TREC Comment 10 15 2010 mk

Lori Levy

Description

October 12, 2010 Ms. Loretta DeHay Texas Real Estate Commission P. O. Box 12188 Austin, TX 78711-2188 Dear Ms. DeHay: On behalf of the 85,000 members of the Texas Association of REALTORS®, I am pleased to provide the following comments regarding the Texas Real Estate Commission’s proposed rules regarding Chapters 535 and 537 of the Texas Administrative Code, as published in the Texas Register on September 10, 2010 and September 24, 2010. Support 22 TAC §535.2 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® supports adoption of the proposed changes that will articulate brokers’ responsibilities to their sponsored salespersons, the public, and other brokers. 22 TAC §535.4 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® supports adoption of the proposed changes that clarify that a corporation or limited liability company owned by a broker or salesperson that receives compensation on behalf of the licensee must be licensed as a broker. 22 TAC §535.146 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® supports adoption of the proposed changes that clarify requirements that apply to maintenance of trust accounts. 22 TAC §535.181 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® supports adoption of the proposed changes that would allow the Texas Real Estate Commission to impose an administrative penalty and issue an order to cease and desist with respect to unlicensed activity. Oppose 22 TAC §535.54 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® opposes the adoption of new subsection (b). This ...

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• Publié par: Unjio
• Nombre de lectures: 14
• Langue: English

Extrait

 Ms. Loretta DeHay Texas Real Estate Commission P. O. Box 12188 Austin, TX 78711-2188

 Dear Ms. DeHay:

  October12, 2010

On behalf of the 85,000 members of the Texas Association of REALTORS®, I am pleased to provide the following comments regarding the Texas Real Estate Commissions proposed rules regarding Chapters 535 and 537 of the Texas Administrative Code, as published in the Texas Register on September 10, 2010 and September 24, 2010.

Support 22 TAC§535.2 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® supports adoption of the proposed changes that will articulate brokers responsibilities to their sponsored salespersons, the public, and other brokers.

22 TAC§535.4 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® supports adoption of the proposed changes that clarify that a corporation or limited liability company owned by a broker or salesperson that receives compensation on behalf of the licensee must be licensed as a broker.

22 TAC§535.146 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® supports adoption of the proposed changes that clarify requirements that apply to maintenance of trust accounts.

22 TAC§535.181 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® supports adoption of the proposed changes that would allow the Texas Real Estate Commission to impose an administrative penalty and issue an order to cease and desist with respect to unlicensed activity.

Oppose 22 TAC§535.54 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® opposes the adoption of new subsection (b). This proposal should be forwarded to the Education Curriculum Standards Committee, if established by law, for consideration and recommendation. The proposal appears to lower the bar for licensing of salespersons and brokers in Texas. Current rules and other rules proposed at this time identify related courses as those determined to be acceptable by the commission. It would seem to follow that only certain degree fields would satisfy the requirements of related course work. As drafted, the rule allows for any associate or bachelor degree to count. If a new rule is drafted to specify degree fields, we would request that the rule be clarified to ensure that a bachelors degree also counts

 Page2 of 3  toward related hours needed for a salesperson license and not just a broker license. Additionally, the use of the termrelated hoursis confusing as that term is not defined in 535.50. We recommend clarifying the use of the termsrelated hours,related courseand related creditin the definitions section.

22 TAC §535.65 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® opposes adoption of proposed subsections (4) and (10) as follows:

•Subsection (4) prohibits schools from making unsubstantiated claims that the schools programs are superior to any other course of instruction. It would be helpful for this subsection to clarify that substantiated statements of informationsuch as pass ratesare permissible. •While we support a requirement for course and instructor evaluations in subsection (10), we oppose any requirement that education providers be required to use evaluation forms created and approved by the commission. The commission should promulgate an evaluation form for use and allow education providers to use that form or any form that is substantially similar to that form. This would be akin to use of a sellers disclosure notice as required by Texas Property Code §5.008. This subsection also requires that a school provide course and instructor evaluation forms for inspection by the commission on demand. The proposed rule should be clarified to list a period of time for which schools are required to maintain evaluation forms and specify what types, if any, of electronic maintenance of the forms satisfies the requirement.

22 TAC §535.71 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® opposes adoption of proposed changes to subsection (z)(2) that require alternative delivery method courses for required legal credit to be certified by a distance learning certification center that is acceptable to the commission. We support the concept of additional certification for courses offered through alternative delivery methods, but have concerns regarding the language of the proposed rule. The preamble as published in the Texas Register on September 10, 2010, identifies IDCC as a distance learning certification center, but the rule itself simply requires certification by “a distance learning certification center that is acceptable to the commission.” We would like to know the basis the commission used to accept IDECC as a distance learning certification center, if that has been done, or what basis will be used to deem other distance learning certification centers as acceptable in the future. Further clarification of how certification of alternative delivery method courses by distance learning certification centers will work under an Education Curriculum Standards Committee, if established by law, is necessary.

22 TAC §535.72 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® opposes adoption of proposed subsection (i) regarding instructor and course evaluations. While we support a requirement for course and instructor evaluations, we oppose any requirement that education providers be required to use evaluation forms created and approved by the commission. The commission should promulgate an evaluation form for use and allow education providers to use that form or any form that is substantially similar to that form. This would be akin to use of a sellers disclosure notice as required by Texas Property

3 of 3 Page  Code §5.008. This subsection requires that a school provide course and instructor evaluation forms for inspection by the commission on demand. The proposed rule should be clarified to list a period of time for which schools are required to maintain evaluation forms and specify what types, if any, of electronic maintenance of the forms satisfies the requirement.

22 TAC §535.154 – The Texas Association of REALTORS® opposes adoption of proposed changes that would require salespersons and brokers to clearly and conspicuously include the brokers name and license number in all advertising placed by or on behalf of the licensee. This measure is overly burdensome and would have a negative financial impact to all licensees. The commission should look for other ways to ensure consumers are able to identify responsible brokers. Toward that end, the association supports the proposals requiring all entities to be licensed as well as the changes proposed to many of the standard contract forms that will add broker identification and contact information. We recommend the commission take necessary steps to ensure search capabilities on its Web site provide tools to allow consumers to easily determine the party responsible for a particular brokerage.

The Texas Association of REALTORS® appreciates this opportunity to comment on the proposed rules. If we can provide any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Lori Levy, Associate Counsel, at 512-480-8200 [e-mail].

 Bill Jones 2010 Chairman Texas Association of REALTORS®