By: Sibley S.B. No. 223
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to continuing education requirements for real estate
1-2 brokers and salesmen.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 7A, The Real Estate
1-5 License Act (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) To renew an active real estate broker license or an
1-8 active real estate salesman license that is not subject to the
1-9 annual education requirements of this Act, the licensee must
1-10 provide the commission proof of attendance at at least 15 classroom
1-11 hours of continuing education courses approved by the commission
1-12 during the term of the current license. The commission by rule may
1-13 provide for the substitution of relevant educational experience or
1-14 correspondence courses approved by the commission instead of
1-15 classroom attendance. In addition, supervised video instruction
1-16 may be approved by the commission as a course counting as classroom
1-17 hours of mandatory continuing education. At least six hours of
1-18 instruction must be devoted to the rules of the commission, fair
1-19 housing laws, landlord-tenant law and other Property Code issues,
1-20 agency laws, antitrust laws, the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer
1-21 Protection Act (Subchapter E, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce
1-22 Code), disclosures to buyers, landlords, tenants, and sellers,
1-23 current contract and addendum forms, the unauthorized practice of
2-1 law, case studies involving violations of laws and regulations,
2-2 current Federal Housing Administration and Department of Veterans
2-3 Affairs regulations, tax laws, property tax consulting laws and
2-4 legal issues, or other legal topics approved by the commission.
2-5 The remaining hours may be devoted to other real estate-related
2-6 topics approved by the commission. The commission may consider
2-7 equivalent courses for continuing education credit. Property tax
2-8 consulting laws and legal issues include but are not limited to the
2-9 Tax Code, preparation of property tax reports, the unauthorized
2-10 practice of law, agency laws, tax laws, laws concerning property
2-11 taxes or assessments, deceptive trade practices, contract forms and
2-12 addendum, and other legal topics approved by the commission. Real
2-13 estate related courses approved by the State Bar of Texas for
2-14 minimum continuing legal education participatory credit and core
2-15 real estate courses under Section 7(a) of this Act shall
2-16 automatically be approved as mandatory continuing education courses
2-17 under this Act. The commission may not require examinations except
2-18 for correspondence courses or courses offered by alternative
2-19 delivery systems such as computers. Daily classroom course
2-20 segments must be at least one hour [three hours] long but not more
2-21 than 10 hours long.
2-22 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
2-23 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.