The agency has been busy over the last several months adjusting to the new norm resulting from the COVID-19 virus. We are operating almost 100% remotely, with only essential staff coming into the office to process mail, or deal with the various technical issue that arise from a remote workforce. All of our meetings have been held remotely since mid-March and will be conducted that way for the foreseeable future, including the meeting of the full Inspector Committee scheduled for July 20th via teleconference.

In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, TREC understands that some inspector applicants may find it challenging to complete the in-person ride-along course required for licensure. For that reason, TREC has granted a temporary allowance to the on-site ride-along course requirement and will permit ride-along course sessions to take place virtually, so long as ride-along instructor conducts inspections live and on-site, and the instructor and the students are able to interact with each other in real-time through both audio and video. 

The Inspector Committee held its regularly scheduled meeting on April 13th. Due to social distancing rules throughout the state, the meeting was held via teleconference. This was the first time in my tenure that this has happened. A huge thank you goes out to TREC staff for getting this put together quickly to help us all stay safe while still getting the important work done that we need to.

The last few months have seen some unprecedented events happen in the world around us.  The COVID-19 virus has brought much of the world to a screeching halt.  In the interest of keeping everyone as safe as possible, the meeting of the full Inspector Committee scheduled for April 13^th will not be conducted at the TREC building in Austin.  The meeting will continue as scheduled, but it will be done via teleconference.  Please check the TREC website for more details on how to call in to be a part of that meeting.

The Texas Real Estate Commission is pleased to announce the launch of our Approved Course Search tool.  Anyone can use this tool to search for currently approved qualifying or continuing education (CE) courses for real estate or inspector license holders.  The tools allows individuals to search for a specific provider or type of course using one or more search functions.  Locate a provider by searching their provider name, license number or all providers in the same city.  Search for courses by delivery method or the type of course, for example Legal Update I or Legal Update II.  This is an

The Inspector Committee met recently at the Texas Real Estate Commission headquarters in Austin.  The committee welcomed its newest member, Scott Regan, to the Inspector Committee.  Scott comes with over 15 years of experience in the field as an inspector, HVAC licensee, plumbing licensee and educator.  We look forward to Scott’s impact on the committee.

The newly proposed process for qualifying inspector education was up for adoption at the November TREC meeting.  However, the Commission postponed consideration to adopt these rules at the request of the Governor’s office. Senate Bill 1995 was passed last legislative session that creates a division within the Governor’s office to review all agency proposed rules that affect market competition before the rule is adopted or implemented.

It’s been a busy fall for TREC and the Inspector Committee. We continue to implement the Sunset recommendations and statutory changes, most of which will be considered for adoption at the November 19th Commission meeting, including the amendments to the inspector qualifying education rules. If adopted by the Commission at the November meeting, these new requirements will take effect on May 1, 2020.