SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The California Department of Real Estate (DRE), the state regulator that issues licenses to real estate professionals and protects consumers in real estate transactions, has deployed a state of the art electronic examination system in La Palma that gives the department the ability to immediately issue a real estate license to a qualified examinee upon the successful completion of the license exam.
The transition from pen and paper exams to an electronic delivery and grading system was initiated to improve efficiencies. With traditional exam practices, the grading of exams and delivery results could take weeks. The computer-based examination system allows examinees to take the real estate salesperson and broker examinations and receive their results immediately following completion of the test. Qualified candidates who pass the exam can be issued a temporary license which allows the examinee to commence conducting real estate licensed activities immediately. The newly issued license is also instantly reflected on the public license information available through the DRE’s Web site.
“With the opening of this new facility, examinees in Southern California no longer have to wait weeks in order to obtain a real estate license after passing the exam; licensing is nearly instantaneous,” DRE Acting Commissioner Barbara Bigby said. “As the real estate market recovers, it is essential to get people working quickly and the electronic exam system allows for that to happen,” added Bigby.
The new facility also improves examination security by eliminating the theft of examination material and the ability to scramble the order of questions for each test taker thwarts cheating. Examination administration costs will also be reduced by eliminating the need for printing and duplicating examination booklets, which in turn will allow for reduction and eventual elimination of material storage and shipping costs.
The La Palma center is the DRE’s third electronic exam center to become operational. The facility was modeled after similar operations in the DRE’s Oakland and Fresno district offices where electronic exams were successfully deployed late 2009.
The La Palma facility opened its doors to test takers on September 21st. An opening of another electronic exam site in San Diego is scheduled for November, 2011.
For more information about DRE and its programs visit www.dre.ca.gov.