The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) hosted its first meeting of the year in Austin with a room full of Texas REALTORS® in attendance to earn continuing education credit and receive updates from the agency’s staff and advisory committee members. Here’s what happened.

Thank You for Your Service

The Commission recognized these departing advisory committee members:

• ​Kelea Youngblood, Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC)
• Ruben Peña (ESAC)
• Michael Crowley (ESAC)
• Brian Carroll, Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee (TREIC)
• Bruce Carpenter (TREIC)

Youngblood, Peña, and Crowley are pictured above right, in order. 

Elections

The Commission elected broker member Mark Woodruff as vice-chair of TREC, and broker member Chance Brown as secretary. Public member Ben Peña was appointed as an ex-officio member.

TREC’s New Online System

TREC staff updated Commissioners and the audience on the development of a new system that will launch later this year. It will help the agency and its license holders go paperless and easily manage licenses, register business entities, apply for licensure, make all fee payments, and more—online 24/7.

The same applies for TREC education providers. All provider and course applications will be processed online by credit card—making paying easier and faster.

Newly Adopted Rules

After reviewing all public comments, the Commission adopted the following.

Information About Brokerage Services Form

As a result of recent industry changes surrounding broker compensation, the Information About Brokerage Services (IABS) form now clarifies to the consumer that any brokerage fees are not set by law and are negotiable.

The new form is available for voluntary use until April 1, 2025, when its use becomes mandatory. Learn more about the IABS form and how to properly provide it.

Penalty Payments

Changes to TREC Rules 535.191 and 535.219, Schedule of Administrative Penalties, clarify a person may only pay an administrative penalty in an authorized manner; and that online payments may be subject to fees set by the Department of Information Resources and the Commission.

Contract Clarification

There is a clarifying change, recommended by the Broker-Lawyer Committee, in Paragraph 2 of the Notice of Buyer’s Termination of Contract, to ensure that the buyer has delivered the lender’s written statement to the seller in accordance with recent changes to Paragraph 2A, Buyer Approval, of the Third Party Financing Addendum.

Once posted on the TREC website, the new form will be available for voluntary use until April 1, 2025, when its use becomes mandatory.

Meeting Materials

TREC’s February 10 meeting recording and materials.

Upcoming Meeting Info

Meet the Commissioners next in San Antonio on May 5. Traveling outside of Austin is part of the agency’s effort to reach license holders in other parts of the state. Last year’s May meeting was in Dallas-Fort Worth and included a record-breaking attendance by both the in-person and livestream audience.