www2.dre.ca.gov APIwww2.dre.ca.gov ↗
Search and verify California real estate licenses via the DRE. Get license status, expiration dates, broker details, and disciplinary actions for brokers, salespersons, and corporations.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/92e6588e-1ceb-405b-be6a-488d067f7d2c/lookup_license?license_id=01234567' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
Look up a California real estate license by license ID. Returns full license details including license type, holder name, mailing address, expiration date, license status, issue date, former names, responsible broker (for salespersons), and disciplinary action.
| Param | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| license_idrequired | string | The DRE license ID number (e.g., '01234567') |
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"name": "string - licensee name",
"issue_date": "string (MM/DD/YY)",
"license_id": "string - DRE license ID",
"former_names": "string",
"license_type": "string (BROKER, SALESPERSON, or CORPORATION)",
"broker_address": "string - broker's address (salesperson licenses only)",
"license_status": "string (e.g., LICENSED, EXPIRED)",
"expiration_date": "string (MM/DD/YY)",
"mailing_address": "string - multi-line mailing address",
"broker_license_id": "string - broker's license ID (salesperson licenses only)",
"responsible_broker": "string - broker name (salesperson licenses only)",
"disciplinary_action": "string"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"name": "Smith, Arthur Clayton Jr",
"issue_date": "06/12/19",
"license_id": "02088462",
"former_names": "NO FORMER NAMES",
"license_type": "SALESPERSON",
"broker_address": "2195 TULLY RD\nSAN JOSE, CA 95122",
"license_status": "LICENSED",
"expiration_date": "06/11/27",
"mailing_address": "1751 COLORADO BLVD #323\nLOS ANGELES, CA 90041",
"broker_license_id": "01771313",
"responsible_broker": "Loan Factory, Inc.",
"disciplinary_action": "NO DISCIPLINARY ACTION\nNO OTHER PUBLIC COMMENTS"
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the www2.dre.ca.gov API
The California DRE License API provides 2 endpoints for searching and looking up public license records from the California Department of Real Estate. The lookup_license endpoint returns 10 structured fields per record — including license status, expiration date, issue date, former names, and responsible broker details — for any DRE broker, salesperson, or corporation license by ID.
Endpoints and Data Coverage
The API exposes two endpoints: lookup_license and search_license. lookup_license accepts a single license_id parameter and returns the full public record for that license, including name, license_type (BROKER, SALESPERSON, or CORPORATION), license_status (e.g., LICENSED, EXPIRED), issue_date, expiration_date, mailing_address, former_names, and — for salesperson licenses specifically — the responsible broker's broker_license_id and broker_address.
Searching by Name or Location
search_license supports three optional filter parameters: name (last name or last, first format), city_state, and license_id. At least one of license_id or name must be provided. Results include a total count alongside an array of matching records, each containing license_id, name, license_type, city, and a mortgage_loan_originator flag. This makes it useful for finding all licensees in a city or verifying whether a specific individual holds any active DRE license.
Disciplinary Actions and Broker Relationships
lookup_license surfaces disciplinary action information when present on a record, giving developers visibility into enforcement history for a given licensee. Salesperson records also expose the broker they operate under via broker_license_id, enabling downstream lookups of the supervising broker's full record through a second lookup_license call.
Data Source
All records reflect the public license data maintained by the California Department of Real Estate. The DRE publishes this information for consumer and industry verification purposes. License status and expiration data reflect what the DRE currently shows for each license ID.
- Verify a real estate agent's active license status and expiration date before entering a transaction
- Check whether a broker or salesperson has any disciplinary actions on their DRE record
- Look up the responsible broker for a salesperson license using the
broker_license_idfield - Search all licensed agents in a specific California city using the
city_statefilter insearch_license - Build a compliance screening tool that flags expired or inactive licenses for a brokerage's roster
- Identify former names associated with a licensee to reconcile records across databases
- Confirm whether a California real estate corporation holds a valid DRE license
| Tier | Price | Credits/month | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 100 | 5 req/min |
| Hobby | $30/mo | 1,000 | 20 req/min |
| Developer | $100/mo | 5,000 | 250 req/min |
One credit = one API call regardless of which marketplace API you call. Exceeding the rate limit returns a 429 response. Authenticate with the X-API-Key header.
Does the California DRE provide an official developer API for license lookups?+
What does `lookup_license` return for a salesperson versus a broker license?+
Does `search_license` return the full license detail, including disciplinary history, for each result?+
search_license returns summary fields only: license_id, name, license_type, city, and mortgage_loan_originator. Full details including disciplinary actions, mailing address, and former names require a follow-up call to lookup_license with the specific license_id. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to batch-expand search results with full detail in a single response.Is license data available for other states besides California?+
What happens if a license ID does not exist in the DRE records?+
lookup_license will return no data for that ID. Use search_license first if you are uncertain whether a given ID is valid or want to find the correct ID for a licensee by name.