Happy New Year! It’s January and 2018 promises to be filled with important activity. Even numbered years are always a time when the agency must update our 5-Year Strategic Plan and so that means we will have some significant opportunities for additional targeted input from our license holders and the public on general topics and specific areas of current interest.  Look for a list of topics and a schedule of Listening Tour events to be published in February.

The effective date of the new rules is May 15, 2018, and we want to make sure everyone is thoroughly prepared for the changes.

Background

The Commission met on November 13^th for its regular quarterly meeting and it was one of the most productive – and lengthy – that we have had for many years.  Despite its length, we recognized recent accomplishments and achieved some major milestones that we have been working on for over two years.  We began by ratifying a very generous set of accommodations implemented in response to the unprecedented impact of Hurricane Harvey.  Up to six full months of deadline extensions are ava

The Inspector Committee met in Austin on October 9th and for the first time, the meeting was available to be viewed online in real time. This allowed license holders and members of the public to view the meeting live. This was an initial test run to see if streaming the meeting will be practical. No decision has yet been made about future streaming as TREC staff is continuing to explore options.

AUSTIN, TX – The Texas Real Estate Commission is pleased to announce the recent appointments of six new committee members to the Education Standards Advisory Committee. Sarah Norman of Bryan, Jason Woodward of Amarillo, Felicia Peters of Grandbury, Scott Kesner of El Paso, Rob Cook of Houston, and public member Marcela Gomez of Austin have been appointed as members, with terms set to expire in 2019.

Texas Real Estate Commission adopted new advertising rules at its November meeting. These rules are effective as of May 15, 2018, which gives license holders 6 months to comply with the updated requirements.
§535.154 lays out alternate, assumed business and team name registration requirements and §535.155 lays out the revised advertising requirements. You can read both rules on our website.

Want to avoid a complaint? If you are a buyer’s agent and the buyer needs to get a loan, here are a few tips on how to avoid issues that have led to some complaints to the Commission.

Effective November 15, 2017, course providers approved to offer the qualifying Real Estate Marketing course through distance education delivery must comply with content revisions adopted by the Commission.

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the Texas Real Estate Commission and the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board (the Agency) extended all deadlines for two months for all license holders and applicants statewide with license expiration or application deadlines in August and September. This extension ended on October 31, 2017. 

Many education providers have opted for live and in-person proctoring for final exams.