By: Brown S.B. No. 1500
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the regulation of real estate brokers and property
1-2 management.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 2, The Real Estate License Act (Article
1-5 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending
1-6 Subdivisions (1), (2), and (5) and adding Subdivision (8) to read
1-7 as follows:
1-8 (1) "Real estate" means a leasehold, as well as any
1-9 other interest or estate in land, whether corporeal, incorporeal,
1-10 freehold, or nonfreehold, and whether the real estate is situated
1-11 in this state or elsewhere. The term does not include an interest
1-12 given as security for the performance of an obligation.
1-13 (2) "Real estate broker" means a person who, for
1-14 another person and for a fee, commission, or other valuable
1-15 consideration, or with the intention or in the expectation or on
1-16 the promise of receiving or collecting a fee, commission, or other
1-17 valuable consideration from another person does the following in
1-18 this state:
1-19 (A) sells, exchanges, purchases, rents, or
1-20 leases real estate;
1-21 (B) offers to sell, exchange, purchase, rent, or
1-22 lease real estate;
1-23 (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
3-1 control of real estate by arranging or providing for or supervising
3-2 the performance of not fewer than two of the following services:
3-3 (A) marketing or leasing;
3-4 (B) providing physical maintenance;
3-5 (C) accounting; or
3-6 (D) providing financial maintenance.
3-7 SECTION 2. Section 3, The Real Estate License Act (Article
3-8 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
3-9 follows:
3-10 Sec. 3. The provisions of this Act shall not apply to any of
3-11 the following persons and transactions, and each and all of the
3-12 following persons and transactions are hereby exempted from the
3-13 provisions of this Act:
3-14 (1) an attorney at law licensed in this state or in
3-15 any other state;
3-16 (2) an attorney in fact under a duly executed power of
3-17 attorney authorizing the consummation of a real estate transaction;
3-18 (3) a public official in the conduct of his official
3-19 duties;
3-20 (4) a person calling the sale of real estate by
3-21 auction under the authority of a license issued by this state
3-22 provided the person does not perform any other act of a real estate
3-23 broker or salesman as defined by this Act;
3-24 (5) a person acting under a court order or under the
3-25 authority of a will or a written trust instrument;
4-1 (6) a salesperson employed by an owner in the sale of
4-2 structures and land on which said structures are situated, provided
4-3 such structures are erected by the owner in the due course of his
4-4 business;
4-5 (7) temporary or permanent personnel who work <an>
4-6 on-site at a multi-unit rental dwelling complex or a self-storage
4-7 service facility who, on or after January 1, 1999, are under the
4-8 supervision and control of the owner of the property or a broker
4-9 licensed in this state who is responsible for the acts of the
4-10 personnel and for the management of the property <manager of an
4-11 apartment complex>;
4-12 (8) transactions involving the sale, lease, or
4-13 transfer of any mineral or mining interest in real property;
4-14 (9) an owner or his employees in renting, <or>
4-15 leasing, or engaging in the property management of his own real
4-16 estate whether improved or unimproved;
4-17 (10) transactions involving the sale, lease, or
4-18 transfer of cemetery lots; <or>
4-19 (11) transactions involving the renting, leasing, or
4-20 property management of hotels or motels; or
4-21 (12) a person performing property management
4-22 (a) for a property owners association as defined
4-23 in Property Code, Section 202.001(2), provided that the person does
4-24 not market or lease any real estate, including real estate owned by
4-25 the association, members of the association, or others; or
5-1 (b) of real estate owned by a property owners
5-2 association for which the person performs property management,
5-3 provided that the person does not market or lease the real estate.
5-4 SECTION 3. The Real Estate License Act (Article 6573a,
5-5 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by adding Section 3A to
5-6 read as follows:
5-7 Sec. 3A. ACTS OF CERTAIN EMPLOYEES EXEMPTED. Clerical,
5-8 administrative, or secretarial acts performed by an employee of a
5-9 broker or salesman are not acts for which a license is required
5-10 under this Act, including, but not limited to, the acts of:
5-11 (1) answering the telephone or engaging in telephone
5-12 conversations if the employee does not engage in solicitation;
5-13 (2) confirming advertised or written information
5-14 regarding property;
5-15 (3) delivering or receiving an application, contract,
5-16 amendment, or security deposit or a rental payment made payable to
5-17 a property manager or property owner;
5-18 (4) opening or unlocking a rental unit in the capacity
5-19 of an employee of a broker who manages the property;
5-20 (5) providing information to another person about the
5-21 status of a security deposit or the payment of rent; and
5-22 (6) assisting a broker or salesman or the owner of
5-23 property in the performance of property management by engaging in
5-24 administrative, supervisory, clerical, accounting, or maintenance
5-25 tasks if the employee does not negotiate a lease or contract
6-1 directly with a party to the lease or contract.
6-2 SECTION 4. Section 6(c), The Real Estate License Act
6-3 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
6-4 as follows:
6-5 (c) To be eligible for or to renew a license, a corporation
6-6 must designate one of its officers and a limited liability company
6-7 must designate one of it managers to act for it. The designated
6-8 person must be a <citizen of the United States or a lawfully
6-9 admitted alien, be at least 18 years of age, and be a resident of
6-10 Texas for at least 60 days immediately preceding the filing of an
6-11 application, and must be qualified to be> licensed <individually as
6-12 a> real estate broker as shown by the records of the commission.
6-13 <However, the competency of the person shall be judged solely on
6-14 the basis of the examination referred to in Section 7 of this Act.>
6-15 SECTION 5. Section 19(a), The Real Estate License Act
6-16 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
6-17 as follows:
6-18 (a) A person acting as a real estate broker or real estate
6-19 salesman without first obtaining a license is guilty of a
6-20 misdemeanor and on conviction shall be punishable by a fine of not
6-21 less than $100 nor more than $500, or by imprisonment in the county
6-22 jail for a term not to exceed one year, or both; and if a
6-23 corporation or a limited liability company, shall be punishable by
6-24 a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $2,000. A person, on
6-25 conviction of a second or subsequent offense, shall be punishable
7-1 by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000, or by
7-2 imprisonment for a term not to exceed two years, or both; and if a
7-3 corporation or a limited liability company, shall be punishable by
7-4 a fine of not less than $2,000 nor more than $5,000.
7-5 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
7-6 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
7-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.