The Texas Real Estate Commission met August 19 in Austin for its third meeting of the year. The Commission adopted a new rule addressing broker succession. In addition, several form changes were recommended by the Broker-Lawyer Committee (BLC) and proposed by the Commission, which means you can provide your public comment on these changes now. Read on for more updates.

The Texas Broker-Lawyer Committee (BLC) met twice in July to discuss its routine work of reviewing TREC’s forms, but also to discuss potential changes to the TREC contract forms as a result of the proposed NAR settlement related to compensation.

The Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee (TREIC) met on July 15 at TREC headquarters in Austin.

During its July 18 meeting, the Broker Responsibility Advisory Committee (BRAC) reviewed the over 42 pages of public comments it received regarding education and experience required to become a broker. This has been a topic of discussion throughout multiple iterations of the former Broker Responsibility Working Group. BRAC began its initial discussion of this topic at its last meeting.

The Texas Real Estate Commission’s Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC)  met on July 8. Here are the highlights.

Recommended Course Outline Changes

The meeting opened with members reviewing public comment and recommending the Commission adopt changes to the course approval forms for Principles of Real Estate I and II, and Law of Agency. These changes will be considered at the Commission's August 19 meeting. 

In an effort to ensure accuracy and the timeliness of posting course credit, TREC is updating the Posting System and all forms of course credit reporting to require the license holder’s last name. The last name and license number must match those stored in our database for credit to be awarded.

Many of your students may go by a nickname or use a middle name rather than a first name. For reporting purposes, it is important that your students know ahead of time that they should register for their courses with the name as it appears on their TREC license.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have created new guidelines for Reconsideration of Value (ROV) policies with clearer expectations for lenders, appraisers, and borrowers.

ROVs are used when borrowers wish to appeal an appraisal when they believe the opinion of value is unsupported, deficient because of unacceptable appraisal practices, or reflects discriminatory practices.

The Sunset Advisory Commission is conducting a special-purpose review of the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC). By law, the scope of the review is strictly limited to reviewing the legally required disclosures made by a seller of real property and the associated disclosure forms developed by TREC. Sunset staff welcomes public comments related to this topic.

Continuing Education (CE) providers play a key role in ensuring real estate professionals receive ongoing training. TREC Rule 535.75 outlines important responsibilities that CE providers must adhere to.

Want your real estate continuing education (CE) submission process to go more smoothly? Use this checklist each time you submit an application.

Double Check the Course Fee(s)

Remember, CE course fees must be calculated based on the following information. All courses must include the base fee and content review fee. In addition to the base and content review fees, fees for each delivery method in which the course will be offered are required.

All courses include base and content review fees: