The Texas Real Estate Commission’s Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC) opened its first meeting of the year with a welcome to four new members. The new license holder members are Amanda Nichols and Thomas Carl Leatherman. The new education provider member is Cynthia Baas. The new public member is Rita Blevins.
ESAC held elections and selected Bill Steddum, Jr. as chair, Byron Underwood as vice chair, and Michael Crowley as secretary.
As of January 2024, license holders have the option to register LLCs and S-Corporations (S-Corps) with TREC for the sole purpose of receiving compensation, as long as those entities meet certain requirements.
2024 marks 75 years of the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) and its work to protect consumers in their real estate transactions. As that new chapter soon opens, here are some highlights from the Commission’s efforts during the last 12 months.
Starting in January 2024, license holders will have the option to register certain LLCs and S-Corps with the Texas Real Estate Commission to accept compensation. The registered entity cannot perform any other brokerage activity and must be 51% owned by the license holder on whose behalf the entity receives compensation.
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) met November 6 for its final quarterly meeting of 2023. TREC Chair Scott Kesner recognized a group of license holders who attended to earn Continuing Education (CE) credit. This was the first opportunity to earn CE credit by attending a quarterly TREC meeting under a rule change adopted by the Commission in August. Previously, license holders could only earn credit by attending the February TREC Meeting.
As of now, the only way a license holder can receive compensation through a business entity is by obtaining a business entity real estate broker license. Effective January 2024, license holders will have the option to register LLCs and S-Corporations (S-Corps) with TREC for the sole purpose of receiving compensation, as long as those entities meet certain requirements.
The Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee (TREIC) met on October 16 for the final meeting of the calendar year. This meeting marks the last meeting for multiple members on the committee. Steve Rinehart, Shawn Emerick, Keisha Moulton, and Dave Motley have graciously volunteered their time to help make the inspection industry better. Their contributions have been extremely valuable and greatly appreciated.
The Texas Real Estate Broker-Lawyer Committee (BLC) met October 13 and continued discussing possible revisions to contract forms and recommended one new form for proposal.
The TREC Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC) met October 2 and discussed draft revisions to the Principles I and II course content. ESAC also discussed combining the Principles I and II courses into a single 60-hour Principles course and making this course a pre-requisite for the four additional pre-licensing courses. The committee asked staff to look into the feasibility of their recommendations and will continue discussion at the January 8, 2024 meeting.
Starting October 1, active license holders whose licenses expire will be set to inactive status as of the expiration date, and any license relationships to sales agents and/or brokers will be terminated.
If you late renew—up to six months after your expiration date—your license will be renewed on inactive status.
These changes were adopted during the May TREC Meeting.
None.
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.
Multiple state agencies, including Texas Real Estate Commission and Texas Appraiser Licensing & Certification Board, are experiencing technical difficulties with the services we use to handle phone calls. The phone system is currently down as the Texas Department of Information Resources troubleshoots the issue.
During the 87th regular session, the Texas legislature passed SB 1588 which amended Chapter 209 of the Texas Property Code governing certain property owners ' associations (more commonly known as HOAs) to address a number of HOA-related issues, including providing greater transparency in HOA operations and leadership.
View today's Commission meeting in real-time! Make sure to review the full agenda and materials and follow along.
During the 87th regular session, the Texas legislature passed SB 1588 related to Home Owner Associations (HOAs). This bill requires TREC to establish a database to accept management certificates from HOAs.
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) is pleased to announce the appointment of two broker members to the TREC Broker-Lawyer Committee. Broker members Dianne McCoy and Mary Miner were appointed at the August 2021 Commission meeting with terms set to expire in 2027.
As a result of the healthy Texas real estate market, the agency has seen an increase in new applications and longer hold times. TREC is committed to providing superior customer service to anyone who reaches out to the agency. Part of that commitment is a dedication to ensure short hold times and quick responses to emails.
In case you missed it, we have published the May "Coffee with the Commission" session. TREC Chair, Scott Kesner and TREC Executive Director, Chelsea Buchholtz discussed the latest from the May TREC Commission meeting and answered your questions about recently adopted rules, the legislative session, upcoming events, and more.
Broker business entity licenses were inactivated in error on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. The issue is resolved, and all licenses are restored.
During the May Commission meeting, rules relating to the Inspector Standards of Practice (SOP) were proposed. These proposed revisions are the product of many meetings of the Inspector SOP subcommittee and the work of the entire Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee. The Commission also adopted a rule which helps streamline the process for petitioning the Commission for the adoption of rules. See the full agenda and mate
AUSTIN, TX – The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) is pleased to announce the confirmation of broker members Leslie Lerner and Mark Woodroof and public member Ben Peña as new commissioners for terms to expire on January 31, 2027. The Commissioners were nominated in March and were confirmed by Senate vote on April 28, 2021.
None.
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.
The current inspector non-elective CE courses, 4-hour Inspector Legal & Ethics, and 4-hour Standards of Practice Review course expire on August 31, 2021. Please be sure all students enrolled in these courses are notified to complete these two courses before August 31, 2021.
The new 8 Hour Inspector Legal & Ethics and Standards of Practice Review course will replace the two inspector non-elective courses on September 1, 2021.
Education providers can electronically provide TREC their course content, text materials, quizzes, exercises, and exams using SharePoint. The only item education providers must send by mail is the application form and the required fee. Once mailed, contact the Education & Examinations Division to receive instructions for using SharePoint.
To expedite the renewal of qualifying courses where content, design, and delivery have not changed, qualifying education (QE) providers may submit the appropriate Qualifying Course Application (Real Estate or Inspector) and the Qualifying Course Renewal Certif
The new 8 Hour Inspector Legal & Ethics and Standards of Practice Review course is effective on September 1, 2021. This course replaces the 4-hour Inspector Legal and Ethics and the 4 hour Standards of Practice Review courses.
The current inspector non-elective CE courses, 4-hour Inspector Legal & Ethics and 4-hour Standards of Practice Review course expire on August 31, 2021. Please be sure all students enrolled in these courses are notified to complete these two courses before August 31, 2021.
The Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC) met on April 5, 2021. This meeting was held virtually and included a presentation from the Broker Responsibility Working Group (BRWG) Chair, Leslie Lerner. ESAC and BRWG have agreed to collaborate to develop recommendations aimed at better informing sales agents and brokers of duties and responsibilities to one another, which may include both education and experience co
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