By Lucio S.B. No. 460
74R678 PB-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to license qualifications for certain inspectors regulated
1-3 by the Texas Real Estate Commission.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 23(d), The Real Estate License Act
1-6 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
1-7 amending Subdivisions (1), (2), and (4) and by adding Subdivision
1-8 (6) to read as follows:
1-9 (d) Eligibility; application. (1) To be eligible for a
1-10 license as an apprentice inspector, an applicant must be an
1-11 individual, a citizen of the United States or a lawfully admitted
1-12 alien, and a resident of this state at the time of the filing of
1-13 the application. Except as provided by Subdivision (6) of this
1-14 subsection, the <The> applicant must be sponsored by a professional
1-15 inspector licensed under this section. The applicant must be at
1-16 least 18 years old. The applicant must satisfy the commission as
1-17 to the applicant's honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity.
1-18 (2) To be eligible for a license as a real estate
1-19 inspector, an applicant must have met the requirements and been
1-20 licensed as an apprentice inspector for at least three months and,
1-21 except as provided by Subdivision (4) of this subsection, have
1-22 performed at least 25 real estate inspections under direct
1-23 supervision before filing an application. The applicant must
1-24 satisfy the commission as to the applicant's honesty,
2-1 trustworthiness, integrity, and competency. An applicant for an
2-2 original real estate inspector license must submit satisfactory
2-3 evidence to the commission of successful completion of not less
2-4 than 90 classroom hours of core real estate inspection courses.
2-5 The commission by rule may specify the length and content of the
2-6 core real estate inspection courses required by this subdivision.
2-7 The commission shall determine the competency of an applicant on
2-8 the basis of an examination required by Subsection (i) of this
2-9 section. Except as provided by Subdivision (6) of this subsection,
2-10 the <The> applicant must be sponsored by a professional inspector
2-11 licensed under this section. Notwithstanding this subdivision of
2-12 this subsection, an applicant is eligible for and has satisfied all
2-13 requirements for a license as a real estate inspector if the
2-14 applicant was previously licensed as a real estate inspector during
2-15 the preceding 24-month period immediately preceding the filing of
2-16 the application, the applicant is sponsored by a professional
2-17 inspector, and the applicant satisfies the commission as to the
2-18 applicant's honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity.
2-19 (4) In <The commission by rule may provide for the
2-20 substitution of relevant experience or education in> lieu of the
2-21 number of real estate inspections required by this section, the
2-22 commission:
2-23 (A) by rule may provide that an applicant may
2-24 substitute evidence of relevant experience or education that is
2-25 presented to the commission in a manner satisfactory to the
2-26 commission; and
2-27 (B) in the case of an applicant for a license as
3-1 a real estate inspector who presents evidence to the commission
3-2 under Subdivision (6) of this subsection that establishes that the
3-3 applicant is unable to satisfy the direct supervision requirement,
3-4 shall allow the applicant to establish the applicant's
3-5 qualifications for the license through examination as provided by
3-6 that subdivision.
3-7 (6) If an applicant for a license as an apprentice
3-8 inspector or a real estate inspector presents evidence to the
3-9 commission that the applicant is unable to obtain the sponsorship
3-10 of a professional inspector licensed under this section or the
3-11 direction of a professional inspector for purposes of the direct
3-12 supervision requirement imposed under Subdivision (2) of this
3-13 subsection, the commission shall allow the applicant to establish
3-14 the applicant's qualifications for the license through examination.
3-15 The applicant must provide the evidence in a manner satisfactory to
3-16 the commission. The commission shall establish the requirements
3-17 for an examination offered under this subdivision in the manner
3-18 prescribed by Subsection (i) of this section. The committee may
3-19 recommend rules to the commission relating to the examination.
3-20 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
3-21 applies to an application for a license as an apprentice inspector
3-22 or real estate inspector that is filed with the Texas Real Estate
3-23 Commission on or after that date. An application filed before
3-24 September 1, 1995, is governed by the law in effect on the date
3-25 that the application was filed, and the former law is continued in
3-26 effect for that purpose.
3-27 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.