CE Credit FAQs

There is no singular entity that tracks your earned continuing education credits. You, the licensee, are responsible for tracking and maintaining records of all CE credits you have earned. To obtain a certificate for a course you have attended, contact the organization that hosted that course. It is recommended that you obtain and file a certificate immediately after you have earned credits.

The CMCA designation renews every two years, in either April or October. The recertification date is dependent on when you earned your CMCA designation. You can find your recertification date by logging in to www.camicb.org or finding yourself in the CMCA directory here: https://www.camicb.org/find-a-cmca/.

CAMICB sends a bill each year for half of the two-year renewal fee. You will pay every year for this certification, but the credits only need to be earned every two-year period.

The CMCA designation requires 16 hours of continuing education each renewal period. You must retain a certificate of completion for each credit you earn. Credits can be earned through CAI or any organization that has approval from CAMICB for their class to count for CMCA credit.

A full list of approved CMCA continuing education courses can be found at https://www.camicb.org/recertification/list-of-approved-continuing-education/. Any course approved by the IDFPR Department of Real Estate for CAM license continuing education credit automatically counts for CMCA designation renewal credit. There are options for earning continuing education that do not include attending classes.

• Designation – If the CMCA currently holds and has held an AMS or PCAM designation for at least one year, this satisfies the continuing education requirement for recertification
• Credit Hours – one hour of credit is earned for each hour of instruction
• Self-Study – must be approved in advance by CAMICB and is limited to no more than four hours.
• Teaching – teaching a course that qualifies for CMCA credit is worth two hours for each class hour
• Authorship – an article for a regional, national, or international community association publication
• Volunteer Service – up to 8 hours per recertification cycle may be earned by serving on a CAI Illinois or National committee, a CAMICB committee, or an HOA/Condo Board

See the CMCA recertification application for a comprehensive explanation of credit opportunities. https://www.camicb.org/recertification/.

The Community Association Manager license renewal occurs in August of the odd-numbered years. The license is renewed through IDFPR at https://idfpr.illinois.gov/profs/cam.html.

The Illinois CAM license requires 12 hours of continuing education each renewal period. You must retain a certificate of completion for each credit you earn.

At this time, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Department of Real Estate, has outlined a process for entities to become approved education sponsors and submit courses for approval. Credits may be earned through courses listed on the list of “Approved CAM Education Sponsors and Courses” listed here: https://idfpr.illinois.gov/profs/cam.html.

No. A course approved for CMCA continuing education credit does not necessarily count for CAM license CE credits. A course MUST be approved by IDFPR in order to count for CAM license continuing education credits. A complete list of these approved courses can be found at https://idfpr.illinois.gov/profs/cam.html under Resources and Publications, “Approved CAM Education Sponsors and Courses.”

Yes. According to CAMICB, ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​LIST OF APPROVED CONTINUING EDUCATION – CAMICB, “Coursework approved by a qualifying state regulatory agency for community association manager licensing requirements will be automatically approved for CMCA continuing education credit. These states currently include Florida, Nevada, Virginia, and Illinois.

According to IDFPR, a person must attend a course after it has been approved for CAM license continuing education credit for that course. Some of the existing courses in the CAI IL library are being submitted for CAM license CE credit approval. Those who attended a course prior to approval will be notified once the course has been approved and will be given access to the course again at no charge. Attendees must then log in, acknowledge they have taken the course, and print a valid certificate.

Because the CMCA designation is an international certification, most events hosted by CAI National, including self-guided and recorded classes, are approved for CMCA continuing education credit. There are currently no programs or events offered by CAI National that count for CAM license CE credit approval. It is not expected that CAI National will go through the process of having their programs approved for Illinois-specific CE requirements.

No. CAI membership is completely separate from the CMCA designation and the CAM license. CAI membership is renewed annually in the month you originally joined.