The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) hosted its first meeting of the year in Austin with a room full of Texas REALTORS® in attendance to earn continuing education credit and receive updates from the agency’s staff and advisory committee members. Here’s what happened.
The Commission recognized these departing advisory committee members:
The Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee (TREIC) met January 27 for its first meeting of the year. The slate of officers was elected for 2025:
Because the Texas Real Estate Commission's latest form changes became effective January 3, the Broker-Lawyer Committee (BLC) focused much of its January 10 meeting on its continued conversation related to compensation, including the recent changes to Paragraph 12 and the disclosure on Page 10.
The Broker Responsibility Advisory Committee (BRAC) met January 15. It held elections for officers and selected the following:
For the Texas Real Estate Commission, 2025 opens with the first meeting of the year held by the Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC). Its January 6 agenda began with an introduction of new members:
Reappointments were also made:
After combing through 1,100 complaints during his 11-year tenure with the Commission, TREC Chief Investigator Roy Minton wins Investigator of the Year for a second time. The first win was in 2019. Both recognitions, by the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO), were given for Minton’s work in uncovering rental fraud.
Real estate transactions are complex, so many brokers and sales agents engage the help of assistants to handle the administrative details. Regardless of an assistant’s professional title—unlicensed assistant, administrative assistant, office manager, and transaction coordinator are popular—the real estate license status determines what type of activities they can legally perform in Texas.
The changes listed below, recommended by the Broker-Lawyer Committee, were adopted by the Texas Real Estate Commission during its November 4 meeting. These apply to all contract forms unless specified otherwise.
The Real Estate License Act (TRELA) says a licensed sales agent may not engage in real estate brokerage activity unless that sales agent is sponsored by a licensed broker and is acting for that broker.
In Texas, transaction coordinators and showing agents are frequently used by brokerages as part of their business model, but sometimes these models entail working for other brokerages. Here is what “acting for” your broker means in these situations.
Multiple contract form changes were adopted by the Texas Real Estate Commission during the November 4 TREC Meeting after being recommended by the Broker-Lawyer Committee (BLC). Some of those changes are in response to industry practice changes around broker compensation.
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Happy summer to all of you! In today’s market, however, we may not get a chance for anything resembling a summer break. It is a good time to be in real estate in Texas.
The TREC Commissioners met on May 3 in Austin in person for the first time in over a year. It was nice to see everyone in person once again. Tony Slagle presented the Commissioners with a legislative update, which included two inspector-related bills.
Happy May to each of you. I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating the mothers in your life last weekend. Later this month, we celebrate Memorial Day.
Happy May to each of you. I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating the mothers in your life last weekend. Later this month, we celebrate Memorial Day.
Happy spring to all of you! I hope this message finds you and your families enjoying the beautiful spring weather and wildflowers. Texas truly seems to show off during this time of year.
Happy March. Spring is approaching and with it comes a fresh start and the excitement of warmer weather. I welcome it after the freezing temperatures we experienced in February. I hope all of you made it through that extraordinary event safely.
Happy February! This month we have passed the one-year mark since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the US. Much has changed in the last year, but I am proud of what our team at TREC has continued to do for the people of Texas. License applications continue to be processed smoothly, and our customer service team continues to provide excellent assistance to those who need it. I genuinely hope that this New Year brings us all peace and a shift towards more
The Inspector Advisory Committee met virtually on January 15th. This was a lengthy meeting, as there was a lot to cover on this go around. First off, I would like to welcome the two newest members of the IAC. Bruce Carpenter is an inspector member from Pittsburg, and Brian Carroll is a public member from Temple. Both of them dove right into the meeting providing feedback and giving input, so it was clear that they came prepared to be involved with the IAC.
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great holiday filled will peace and joy. During the holidays, I like to take time to reflect on the past year and the agency's direction. I am grateful for so many things during these times, including a fantastic team of employees, volunteers, and appointed Commission members.
What a year! In some ways, I can’t believe how long this year has felt, but yet, I find myself surprised that the end of the year is upon us. Thanksgiving looked different for many this year.
To reach more Texans in person, the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) hits the road every May for the second quarterly meeting of the year. This time Commissioners are headed to Dallas-Fort Worth.
Whether you are applying for a new license, renewing your license, setting up a business entity registration, and more, the best and most secure way to pay Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) fees is through the agency’s online services portal. Plus, you can pay online whenever is convenient for you—the tool is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year.
The Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee (TREIC) met July 17. We received public comments on new items and some comments on some agenda items. It is good to see stakeholders taking an interest in the process and providing input more frequently.
One public comment expressed concern that inspectors are being strongly encouraged to pay brokerages for the opportunity visit their offices or even just talk to their agents.
The 88th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, began January 10, 2023, and ends May 29, 2023. This session opened with the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) and Texas Appraiser Licensing Board (TALCB) following 358 bills relevant to the administration of the agency. A much smaller number will become law, one of relevance to Texas real estate license holders.
To reach more license holders, the Texas Real Estate Commission broke away from its Austin headquarters for the first time ever to meet in Houston on May 16. It was TREC’s second meeting of 2023. There were more than 80 attendees.
The Texas Real Estate Commission is stepping out of its Austin headquarters to pay Houston a visit. On May 16, the Commission will meet at 9 a.m. inside the Century Ballroom II of the DoubleTree by Hilton-Houston Greenway Plaza.
The Texas Real Estate Commission is pleased to welcome three new members. Chance Brown, Renee Harvey Lowe, and Stuart Bernstein were confirmed by the Texas Senate on April 26, 2023. Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed them for terms set to expire on January 31, 2029.
Harvey Lowe and Brown will both serve as broker members, Bernstein will serve as a public member of TREC.
The Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee (TREIC) met April 18.
The Broker Responsibility Working Group (BRWG) met April 12.
The Texas Real Estate Commission's Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC) is accepting applications to fill two education member positions by real estate instructors or owners of real estate schools, accredited by the Commission, that provide qualifying or continuing education. It is also accepting applications to fill four real estate license holder positions.
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To reach more license holders, the Texas Real Estate Commission broke away from its Austin headquarters for the first time ever to meet in Houston on May 16. It was TREC’s second meeting of 2023. There were more than 80 attendees.
The Texas Real Estate Commission's Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC) met April 3.
ESAC addressed comments received regarding proposed changes to 22 §TAC 535.64, Content Requirements for Qualifying Real Estate Courses. TREC staff clarified that the rule proposal simply cleans up the rule language to remove the references to topics required for each course, rather, pointing specifically to each qualifying course approval form to define content.
The Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee (TREIC) met April 18.
The Broker Responsibility Working Group (BRWG) met April 12.
TREC is pleased to announce an update to the Posting System that allows all providers of real estate Qualifying Education (QE) courses to post course credit directly into the agency’s system of record. The student must have a TREC real estate sales agent or broker license number to award qualifying credit.
The Commission recently voted to eliminate references in TREC rule §535.92(f) to professional designations and automatic CE credit for taking courses required to obtain one of these designations. These amendments eliminate an alternative path for license holders to request CE credit for professional designations and removes the list of specific designations.
The Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC) met by videoconference on October 4, 2021. ESAC Chair Kelea Youngblood opened the meeting by honoring the life and accomplishments of ESAC member and long-time license holder, Lynda Conway. Ruben Pena was welcomed back to the committee in her place.
The 40 Hour Texas Practicum is a pre-licensing requirement for applicants following the Substitute Experience and Education Requirements for a Real Estate or Professional Inspector. A Ride-Along session is no longer a requirement for pre-licensing, but is still an option for obtaining inspector continuing education (ICE) credit.
An upload feature has been added to the CE Posting System. The upload feature allows CE providers to use a CSV file to upload CE course completions for real estate agents, inspectors, and appraisers as an alternative method to manual entry.
The 87th Texas Legislature enacted HB 2730, requiring easement/right of way (ERW) agents to complete 16 hours of qualifying education prior to registration and 16 hours of continuing education per registration period. As a result, TREC will establish an education program for ERW agents.
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