Kirkland licensing updated for brokers

Seattle King County REALTORS® has confirmed with the city of Kirkland that individual brokers do not need to apply for separate city business licenses. Currently, individual brokers may operate under the brokerage firm’s Kirkland business license without an additional license.

Some brokers had recently received a letter from the City stating that they needed a Kirkland business license and owed license fees for the prior three years.

This happened because the City is consolidating its business license tax system with the state of Washington. In this transition, the state identified individual brokers with UBI numbers, independent of the firm at which they hang their real estate licenses. While these brokers were covered by their firm’s Kirkland business license, it was not immediately clear to the city of Kirkland that they were real estate brokers working under the umbrella license of their firm.

Seattle King County REALTORS® worked with the City to confirm that: 1) real estate brokers may operate under the Kirkland business license of their firm; and 2) a broker with their own UBI number and Washington State business license may operate under the Kirkland business license of their firm.

If you receive a communication from the City, please reply that your real estate license is held by your firm and your firm holds a valid Kirkland business license.

Thanks to REALTOR® Housing Specialist Randy Bannecker for clarifying and resolving this issue with the City.