The Inspector Committee met recently at the Texas Real Estate Commission headquarters in Austin.  The committee welcomed its newest member, Scott Regan, to the Inspector Committee.  Scott comes with over 15 years of experience in the field as an inspector, HVAC licensee, plumbing licensee and educator.  We look forward to Scott’s impact on the committee.

The newly proposed process for qualifying inspector education was up for adoption at the November TREC meeting.  However, the Commission postponed consideration to adopt these rules at the request of the Governor’s office. Senate Bill 1995 was passed last legislative session that creates a division within the Governor’s office to review all agency proposed rules that affect market competition before the rule is adopted or implemented.

It’s been a busy fall for TREC and the Inspector Committee. We continue to implement the Sunset recommendations and statutory changes, most of which will be considered for adoption at the November 19th Commission meeting, including the amendments to the inspector qualifying education rules. If adopted by the Commission at the November meeting, these new requirements will take effect on May 1, 2020.

The Texas Real Estate Commission is accepting applications for appointment for an Inspector member position on the Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee to fill an unexpired term ending in December 2021.

The Inspector Committee met on October 7 at the Texas Real Estate Commission.  Many of the items before the committee were proposed at the July meeting.  The Committee received public comments on the proposed changes.  The Committee considered those comments, and the proposals moved forward as written.  The most notable changes in the rules are those to the pre-licensure for home inspectors in Texas.  The new process cuts the number of hours required approximately in half for the most utilized track to become an inspector while equipping inspectors to more readily be able to perform an insp

August 31 marked the end of our fiscal year, and a lot has happened in this last year. Since September 2018, the agency has gone through Sunset review, a legislative session, and changes in the leadership team.  The agency has been busy implementing the Sunset recommendations and statutory changes.  The new leadership has been instrumental in revamping the agency’s front line communications, and the rollout of several new online tools has resulted in significantly shorter hold times and an overall better experience for people contacting the agency. 

The Inspector Committee met on July 15 for its quarterly meeting.  There was a lot on the agenda, as this has been a busy year in our industry.  The Standards of Practice Subcommittee is still in the review process and asked the full committee for direction on whether to keep the standards more general or to get specific on a multitude of items.  The consensus was to keep them general overall but to update the current standards to meet some newer criteria.  The Education Subcommittee has been working tirelessly on creating the new pre-licensure program.  The program was proposed to the Comm

The future of the Plumbing Board has been on the minds of many inspectors since the end of the legislative session. As a result of action taken by Governor Abbott, the Plumbing Board will continue until 2021; please be sure to see our article on this to get all the information you need.

Scott Kesner was appointed chair of the Texas Real Estate Commission on April 25, 2019. With more than 25 years of experience, this appointment is another highlight in Scott's long career.  Chair Kesner recently traveled to Austin from his home city of El Paso to meet with Agency senior staff and learn more about the Commission. He spent the day speaking to each director, learning about everything from enforcement to communications to technology. We sat down with Scott to ask him some questions about his experiences and learn more about his plans.

What happens if a seller receives a copy of a recent inspection report?  Must they share it with a future buyer?  The scenario is common.  A seller lists their home.  A buyer submits a contract with an option period. Seller accepts.