By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1100
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the regulation of real estate brokers, real estate
1-2 salesmen, and inspectors.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 7, 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) Competency as referred to in Section 6 of this Act shall
1-8 be established by an examination prepared by or contracted for by
1-9 the commission. The examination shall be given at such times and
1-10 at such places within the state as the commission shall prescribe.
1-11 The examination shall be of scope sufficient in the judgment of the
1-12 commission to determine that a person is competent to act as a real
1-13 estate broker or salesman in a manner to protect the interest of
1-14 the public. The examination for a salesman license shall be less
1-15 exacting and less stringent than the examination for a broker
1-16 license. The commission shall furnish each applicant with study
1-17 material and references on which his examination shall be based.
1-18 When an applicant for a real estate license fails a qualifying
1-19 examination, he may apply for reexamination by filing a request
1-20 therefor together with the proper fee. The examination requirement
1-21 must be satisfied not later than six months after the date on which
1-22 the application for a license is filed. Courses of study required
1-23 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,
3-1 loan applications, processes and procedures, closing costs,
3-2 alternative financial instruments, equal credit opportunity acts,
3-3 community reinvestment act, and state housing agency.
3-4 (5) Real Estate Marketing (or equivalent) shall
3-5 include but not be limited to real estate professionalism and
3-6 ethics, characteristics of successful salesmen, time management,
3-7 psychology of marketing, listing procedures, advertising,
3-8 negotiating and closing, financing, and the Deceptive Trade
3-9 Practices-Consumer Protection Act, as amended, Section 17.01 et
3-10 seq., Business & Commerce Code.
3-11 (6) Real Estate Mathematics (or equivalent) shall
3-12 include but not be limited to basic arithmetic skills and review of
3-13 mathematical logic, percentages, interest, time-valued money,
3-14 depreciation, amortization, proration, and estimation of closing
3-15 statements.
3-16 (7) Real Estate Brokerage (or equivalent) shall
3-17 include but not be limited to law of agency, planning and
3-18 organization, operational policies and procedures, recruiting,
3-19 selection and training of personnel, records and control, and real
3-20 estate firm analysis and expansion criteria.
3-21 (8) Property Management (or equivalent) shall include
3-22 but not be limited to role of property manager, landlord policies,
3-23 operational guidelines, leases, lease negotiations, tenant
3-24 relations, maintenance, reports, habitability laws, and the Fair
3-25 Housing Act.
4-1 (9) Real Estate Investments (or equivalent) shall
4-2 include but not be limited to real estate investment
4-3 characteristics, techniques of investment analysis, time-valued
4-4 money, discounted and nondiscounted investment criteria, leverage,
4-5 tax shelters depreciation, and applications to property tax.
4-6 (10) Law of Agency (or equivalent) shall include but
4-7 not be limited to the principal-agent and master-servant
4-8 relationships, the authority of an agent, the termination of an
4-9 agent's authority, the fiduciary and other duties of an agent,
4-10 employment law, deceptive trade practices, listing or buying
4-11 representation procedures, and the disclosure of agency.
4-12 (11) Law of Contracts (or equivalent) shall include
4-13 but not be limited to the elements of a contract, offer and
4-14 acceptance, statute of frauds, specific performance and remedies
4-15 for breach, unauthorized practice of law, commission rules relating
4-16 to use of promulgated forms, and owner disclosure requirements.
4-17 SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 7, The Real Estate
4-18 License Act (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
4-19 amended to read as follows:
4-20 (c) The commission by rule may provide for a waiver of some
4-21 or all of the requirements for a license under this Act,
4-22 notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, if the applicant
4-23 was previously licensed in this state within the five-year period
4-24 prior to the filing of the application. The commission shall waive
4-25 the examination of an applicant for a broker license who has,
5-1 within one year previous to the filing of his application, been
5-2 licensed in this state as a broker, and shall waive the examination
5-3 of an applicant for a salesman license who has, within one year
5-4 previous to the filing of his application, been licensed in this
5-5 state as either a broker or salesman.
5-6 SECTION 3. Subsection (e), Section 7, The Real Estate
5-7 License Act (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
5-8 amended to read as follows:
5-9 (e) Each applicant for a salesman license shall furnish the
5-10 commission satisfactory evidence of having completed 12 semester
5-11 hours, or equivalent classroom hours, of postsecondary education,
5-12 six hours of which must be completed in core real estate courses,
5-13 of which a minimum of two hours must be completed in Principles of
5-14 Real Estate as described in Subsection (a)(1) of this section,
5-15 [and] a minimum of two hours must be completed in Law of Agency as
5-16 described in Subsection (a)(10) of this section, and a minimum of
5-17 two hours must be completed in Law of Contracts as described in
5-18 Subsection a(11) of this section. The remaining six hours shall be
5-19 completed in core real estate courses or related courses. As a
5-20 condition for the first renewal of a salesman license, the
5-21 applicant shall furnish the commission satisfactory evidence of
5-22 having completed a minimum of 14 semester hours, or equivalent
5-23 classroom hours, eight hours of which must be completed in core
5-24 real estate courses. As a condition for the second renewal of a
5-25 salesman license, the applicant shall furnish the commission
6-1 satisfactory evidence of having completed a minimum of 16 semester
6-2 hours, or equivalent classroom hours, 10 hours of which must be
6-3 completed in core real estate courses. As a condition for the
6-4 third renewal of a salesman license, the applicant shall furnish
6-5 the commission satisfactory evidence of having completed a minimum
6-6 of 18 semester hours, or equivalent classroom hours, 12 hours of
6-7 which must be completed in core real estate courses.
6-8 SECTION 4. Subsection (d), Section 7A, The Real Estate
6-9 License Act (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
6-10 amended to read as follows:
6-11 (d) The commission may adopt rules and set and collect
6-12 reasonable fees to implement this section, including a fee not to
6-13 exceed $400 for an application for approval of a provider of
6-14 continuing education and a fee not to exceed $100 for an
6-15 application for a course of study to be offered for continuing
6-16 education. If the commission determines that an applicant
6-17 satisfies the requirements of this section and any rules adopted by
6-18 the commission under this section, the commission may authorize a
6-19 provider to offer continuing education for a period of two years or
6-20 authorize the offering of a course of study for a period of two
6-21 years. The commission may by rule establish procedures under which
6-22 licenses are issued or renewed, or licensees are returned to active
6-23 status, prior to the completion of the continuing education
6-24 required by this section. The commission may require a licensee to
6-25 pay an additional fee not to exceed $200 and to complete the
7-1 required continuing education within 60 days after the license was
7-2 issued or renewed or the licensee was returned to active status.
7-3 SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 11, The Real Estate
7-4 License Act (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
7-5 amended to read as follows:
7-6 (a) The commission shall charge and collect the following
7-7 fees:
7-8 (1) a fee not to exceed $100 for the filing of an
7-9 original application for a real estate broker license;
7-10 (2) a fee not to exceed $100 for annual renewal of a
7-11 real estate broker license;
7-12 (3) a fee not to exceed $50 for the filing of an
7-13 original application for a real estate salesman license;
7-14 (4) a fee not to exceed $50 for annual renewal of a
7-15 real estate salesman license;
7-16 (5) a fee not to exceed $50 [$25] for an application
7-17 for a license examination;
7-18 (6) a fee not to exceed $20 for filing a request for a
7-19 license for each additional office or place of business;
7-20 (7) a fee not to exceed $20 for filing a request for a
7-21 license for a change of place of business, change of name, return
7-22 to active status, or change of sponsoring broker;
7-23 (8) a fee not to exceed $20 for filing a request to
7-24 replace a license lost or destroyed;
7-25 (9) a fee not to exceed $400 for filing an application
8-1 for approval of an education program under Section 7(f) of this
8-2 Act;
8-3 (10) a fee not to exceed $200 a year for operation of
8-4 an education program under Section 7(f) of this Act;
8-5 (11) a fee of $15 for transcript evaluation;
8-6 (12) a fee not to exceed $10 for preparing a license
8-7 history;
8-8 (13) a fee not to exceed $50 for the filing of an
8-9 application for a moral character determination;
8-10 (14) an annual fee of $20 from each real estate broker
8-11 to be transmitted to Texas A&M University for the Texas Real Estate
8-12 Research Center as provided by Section 5(m) of this Act; and
8-13 (15) an annual fee of $17.50 from each real estate
8-14 salesman to be transmitted to Texas A&M University for the Texas
8-15 Real Estate Research Center as provided by Section 5(m) of this
8-16 Act.
8-17 SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 15B, The Real Estate
8-18 License Act (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
8-19 amended to read as follows:
8-20 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Act, there
8-21 shall be no undercover or covert investigations conducted by
8-22 authority of this Act unless expressly authorized by the commission
8-23 after due consideration of the circumstances and determination by
8-24 the commission that such measures are necessary to carry out the
8-25 purposes of this Act. No investigations of licensees or any other
9-1 actions against licensees shall be initiated on the basis of
9-2 anonymous complaints whether in writing or otherwise but shall be
9-3 initiated only upon the commission's own motion or a signed written
9-4 complaint from a consumer or service recipient. Upon the adoption
9-5 of such motion by the commission or upon receipt of such complaint,
9-6 the licensee shall be notified promptly and in writing unless the
9-7 commission itself, after due consideration, determines otherwise.
9-8 The commission may authorize its employees to file signed written
9-9 complaints against a licensee and to conduct an investigation when:
9-10 (1) a judgment against the licensee has been paid from
9-11 a recovery fund established under this Act;
9-12 (2) the licensee has been convicted of a criminal
9-13 offense which may constitute grounds for the suspension or
9-14 revocation of a license; or
9-15 (3) the licensee has failed to make good a check
9-16 issued to the commission.
9-17 SECTION 7. Subdivision (4), Subsection (d), Section 23, The
9-18 Real Estate License Act (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil
9-19 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
9-20 (4) The commission by rule shall [may] provide for the
9-21 substitution of relevant experience or additional education in lieu
9-22 of the number of real estate inspections and prior licensing as an
9-23 apprentice inspector or real estate inspector required by this
9-24 section. The rule adopted by the commission may not require an
9-25 applicant to complete more than 60 additional classroom hours of
10-1 core real estate inspection courses. Before a person licensed as a
10-2 professional inspector under the rule may sponsor an apprentice
10-3 inspector or a real estate inspector, the person must provide
10-4 certification acceptable to the commission that the person has
10-5 completed at least 200 real estate inspections while licensed under
10-6 this section.
10-7 SECTION 8. Subsection (g), Section 24, The Real Estate
10-8 License Act (Article 6573a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
10-9 repealed.
10-10 SECTION 9. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
10-11 section, this Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
10-12 (b) Section 3 of this Act takes effect January 1, 1998.
10-13 SECTION 10. The importance of this legislation and the
10-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
10-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
10-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
10-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.