By Jones of Lubbock H.B. No. 1538
75R6789 T
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of real estate brokers, real estate
1-3 salesmen and inspectors.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 7(a), The Real Estate License Act
1-6 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
1-7 as follows:
1-8 (a) Competency as referred to in Section 6 of this Act shall
1-9 be established by an examination prepared by or contracted for by
1-10 the commission. The examination shall be given at such times and
1-11 at such places within the state as the commission shall prescribe.
1-12 The examination shall be of scope sufficient in the judgment of the
1-13 commission to determine that a person is competent to act as a real
1-14 estate broker or salesman in a manner to protect the interest of
1-15 the public. The examination for a salesman license shall be less
1-16 exacting and less stringent than the examination for a broker
1-17 license. The commission shall furnish each applicant with study
1-18 material and references on which his examination shall be based.
1-19 When an applicant for a real estate license fails a qualifying
1-20 examination, he may apply for reexamination by filing a request
1-21 therefor together with the proper fee. The examination requirement
1-22 must be satisfied not later than six months after the date on which
1-23 the application for a license is filed. Courses of study required
1-24 for a license may include but are not limited to the following,
2-1 which shall be considered core real estate courses for all purposes
2-2 of this Act:
2-3 (1) Principles of Real Estate (or equivalent) shall
2-4 include but not be limited to an overview of licensing as a real
2-5 estate broker and salesman, ethics of practice, titles to and
2-6 conveyancing of real estate, legal descriptions, [law of agency,]
2-7 deeds, encumbrances and liens, distinctions between personal and
2-8 real property, [contracts,] appraisal, finance and regulations,
2-9 closing procedures, real estate mathematics, and at least three
2-10 classroom hours of instruction on federal, state, and local laws
2-11 relating to housing discrimination, housing credit discrimination,
2-12 and community reinvestment.
2-13 (2) Real Estate Appraisal (or equivalent) shall
2-14 include but not be limited to the central purposes and functions of
2-15 an appraisal, social and economic determinant of value, appraisal
2-16 case studies, cost, market data and income approaches to value
2-17 estimates, final correlations, and reporting.
2-18 (3) Real Estate Law (or equivalent) shall include but
2-19 not be limited to legal concepts of real estate, land description,
2-20 real property rights and estates in land, contracts, conveyances,
2-21 encumbrances, foreclosures, recording procedures, and evidence of
2-22 titles.
2-23 (4) Real Estate Finance (or equivalent) shall include
2-24 but not be limited to monetary systems, primary and secondary money
2-25 markets, sources of mortgage loans, federal government programs,
2-26 loan applications, processes and procedures, closing costs,
2-27 alternative financial instruments, equal credit opportunity acts,
3-1 community reinvestment act, and state housing agency.
3-2 (5) Real Estate Marketing (or equivalent) shall
3-3 include but not be limited to real estate professionalism and
3-4 ethics, characteristics of successful salesmen, time management,
3-5 psychology of marketing, listing procedures, advertising,
3-6 negotiating and closing, financing, and the Deceptive Trade
3-7 Practices-Consumer Protection Act, as amended, Section 17.01 et
3-8 seq., Business & Commerce Code.
3-9 (6) Real Estate Mathematics (or equivalent) shall
3-10 include but not be limited to basic arithmetic skills and review of
3-11 mathematical logic, percentages, interest, time-valued money,
3-12 depreciation, amortization, proration, and estimation of closing
3-13 statements.
3-14 (7) Real Estate Brokerage (or equivalent) shall
3-15 include but not be limited to law of agency, planning and
3-16 organization, operational policies and procedures, recruiting,
3-17 selection and training of personnel, records and control, and real
3-18 estate firm analysis and expansion criteria.
3-19 (8) Property Management (or equivalent) shall include
3-20 but not be limited to role of property manager, landlord policies,
3-21 operational guidelines, leases, lease negotiations, tenant
3-22 relations, maintenance, reports, habitability laws, and the Fair
3-23 Housing Act.
3-24 (9) Real Estate Investments (or equivalent) shall
3-25 include but not be limited to real estate investment
3-26 characteristics, techniques of investment analysis, time-valued
3-27 money, discounted and nondiscounted investment criteria, leverage,
4-1 tax shelters, depreciation, and applications to property tax.
4-2 (10) Law of Agency (or equivalent) shall include but
4-3 not be limited to the principal-agent and master-servant
4-4 relationships, the authority of an agent, the termination of an
4-5 agent's authority, the fiduciary and other duties of an agent,
4-6 employment law, deceptive trade practices, listing or buying
4-7 representation procedures, and the disclosure of agency.
4-8 (11) Law of Contracts (or equivalent) shall include
4-9 but not be limited to the elements of a contract, offer and
4-10 acceptance, statute of frauds, specific performance and remedies
4-11 for breach, unauthorized practice of law, commission rules relating
4-12 to use of promulgated forms, and owner disclosure requirements.
4-13 SECTION 2. Section 7(c), The Real Estate License Act
4-14 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
4-15 as follows:
4-16 (c) The commission by rule may provide for a waiver of some
4-17 or all of the requirements for a license under this Act,
4-18 notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, if the applicant
4-19 was previously licensed in this state within the five-year period
4-20 prior to the filing of the application. The commission shall waive
4-21 the examination of an applicant for a broker license who has,
4-22 within one year previous to the filing of his application, been
4-23 licensed in this state as a broker, and shall waive the examination
4-24 of an applicant for a salesman license who has, within one year
4-25 previous to the filing of his application, been licensed in this
4-26 state as either a broker or salesman.
4-27 SECTION 3. Section 7(e), The Real Estate License Act
5-1 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
5-2 as follows:
5-3 (e) Each applicant for a salesman license shall furnish the
5-4 commission satisfactory evidence of having completed 12 semester
5-5 hours, or equivalent classroom hours of postsecondary education,
5-6 six hours of which must be completed in core real estate courses,
5-7 of which a minimum of two hours must be completed in Principles of
5-8 Real Estate as described in Subsection (a)(1) of this section,
5-9 [and] a minimum of two hours must be completed in Law of Agency as
5-10 described in Subsection (a)(10) of this section, and a minimum of
5-11 two hours must be completed in Law of Contracts as described in
5-12 Subsection a(11) of this section. The remaining six hours shall be
5-13 completed in core real estate courses or related courses. As a
5-14 condition for the first renewal of a salesman license, the
5-15 applicant shall furnish the commission satisfactory evidence of
5-16 having completed a minimum of 14 semester hours, or equivalent
5-17 classroom hours, eight hours of which must be completed in core
5-18 real estate courses. As a condition for the second renewal of a
5-19 salesman license, the applicant shall furnish the commission
5-20 satisfactory evidence of having completed a minimum of 16 semester
5-21 hours, or equivalent classroom hours, 10 hours of which must be
5-22 completed in core real estate courses. As a condition for the
5-23 third renewal of a salesman license, the applicant shall furnish
5-24 the commission satisfactory evidence of having completed a minimum
5-25 of 18 semester hours, or equivalent classroom hours, 12 hours of
5-26 which must be completed in core real estate courses.
5-27 SECTION 4. Section 7A(d), The Real Estate License Act
6-1 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
6-2 as follows:
6-3 (d) The commission may adopt rules and set and collect
6-4 reasonable fees to implement this section, including a fee not to
6-5 exceed $400 for an application for approval of a provider of
6-6 continuing education and a fee not to exceed $100 for an
6-7 application for a course of study to be offered for continuing
6-8 education. If the commission determines that an applicant
6-9 satisfies the requirements of this section and any rules adopted by
6-10 the commission under this section, the commission may authorize a
6-11 provider to offer continuing education for a period of two years or
6-12 authorize the offering of a course of study for a period of two
6-13 years. The commission may by rule establish procedures under which
6-14 licenses are issued or renewed, or licensees are returned to active
6-15 status, prior to the completion of the continuing education
6-16 required by this section. The commission may require a licensee to
6-17 pay an additional fee not to exceed $200 and to complete the
6-18 required continuing education within 60 days after the license was
6-19 issued or renewed, or the licensee was returned to active status.
6-20 SECTION 5. Section 11(a), The Real Estate License Act
6-21 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
6-22 as follows:
6-23 (a) The commission shall charge and collect the following
6-24 fees:
6-25 (1) a fee not to exceed $100 for the filing of an
6-26 original application for a real estate broker license;
6-27 (2) a fee not to exceed $100 for annual renewal of a
7-1 real estate broker license;
7-2 (3) a fee not to exceed $50 for the filing of an
7-3 original application for a real estate salesman license;
7-4 (4) a fee not to exceed $50 for annual renewal of a
7-5 real estate salesman license;
7-6 (5) a fee not to exceed $50 [$25] for an application
7-7 for a license examination;
7-8 (6) a fee not to exceed $20 for filing a request for a
7-9 license for each additional office or place of business;
7-10 (7) a fee not to exceed $20 for filing a request for a
7-11 license for a change of place of business, change of name, return
7-12 to active status, or change of sponsoring broker;
7-13 (8) a fee not to exceed $20 for filing a request to
7-14 replace a license lost or destroyed;
7-15 (9) a fee not to exceed $400 for filing an application
7-16 for approval of an education program under Section 7(f) of this
7-17 Act;
7-18 (10) a fee not to exceed $200 a year for operation of
7-19 an education program under Section 7(f) of this Act;
7-20 (11) a fee of $15 for transcript evaluation;
7-21 (12) a fee not to exceed $10 for preparing a license
7-22 history;
7-23 (13) a fee not to exceed $50 for the filing of an
7-24 application for a moral character determination;
7-25 (14) an annual fee of $20 from each real estate broker
7-26 to be transmitted to Texas A&M University for the Texas Real Estate
7-27 Research Center as provided by Section 5(m) of this Act; and
8-1 (15) an annual fee of $17.50 from each real estate
8-2 salesman to be transmitted to Texas A&M University for the Texas
8-3 Real Estate Research Center as provided by Section 5(m) of this
8-4 Act.
8-5 SECTION 6. Section 15B(a), The Real Estate License Act
8-6 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
8-7 as follows:
8-8 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Act, there
8-9 shall be no undercover or covert investigations conducted by
8-10 authority of this Act unless expressly authorized by the commission
8-11 after due consideration of the circumstances and determination by
8-12 the commission that such measures are necessary to carry out the
8-13 purposes of this Act. No investigations of licensees or any other
8-14 actions against licensees shall be initiated on the basis of
8-15 anonymous complaints whether in writing or otherwise but shall be
8-16 initiated only upon the commission's own motion or a signed written
8-17 complaint from a consumer or service recipient. Upon the adoption
8-18 of such motion by the commission or upon receipt of such complaint,
8-19 the licensee shall be notified promptly and in writing unless the
8-20 commission itself, after due consideration, determines otherwise.
8-21 The commission may authorize its employees to file signed written
8-22 complaints against licensees and to conduct investigations when:
8-23 (1) a judgment against the licensee has been paid from
8-24 a recovery fund established under this Act;
8-25 (2) the licensee has been convicted of a criminal
8-26 offense which may constitute grounds for the suspension or
8-27 revocation of a license; or
9-1 (3) the licensee has failed to make good a check
9-2 issued to the commission.
9-3 SECTION 7. Section 23(d)(4), The Real Estate License Act
9-4 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
9-5 as follows:
9-6 (4) The commission by rule shall [may] provide for the
9-7 substitution of relevant experience or additional education in lieu
9-8 of the number of real estate inspections and prior licensing as an
9-9 apprentice inspector or real estate inspector required by this
9-10 section. The rule adopted by the commission may not require an
9-11 applicant to complete more than 60 additional classroom hours of
9-12 core real estate inspection courses. Before a person licensed as a
9-13 professional inspector under the rule may sponsor an apprentice
9-14 inspector or a real estate inspector, the person must provide
9-15 certification acceptable to the commission that the person has
9-16 completed at least 200 real estate inspections while licensed under
9-17 this section.
9-18 SECTION 8. Section 24(g), The Real Estate License Act
9-19 (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is repealed.
9-20 SECTION 9. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
9-21 section, this Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
9-22 (b) Section 3 of this Act takes effect January 1, 1998.
9-23 SECTION 10. The importance of this legislation and the
9-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
9-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
9-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
9-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.