The Texas Real Estate Commission has launched new enhancements to the online services portal to make it easier for easement or right-of-way agents and brokers to submit certain applications.

Easement or Right-of-Way Agent Online Applications

The Easement or Right-of-Way Agent or ERW Business initial applications are now available on the online services portal. This allows easement or right-of-way agents to apply online instead of submitting a paper application, although paper applications will still be accepted.

The 87th Texas Legislature enacted HB 2730 effective January 1, 2023, requiring easement or right-of-way agents to complete 16 hours of TREC-approved qualifying education prior to registration, and 16 hours of TREC-approved continuing education (CE) for each two-year registration term.

Yes. A bill passed during the 87th Texas Legislative Session does not generally exempt landlords of temporary residential leases from providing a disclosure notice about whether the landlord is aware that the dwelling is located in a 100‐year floodplain or that the dwelling has flooded within the last five years.

The Texas Real Estate Commission at its August meeting proposed form revisions recommended by the Texas Real Estate Broker-Lawyer Committee. The Texas Real Estate Broker-Lawyer Committee an advisory body consisting of six attorneys appointed by the president of the State Bar of Texas, six brokers appointed by TREC, and one public member appointed by the governor. 

The Texas Real Estate Commission met August 8, 2022. The Commission adopted the new Landlord’s Floodplain and Flood Notice (TREC 54-0) form and revisions to the Seller’s Temporary Residential Lease (TREC 15-6) and the Buyer’s Temporary Residential Lease (TREC 16-6) forms, as well as non-substantive rule changes from the agency’s quadrennial rule review. Read on for more takeaways.

The TREC Inspector Committee (TREIC) met July 18 and discussed clarifications to 535.222, Inspection Reports, and 535.223, Standard Inspection Report Form.

Recommended Rule Changes

535.222, Inspection Reports

TREIC recommended a change to 525.222(a)(2) to clarify the two-day inspection report delivery deadline. The change clarifies that in instances where payments are provided in full prior to the inspection, the inspector is required deliver the report to the client within two days of completion of the inspection.

The Broker Responsibility Working Group (BRWG) met July 13 and acted on two proposals related to broker oversight and sales agents’ response times.

Proposed Rule

BRWG proposed a new rule, 535.157, that requires a broker or sales agent to respond to their principal, a broker or sales agent representing another party to a real estate transaction, or an unrepresented party to a real estate transaction within two calendar days.

The Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC) met July 7 and discussed pre-licensing course credit and the qualifying course outline for real estate brokerage and property management.

Pre-Licensing Course Credit

The committee discussed whether to further consider recommending a time limit for accepting and awarding pre-licensing course credit. Any update would require a rule change. Staff will gather data on this issue and present to the committee for discussion at the next committee meeting in October.

It is now easier to find whether a license holder has a disciplinary history with the Texas Real Estate Commission. The newly launched Disciplinary Actions button at the top of each license holder’s page will take you to their specific Disciplinary Actions page if a disciplinary history exists.

Previously only indirect methods—such as searching the Disciplinary Actions section of trec.texas.gov—were available. These remain available along with the new button.

In recent months, I’ve had the privilege of presenting alongside Texas Real Estate Commission Executive Director Chelsea Buchholtz to license holders around Texas, many who are REALTORS®.

As some of you may know, I served as chairman of the Texas Association of REALTORS® in 2015 and have chaired more than a dozen other committees and task forces of the organization on local, state, and national levels.