The Texas Real Estate Commission met remotely on August 10. A video replay of the entire meeting along with the full agenda and materials are available at TREC’s website. Below are some of the relevant highlights.

New Proposed Form Language

The commission voted to withdraw previously proposed amendments to the contracts and submit updated language for comment and review. Based on substantial community and industry input, the Broker-Lawyer Committee reworked the previously proposed changes to the termination option for clarity and simplicity. The new language maintains the previous proposal’s payment of the earnest money and termination option fee to the escrow agent, moving the language in Paragraph 23, Termination Option, to Paragraph 5.

Some additional proposals include new language in Paragraph 4, Leases, to provide disclosure of the existence of leases on the property; changes to Paragraphs 10 to provide information regarding smart-home devices; new language on the Broker Information Page to disclose the existence of a separate commission agreement between the listing broker and the cooperating broker; and new language to the Addendum for Property Subject to Mandatory Membership in a Property Owners Association to add deposits and reserves to the list of payments the buyer will make in association with the transfer of the property. The previously proposed change for payment of prorated property tax has been withdrawn entirely. See the proposed changes to these existing forms and comment on them.

The commission also proposed new residential and fixture lease forms, which you can review and comment on.

The earliest these changes can be adopted is TREC’s November meeting. Texas REALTORS® encourages members to review the proposed language closely and send TREC your comments.

Broker Responsibility for 2021

The commission approved new material for the 2021-2022 Broker Responsibility Course. As a reminder, any broker or designated broker of a business entity who sponsors sales agents and any license holder who is a delegated supervisor of one or more license holders, must complete this 6-hour broker responsibility course to renew a license.