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Important Announcement! - The REALM Portal activation email started going out at 8:30 a.m. CT today. Because of the volume of email messages and the personalization of each it will take some time for them to reach your inboxes. If you don’t receive it by tomorrow, please reach out to us.

Seeking Recommendations from Inspector Committee

After postponing consideration of proposed changes to inspector insurance requirements at their November 2017 meeting, TREC took no action on the proposed rule amendments and remanded the matter to the Real Estate Inspector Committee at the Commission’s February 2018 meeting. TREC asked the Inspector Committee to gather input from stakeholders on all consumer recovery issues and bring recommendations on potential legislative solutions to the Commission for consideration at a future Commission meeting.

"Coming Soon" to a Complaint Near You!

There has been a proliferation of the use of “coming soon” or “pocket” listings over the past year. While there may be legitimate reasons for the use of this marketing method, license holders should be aware that selling property using this method, under certain circumstances, may result in a complaint with the Commission and finding that the license holder has violated TREC laws and rules.

Seven Tips on How to Avoid the Most Common Violations

Standards & Enforcement Services is frequently asked – “What are your most common violations?” And, “How do I stay out of trouble?” The agency regularly disciplines license holders for violations in all but the last area.

  1. SUPERVISE your sales agents.  It is not a defense to broker supervision (Rule 535.2) to say you don’t supervise your sales agents. In other words, saying “I didn’t know about it” is sometimes more of an admission than a defense.

Use of Unlicensed Assistants in Real Estate Transactions

Brokers and sales agents often use unlicensed personnel for assistance in conducting their real estate brokerage activities. Such unlicensed persons, sometimes referred to as administrative assistants, can be of great help to a busy agent. However, care must be taken to ensure that the unlicensed person does not conduct any of the activities for which a real estate license is required. This article defines some of those activities which may and may not be legally conducted by unlicensed persons.