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.
When a third party, such as a relative or real estate agent, is paying for an inspection, does this mean the third party is the client? Under TREC rules, the answer is no. Another person paying for the inspection on behalf of the client does not change who the inspector's client is for this transaction. The inspection report should be delivered to the client, regardless of who pays for the inspection.
With the notion of keeping everything under one roof, Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) staff took on a new part of the development of the 2024-2025 Legal Update I and II courses. Thanks to the skills and talent of TREC Director of Government and Strategic Communications Summer Mandell, this book was wholly produced in-house, to include the design of the course materials.
The Broker Responsibility Advisory Committee (BRAC) met October 15 and discussed potential changes to becoming a licensed broker in Texas.
Currently, to become a licensed broker, 900 education hours are required (630 of these hours are required to be in related education). If an applicant holds a bachelor’s degree or higher, the 630 hours of related education are satisfied, regardless of field of study.
The Broker-Lawyer Committee met October 11 and reviewed hundreds of public comments related to form changes proposed at the August TREC Meeting. Most of BLC’s recommended changes are the culmination of two years’ worth of work on the part of the committee, with other changes recommended in response to industry practice changes around broker compensation affecting many license holders.
None.
The Inspector Committee had a full agenda for its April meeting. The meeting was accompanied by the newest appointments to the Inspector Committee, as well as the incoming General Counsel for the Real Estate Commission, Chelsea Buchholtz. There was also significant representation from multiple trade associations and education providers as well.
I would like to begin by publically welcoming the three new members to the Inspector Committee, who were appointed in February. Mike Morgan of Brownwood was appointed as a new inspector member, to serve a six-year term, and Robert John Daehn of Aransas Pass and Dave Motley of Garland were appointed as public members to serve two-year terms.
Even without a legislative session, April is always a very busy month. So this year, that is especially true with our agency focused on the final steps of the Sunset review process as well. We greatly appreciate the anticipated improvements this process will bring to the services we provide to the people of Texas and the license holders we also serve.
Due to the amount of business we needed to conduct to both meet our obligations to advance the normal work of the Commission, and consider all of the matters highlighted in the agency’s Sunset Report, the Commission met for two days in February. The Texas REALTORS Winter Meeting overlapped our dates, so we had several extra stakeholders in attendance – and they earned CE credit for attending! 
The IAC has been busy already this year. Through a substantial amount of time and hard work, the Education Subcommittee has proposed, and the IAC approved recommending changes to how one can obtain a license in Texas. Texas has had some of the strictest requirements for licensure of any state in the union. The proposed number of hours to be eligible for a license will go down significantly, but the content of those courses will change as well. Keep in mind that the intent here is not to l
The Inspector Committee met on February 4. Among the business items taken up by the Committee was the election of the Committee officers for the upcoming Calendar year. Lee Warren was elected as the chair of the Committee, Shawn Emerick was elected as vice-chair and Steven Rinehart was elected as secretary. I would like to thank the outgoing officers for their leadership over the last year.
I’d first like to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I hope you all had time to relax and enjoy the Holiday season. The New Year always brings with it an opportunity to reflect on the past and make a commitment to address those areas in which we might fall short.
Happy New Year! As we return recharged from the holidays and gear up for the season, there are some key items to keep us busy in the very near future. So let’s dive right in…
As we wrap up the calendar year, I want to again thank everyone who has attended meetings over the last year, both Inspector Committee meetings and Commission meetings.
The Commission met on Thursday November 15 at the State Capitol. It was the longest meeting we have had in my memory, and it was also enormously fruitful for clarifying some policy expectations.
AUSTIN, TX – Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC), and Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board (TALCB) are pleased to welcome Ranada Williams as Director of Finance. Williams will oversee the financial strategic planning, accounting operations, procurement, and financial compliance of the agency. She recently transferred from the Texas Military Department, where she had been an employee since 2008, and most recently served as their Chief Financial Officer from 2017-2020.
AUSTIN, TEXAS - The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) is pleased to announce the appointment of members to the Broker Responsibility Working Group (BRWG). The newly appointed working group will meet for the first time on June 9.
The agency continues to evaluate the impact COVID-19 may have on all aspects of agency operations, including those related to the regulatory and licensing functions of the agency.
COVID-19 has impacted daily life as we know it. In the midst of this crisis, the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) has worked to ensure continued service to license holders and the public while protecting our employees. As a result, our physical offices in Austin are closed to the public, and staff and operations have transitioned to working remotely.
Due to the extraordinary events related to the COVID - 19 outbreak TREC has decided to postpone all dates on the upcoming introductory and planning tour. We will, to the best of our ability, reschedule all planned dates. If you have further questions about TREC's response to the COVID - 19 outbreak please be sure to refer to our FAQs.
AUSTIN, TX - The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) is pleased to announce TREC Chair, R. Scott Kesner, has been named Texas REALTOR® of the Year at the Texas REALTORS® (TR) annual Winter Meeting on Mo
nday.
AUSTIN, TX - The Texas Real Estate Commission (the Commission) is pleased to announce the recent appointments of two new committee members and two reappointments to the Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC). Public member, Rick Albers of Austin and educator member, Candy Cooke of Round Rock, have been appointed; and broker members, Rob Cook of Houston and Sarah Norman of Bryan have been reappointed to ESAC, with terms set to expire in December 2021.
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) is pleased to announce Chelsea Buchholtz as Executive Director of TREC effective January 1, 2020. She will be the first female executive director in TREC’s history. The Executive Director also serves as the Commissioner of the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board (TALCB), who participated significantly in the selection process. Ms. Buchholtz currently serves as the Commission’s General Counsel.
AUSTIN, TX – The Texas Real Estate Commission is pleased to announce the confirmation of broker member Barbara Russell and public member Jason Hartgraves as new commissioners for terms to expire on January 31, 2025. Governor Abbott nominated them to the post in March and they were confirmed by Senate vote on May 1st. Broker member Scott Kesner was confirmed and appointed as Chair of the Commissi
None.
TREC is pleased to announce that the Chair of our Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC), Susan Jones has received the Larry Outlaw Education Excellence Award at this year's Real Estate Education Association (REEA) conference.
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) is pleased to announce that the Texas real estate sales agent, broker, and inspector licensure exams are now conveniently available at over 200 Pearson VUE test centers as well as on military installations across the globe for service members, spouses, dependents, and contractors with authorized base access.
None.
If you feel there has been a violation of The Real Estate License Act , or TREC rules
File a Complaint
Customer Survey
Rules and Laws
Contract Forms
