The Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee (TREIC) met January 27 for its first meeting of the year. The slate of officers was elected for 2025:

• Lee Warren, chair
• Mike Morgan, vice chair
• Stephanie Huser, secretary

The subcommittee members were also selected. Randy Bayer will serve as the chair of the Standards of Practice (SOP) subcommittee, and Mike Morgan will serve as the chair of the Education subcommittee. The other six members were divided among the two subcommittees, including the newest public member, Cole Robison.

TREC General Counsel Abby Lee provided an Advisory Committee Training to ensure all committee members have a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of TREC, the Commissioners, and the multiple standing committees.

Comments on Specialized Equipment, Non-Inspection Services, and Locating Practicum Instructors

There were a number of public comments we received since the last TREIC meeting in October. One comment was regarding licensed inspectors utilizing specialized equipment such as zip levels, thermal imaging, and others. The concern for some is that these tools are being used during the course of the inspection and, due to a possible lack of knowledge or proper training, the inspector may not be qualified to interpret the results, thereby causing unnecessary concern for potential buyers.

Another comment centered around proper use of advertising by inspectors. Also, some multi-inspector firms may be offering other services based on the inspection results that could be a violation of TREC rules, such as handyman service, electrical service referrals, and so forth. These two items will be discussed at future meetings, either in the SOP subcommittee or TREIC. Keep an eye on the TREC website to see when those meetings will be scheduled and their corresponding agenda items.

A third comment made mention that it may be difficult for those interested in obtaining a license to find someone to perform the Practicum training. Due to legislative changes in 2023, TREC is not allowed to share license holders’ contact information with the public. TREC staff is looking into ways to make finding a Practicum instructor easier for applicants.

Education Highlights and Potential Changes

TREC staff provided information regarding applications received and testing results for the last few years. The goal was to see if there was a substantial change in the patterns from the previous prelicensure education path and the new, more streamlined one. The data provided did not indicate that there was a large impact from the new process.

The Education Standards Advisory Committee made proposals previously that also affect inspectors related to rule about student identification requirements and course proctoring. Those were recommended at the November commission meeting. There were some changes that were made as a result of the comment period that ended up being more than non-substantive, so they will be proposed again at a future meeting.

TREIC and TREC staff have also been working on a recommendation from the committee to require four hours of prelicensing education for apprentice inspectors, which would require a legislative change. This intent is to provide apprentices with a good core knowledge of the Standards of Practice prior to being licensed. This is something the committee has been working on for some time, so we are hopeful that this will get some traction in the legislature this year.

Do They Have a License?

There was yet another disciplinary action taken against an inspector whose license had previously expired. Though these occurrences are not vast in numbers, the fact that there are any inspectors performing inspections without a license in Texas is cause for concern. I urge all sales agents, brokers, and inspectors to verify that any inspector they are referring to consumers are actively licensed by looking them up on TREC’s website. If they are not, we, as license holders, should report this activity.

Meeting Materials and Future Meetings

Watch a video recording of the meeting and download meeting materials. The next meeting of the inspector committee will be on April 21 at 10 a.m. CT at the TREC headquarters in Austin.