73R9345 JMM-D
By Carona H.B. No. 589
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 589:
By Kubiak C.S.H.B. No. 589
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of real estate brokers and property
1-3 management.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 2, The Real Estate License Act (Article
1-6 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending
1-7 Subdivisions (1), (2), and (5) and adding Subdivision (8) to read
1-8 as follows:
1-9 (1) "Real estate" means a leasehold, as well as any
1-10 other interest or estate in land, whether corporeal, incorporeal,
1-11 freehold, or nonfreehold, and whether the real estate is situated
1-12 in this state or elsewhere. The term does not include an interest
1-13 given as security for the performance of an obligation.
1-14 (2) "Real estate broker" means a person who, for
1-15 another person and for a fee, commission, or other valuable
1-16 consideration, or with the intention or in the expectation or on
1-17 the promise of receiving or collecting a fee, commission, or other
1-18 valuable consideration from another person does the following in
1-19 this state:
1-20 (A) sells, exchanges, purchases, rents, or
1-21 leases real estate;
1-22 (B) offers to sell, exchange, purchase, rent, or
1-23 lease real estate;
1-24 (C) negotiates or attempts to negotiate the
2-1 listing, sale, exchange, purchase, rental, or leasing of real
2-2 estate;
2-3 (D) lists or offers or attempts or agrees to
2-4 list real estate for sale, rental, lease, exchange, or trade;
2-5 (E) appraises or offers or attempts or agrees to
2-6 appraise real estate;
2-7 (F) auctions, or offers or attempts or agrees to
2-8 auction, real estate;
2-9 (G) buys or sells or offers to buy or sell, or
2-10 otherwise deals in options on real estate;
2-11 (H) aids, attempts, or offers to aid in locating
2-12 or obtaining for purchase, rent, or lease any real estate;
2-13 (I) procures or assists in the procuring of
2-14 prospects for the purpose of effecting the sale, exchange, lease,
2-15 or rental of real estate; <or>
2-16 (J) procures or assists in the procuring of
2-17 properties for the purpose of effecting the sale, exchange, lease,
2-18 or rental of real estate; or
2-19 (K) after January 1, 1999, engages in property
2-20 management or procures or assists in the procurement of a
2-21 prospective client to engage in property management or property to
2-22 be managed.
2-23 (5) "Person" means an individual, limited liability
2-24 company, or a corporation, foreign or domestic.
2-25 (8) "Property management" means the administration or
2-26 control of real estate by arranging or providing for or supervising
2-27 the performance of not fewer than two of the following services:
3-1 (A) marketing or leasing;
3-2 (B) providing physical maintenance;
3-3 (C) accounting; or
3-4 (D) providing financial maintenance.
3-5 SECTION 2. Section 3, The Real Estate License Act (Article
3-6 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
3-7 follows:
3-8 Sec. 3. The provisions of this Act shall not apply to any of
3-9 the following persons and transactions, and each and all of the
3-10 following persons and transactions are hereby exempted from the
3-11 provisions of this Act:
3-12 (1) an attorney at law licensed in this state or in
3-13 any other state;
3-14 (2) an attorney in fact under a duly executed power of
3-15 attorney authorizing the consummation of a real estate transaction;
3-16 (3) a public official in the conduct of his official
3-17 duties;
3-18 (4) a person calling the sale of real estate by
3-19 auction under the authority of a license issued by this state
3-20 provided the person does not perform any other act of a real estate
3-21 broker or salesman as defined by this Act;
3-22 (5) a person acting under a court order or under the
3-23 authority of a will or a written trust instrument;
3-24 (6) a salesperson employed by an owner in the sale of
3-25 structures and land on which said structures are situated, provided
3-26 such structures are erected by the owner in the due course of his
3-27 business;
4-1 (7) temporary or permanent personnel who work <an>
4-2 on-site at a multi-unit rental dwelling complex or a self-storage
4-3 service facility who, on or after January 1, 1999, are under the
4-4 supervision and control of the owner of the property or a broker
4-5 licensed in this state who is responsible for the acts of the
4-6 personnel and for the management of the property <manager of an
4-7 apartment complex>;
4-8 (8) transactions involving the sale, lease, or
4-9 transfer of any mineral or mining interest in real property;
4-10 (9) an owner or his employees in renting, <or>
4-11 leasing, or engaging in the property management of his own real
4-12 estate whether improved or unimproved;
4-13 (10) transactions involving the sale, lease, or
4-14 transfer of cemetery lots; or
4-15 (11) transactions involving the renting, leasing, or
4-16 property management of hotels or motels.
4-17 SECTION 3. The Real Estate License Act (Article 6573a,
4-18 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by adding Section 3A to
4-19 read as follows:
4-20 Sec. 3A. ACTS OF CERTAIN EMPLOYEES EXEMPTED. Clerical,
4-21 administrative, or secretarial acts performed by an employee of a
4-22 broker or salesman are not acts for which a license is required
4-23 under this Act, including, but not limited to, the acts of:
4-24 (1) answering the telephone or engaging in telephone
4-25 conversations if the employee does not engage in solicitation;
4-26 (2) confirming advertised or written information
4-27 regarding property;
5-1 (3) delivering or receiving an application, contract,
5-2 amendment, or security deposit or a rental payment made payable to
5-3 a property manager or property owner;
5-4 (4) opening or unlocking a rental unit in the capacity
5-5 of an employee of a broker who manages the property;
5-6 (5) providing information to another person about the
5-7 status of a security deposit or the payment of rent; and
5-8 (6) assisting a broker or salesman or the owner of
5-9 property in the performance of property management by engaging in
5-10 administrative, supervisory, clerical, accounting, or maintenance
5-11 tasks if the employee does not negotiate a lease or contract
5-12 directly with a party to the lease or contract.
5-13 SECTION 4. Section 6(c), The Real Estate License Act
5-14 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
5-15 as follows:
5-16 (c) To be eligible for or to renew a license, a corporation
5-17 must designate one of its officers and a limited liability company
5-18 must designate one of its managers to act for it. The designated
5-19 person must be a <citizen of the United States or a lawfully
5-20 admitted alien, be at least 18 years of age, and be a resident of
5-21 Texas for at least 60 days immediately preceding the filing of an
5-22 application, and must be qualified to be> licensed <individually as
5-23 a> real estate broker as shown by the records of the commission.
5-24 <However, the competency of the person shall be judged solely on
5-25 the basis of the examination referred to in Section 7 of this Act.>
5-26 SECTION 5. Section 19(a), The Real Estate License Act
5-27 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
6-1 as follows:
6-2 (a) A person acting as a real estate broker or real estate
6-3 salesman without first obtaining a license is guilty of a
6-4 misdemeanor and on conviction shall be punishable by a fine of not
6-5 less than $100 nor more than $500, or by imprisonment in the county
6-6 jail for a term not to exceed one year, or both; and if a
6-7 corporation or a limited liability company, shall be punishable by
6-8 a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $2,000. A person, on
6-9 conviction of a second or subsequent offense, shall be punishable
6-10 by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000, or by
6-11 imprisonment for a term not to exceed two years, or both; and if a
6-12 corporation or a limited liability company, shall be punishable by
6-13 a fine of not less than $2,000 nor more than $5,000.
6-14 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
6-15 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.