Early in the pandemic, DPOR announced that it was extending deadlines and temporarily waiving regulations during the declared state of emergency. This announcement was made on March 18, 2020 and came as Virginia was shutting down. At that time, we did not know whether licensees—real estate and other professions regulated by DPOR—would be able to obtain necessary CE, and whether DPOR would be able to process renewal applications.

While the Temporary Waiver does say that no licenses will expire during the state of emergency, members should continue to renew on time. This means taking mandatory CE and renewing your license to the extent possible. This will protect your license and ensure there are no disruptions in your business at the end of the pandemic.

The Temporary Waiver does not waive any other requirements or extend previous expiration dates. This means you will have to take all mandatory CE and pay any late fees associated with failing to renew your license on time. If you wait until the end of the state of emergency, you may find that you have to take all of your CE and file your paperwork within 30 days.

Additionally, waiting for the state of emergency to be lifted could put you in limbo. DPOR will likely be facing a significant number of renewal applications that it may not be able to process within 30 days. It is unlikely that licensees can operate while waiting for DPOR to work through the backlog that may come from people waiting.

Information on DPOR’s actions in response to COVID-19 can be found on its website.