How to Verify Professional Licenses: Healthcare, Real Estate, and More

A few years ago, a friend of mine hired a contractor to redo her bathroom. He had a professional-looking website, showed up on time, seemed knowledgeable. Three weeks and $12,000 later, the work was half-finished, the tile was crooked, and — here's the kicker — he didn't actually have a contractor's license. She had no recourse through the state licensing board because there was no license to complain about.

Two minutes on the state licensing board's website would have prevented the whole mess.

Professional licensing exists to protect you by ensuring that people in regulated fields meet minimum standards of education, training, and competence. Checking a license is fast, free, and frankly one of the most overlooked steps people skip when hiring someone. This guide covers why it matters, which professions require licensing, how to verify online, and what the license record actually tells you.

Why Bother Verifying?

When a state issues a license to a doctor, electrician, attorney, or any other professional, it's certifying that person has met specific requirements — an accredited education, passing exams, supervised experience, sometimes a background check. That's meaningful.

Here's what verification gets you:

• Confirmed qualifications: A valid license means the professional has met your state's minimum requirements. Not a guarantee of excellence, but a baseline.
• Disciplinary history: License databases often include suspensions, revocations, probation, fines, and formal reprimands. Patterns of misconduct show up here before they show up in Yelp reviews.
• Fraud protection: Some people misrepresent their credentials. It happens more than you'd think. License verification is the fastest way to catch it.
• Insurance and legal protection: Working with an unlicensed professional can void warranties, invalidate insurance claims, and eliminate your ability to file complaints with the state board if things go sideways.
• Transaction requirements: Real estate deals, for instance, require that the agent or broker hold a valid license. Mortgage lenders and title companies verify this as part of closing.

Which Professions Need a License?

The specifics vary by state, but some categories are regulated virtually everywhere.

Healthcare Professionals

Healthcare is the most heavily regulated field, and for obvious reasons. Physicians, surgeons, dentists, registered nurses, LPNs, pharmacists, physical therapists, psychologists, optometrists, chiropractors — they all need valid state licenses. The DEA also issues separate registrations for professionals who can prescribe controlled substances.

Healthcare license records tend to be the most detailed. You'll often find the medical school attended, residency training, board certifications, malpractice history, and disciplinary actions from the state medical board. If you're choosing a new doctor, this is worth ten minutes of your time.

Legal Professionals

Attorneys must be admitted to the bar in each state where they practice. Bar records are maintained by the state supreme court or bar association and are searchable online in most states. You can see the admission date, current status (active, inactive, suspended, disbarred), and disciplinary history. I've looked up attorneys before hiring them for personal matters. It takes 30 seconds and has never once been a waste of time.

Real Estate Professionals

Real estate agents, brokers, and appraisers need state licenses. Each state's real estate commission or department of licensing maintains these records, and they're freely searchable online. You'll typically see the license type (salesperson vs. broker), the brokerage affiliation, expiration date, and any complaints or disciplinary actions.

Construction and Trades

Electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, general contractors — most are licensed at the state or local level. Contractor license records often include insurance coverage and bonding status, which matters because those protections can cover you if the contractor causes damage or abandons a project halfway through. (See my friend's bathroom story above.)

Financial Professionals

CPAs, financial advisors, insurance agents, and mortgage loan originators are all state-licensed. For financial advisors specifically, you can also check the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure database and FINRA's BrokerCheck system — both free and public. BrokerCheck in particular is excellent; it shows employment history, customer complaints, arbitration awards, and regulatory actions.

Other Licensed Professions

Depending on your state, licensing requirements might also cover architects, engineers, surveyors, cosmetologists, barbers, funeral directors, veterinarians, social workers, counselors, private investigators, and security guards. Some states license over 100 distinct professions. The list can be surprisingly long.

How to Verify a License Online

Most state licensing boards have free online verification tools now. The process is straightforward.

Step 1: Find the Right Licensing Board

Figure out which state agency oversees the profession you're checking. Many states have a centralized Department of Consumer Affairs or Department of Professional Regulation that houses multiple boards. Others have separate boards for each profession. A quick search for "[state name] [profession] license verification" will usually get you there.

Step 2: Search by Name or License Number

Most tools let you search by last name, first name, or license number. Common name? Filter by city or license type to narrow it down. Some boards also support searches by business name.

Step 3: Review the Record

Here's what you'll typically find:

• Full name of the licensee
• License number
• License type and specialty (if applicable)
• Original issue date
• Current expiration date
• Status: active, inactive, expired, suspended, revoked, or surrendered
• Address of record (usually a business address)
• Disciplinary actions, if any

Step 4: Look at Disciplinary Actions Carefully

If the record shows disciplinary actions, dig into the details. A formal reprimand for a minor administrative issue is very different from a suspension for patient harm or fraud. Many boards publish the full text of disciplinary orders, consent agreements, and hearing decisions. Read the actual documents — a status flag alone doesn't give you enough context. I once looked up a contractor who had an "action" on his record that turned out to be a late renewal fee. Context matters.

National Verification Resources

Some professions have national databases that pull licensing information from multiple states. These are especially handy when you need to check credentials across state lines.

• National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB): Run by HHS, it collects reports of medical malpractice payments and adverse actions against healthcare practitioners. Access is limited to eligible entities, but the data feeds into state licensing board decisions.
• FINRA BrokerCheck: Free tool for checking stockbroker and financial advisor registrations and disciplinary history. Includes employment history, customer complaints, arbitration awards, and regulatory actions. Genuinely one of the best public verification tools out there.
• SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD): Covers registered investment advisers and their reps, including Form ADV filings that detail business practices, fees, conflicts of interest, and disciplinary history.
• ARELLO: The Association of Real Estate License Law Officials maintains a national database of real estate licensees, letting you verify across multiple states from one interface.

License Data in People Search Results

When you search for someone on OpenDataUSA, professional license records may appear in the results. This data comes from publicly available state licensing databases and can include license type, number, issuing state, status, and relevant dates.

Beyond consumer protection, license data is useful for identity verification. It connects a person to a specific profession and location, and provides context for other records in a search. For example, if someone's results show both a real estate license and property records, those pieces together paint a clearer picture of their professional and financial profile.

Practical Tips

A few things I've learned from doing this regularly:

• Always verify before hiring. Don't take someone's word for their credentials. Two minutes on the licensing board's website. That's all it takes.
• Check insurance and bonding. For contractors and trades professionals, confirm they carry adequate insurance. Some boards include this info; others require you to request a certificate directly from the professional.
• Verify in the right state. A license in one state doesn't automatically transfer to another. If someone claims to be licensed, make sure the license is valid where the work will actually happen.
• An active license is just the starting point. It's a minimum requirement, not a quality guarantee. Supplement it with reviews, references, and professional organization memberships.
• Document everything. Write down the license number, the date you verified it, and the status. If a dispute comes up later, you'll be glad you did.

License verification is one of the simplest and most effective ways to protect yourself as a consumer. For more guides on using public records, visit the OpenDataUSA blog or learn about the data we aggregate on our data sources page.