The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) met November 6 for its final quarterly meeting of 2023. TREC Chair Scott Kesner recognized a group of license holders who attended to earn Continuing Education (CE) credit. This was the first opportunity to earn CE credit by attending a quarterly TREC meeting under a rule change adopted by the Commission in August. Previously, license holders could only earn credit by attending the February TREC Meeting.

Outgoing, Incoming Committee Members

Chair Kesner also recognized the departing members of the Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee (TREIC): Steven Rinehart (inspector member), Keisha Moulton (public member), Dave Motley (public member), and Shawn Emerick (inspector member). They are all awarded a plaque of gratitude for their service. Emerick, joined by his son, received his award in person from Chair Kesner (pictured, below).

"It strikes me that working on an advisory committee is not particularly lucrative in any way," said TREC Executive Director Chelsea Buchholtz. "It’s just work that you’re giving for the sake of the industry and often it’s thankless. We really appreciate what each of them contributed."

Appointments to ESAC

The Commission appointed new members to the Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC). License holder members are Amanda Nichols, Kassie Scott, Thomas Carl Leatherman, and Shelyna Tinglin (alternate). Education provider members are Byron Underwood, Cynthia Baas, and Job Hammond (alternate). The public members are Rita Blevins and Mark Hernandez (alternate). The next ESAC meeting is January 8.

Appointments to BRAC

Commissioners also made appointments to the new Broker Responsibility Advisory Committee (BRAC), which is tasked with addressing issues related to broker responsibility that affect the real estate industry and consumers. Appointed for two-year terms are Sammy Scoggin, Ashley Conlon, Larry Frawley. Serving three-year terms are Rina Camhi, Marvin Jolly, and Michael Mengden. Those serving four-year terms are Ty Williams, Brian Sales, and Marion Napoleon. The alternates are Bob Baker and Ashton Theiss. The first BRAC meeting is January 17.

New Voluntary Form Proposed to Disclose MUDs

Under Texas law, if a seller’s property is located in a water district, like a municipal utility district (MUD), the seller must provide a notice that includes certain specific information to the buyer prior to execution of the contract.

Water districts are required to post the notice containing the information in this form on the district’s website. However, if the district does not have the notice on its website, the seller can obtain the information from the district and then could use that information to complete the proposed Notice to Purchaser of Special Taxing or Assessment District form. Once published in the Texas Register, you can submit online comments about the proposed form and the associated rule. The earliest the form could be adopted by the Commission is February 2024.

Rulemaking Associated with Legislative Changes

Legislation passed by the 88th Texas Legislature required TREC to update its rules to implement statutory changes. Some of those changes were adopted on an emergency basis in August, such as the updates to the Seller’s Disclosure Notice and the Consumer Protection Notice. Emergency rulemaking ensures amendments are completed within the timeframe established by statute. Emergency rulemaking also requires the Commission to propose and formally adopt the rule on a non-emergency basis, which happened during this meeting.

Changes Effective January 2024

Effective January 1, a person who engages in the practice of wholesaling must disclose in writing the nature of the equitable interest to any seller or potential buyer. Also in January, there will be a new option to register with TREC LLCs and S-Corporations that are utilized for the purpose of receiving compensation and not for any other form of brokerage activity. These entities must also meet certain requirements related to entity structure. Business entity broker licenses will still be valid and available to pursue and are the only option if you wish to advertise or conduct other brokerage activity with your business entity.

What Happened Since the Last Commission Meeting

Senate Bill 510 requires all state licensing agencies to withhold or protect personal information of current and prospective license holders. This means contact information is no longer available in TREC’s license holder search tool and cannot be provided through a public information request. TREC is exploring options on how to appropriately display contact information not made confidential by law.

Since October, sales agents renewing for the first time, both active and inactive, are required to complete a 30-hour Real Estate Brokerage course as part of their 90 hours of Sales Agent Apprentice Education (SAE).

Also, active license holders whose licenses expire are set to inactive status as of the expiration date, and any license relationships to sales agents and/or brokers are terminated in that instance.

Meeting Materials and Upcoming Meeting Details

The above is a summary of highlights from TREC’s November 2023 Meeting. View the video recording and download the meeting materials.

TREC’s next Meeting is February 12 in Austin. A new TREC vice-chair and secretary will be elected.

The 2024 May meeting is currently being planned to take place in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.