A DUI conviction should not jeopardize your Nevada real estate agent’s occupational license.
However, DUIs still look bad on background checks. Potential employers may pass you over once they see you have had drunk driving incidents.
Your current employer may even have an internal policy of firing employees who pick up DUIs, especially since being a real estate agent involves a lot of driving to various properties.
Applying for a Real Estate License
When you apply to be a real estate agent with Nevada’s Real Estate Division of the Department of Business and Industry, you are required to disclose whether you have ever been convicted of a felony. In Nevada, drunk driving is typically only a misdemeanor.
However, drunk driving is prosecuted as a felony in the following two scenarios:
- It is your third-time DUI in seven years, or
- The DUI caused injury or death.
Even still, having a felony DUI on your record should not automatically disqualify you for a real estate license.1
If You Currently Have a Real Estate License
If you have a current and valid Nevada real estate license, you are required to notify Nevada’s Real Estate Division of the Department of Business and Industry when you get convicted of:
- a crime involving moral turpitude, deceit, or misrepresentation, or
- a felony related to your practice, or
- committing deceitful, fraudulent, or dishonest dealings.
None of these offenses comprise driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.2
What should I do if I get arrested for DUI?
Contact an experienced Nevada criminal defense attorney as soon as possible to try to get the DUI dismissed or reduced to reckless driving. Even though DUIs should not threaten your real estate license, the penalties are harsh. For example, a first-time DUI carries:
- up to 6 months in jail (though incarceration is rare),
- up to $1,000 in fines plus costs,
- DUI School,
- Victim Impact Panel, and
- a 185-day-month driver’s license revocation.3
Even if your employer does not fire you for picking up a DUI, you may have to quit anyway if your driver’s license gets suspended. A central part of a real estate agent’s job involves commuting between different properties.
In most cases, the DMV will let you drive during this 185-day revocation period as long as you have an ignition interlock device attached to your steering wheel. However, blowing into the breathalyzer at regular intervals can be embarrassing for you if you are with clients.
How soon can I get DUIs sealed from my record?
Convictions for first-time DUIs and second-time DUIs can be sealed from your Nevada criminal record seven years after the case closes. However, felony DUIs can never be sealed.
This is why it is so important to hire counsel to try to get your DUI charges reduced to reckless driving, which can be sealed only one year after the case ends. If your attorney succeeds in getting your charge dismissed outright, then there is no waiting period at all to pursue a record seal.4
Getting a DUI should not jeopardize a real estate agent’s occupational license, but it could turn off potential employers.
Additional Resources
For help or more information, refer to the following:
- 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
- Addiction Among Real Estate Agents: How Common Is It? – Article by Detox Rehabs.
- Do Real Estate Agents Get Drug Tested? – Article by Spaciality Blog.
- Substance Abuse in the Real Estate Industry | Episode 80 – Podcast by Kormans LLP.
- Managing Mental Health as an Agent – Article by Minnesota Realtors.
Legal References:
- NRS 645.350 – Application: Form and contents. 2. Every application for a real estate broker’s, broker-salesperson’s or salesperson’s license must set forth the following information:… (f) Whether the applicant has ever been convicted of or is under indictment for a felony or has entered a plea of guilty, guilty but mentally ill or nolo contendere to a charge of felony and, if so, the nature of the felony.
- NRS 645.615 – Duty to report certain convictions and pleas to Division. 1. A licensee, property manager or owner-developer shall notify the Division in writing if he or she is convicted of, or enters a plea of guilty, guilty but mentally ill or nolo contendere to: (a) A felony relating to the practice of the licensee, property manager or owner-developer; or (b) Any crime involving fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or moral turpitude. 2. A licensee, property manager or owner-developer shall submit the notification required by subsection 1: (a) Not more than 10 days after the conviction or entry of the plea of guilty, guilty but mentally ill or nolo contendere; and (b) When submitting an application to renew a license, permit or registration issued pursuant to this chapter.
- NRS 484C.400.
- NRS 179.245. NRS 179.255.
