.
Determine which party the provision binds: the individual licensee's affiliation, or the firm's supervising broker.
Check whether the provision is absolute or conditional, and record the exact condition (shared address, common ownership, same location, regulator approval).
If there is an approval route, find the form or filing the regulator prescribes and the criteria it applies.
Confirm whether branch offices are treated separately from firms in that jurisdiction, because a per-office rule and a per-firm rule produce different answers.
Re-check the provision before relying on it: administrative rules in this area are amended more often than the underlying statutes.
Where the answer affects a licence filing or a contractual commitment, confirm it with the state regulator or with counsel licensed in that state.

Limitations

This page records only jurisdictions where the operative text of a current official source has been read. Absence from the table is not evidence that a state has no restriction — it means no confirmed provision has been recorded here yet. Requirements vary by jurisdiction and change over time. This page is general information, not legal advice — confirm current rules with the state regulator or qualified counsel before acting. This is general information, not legal advice. Sourcing, review dates and corrections are described in the editorial policy.