The Texas Real Estate Commission met November 19. The full agenda and materials are available at TREC’s website. Below are highlights relevant to your business.

Adopted Form Changes

The commission adopted changes to the Third Party Financing Addendum. It was amended to clarify that the three-day notice requirement in Paragraph 2B does not apply to Paragraph 4. See the redline.

Changes were adopted to the Addendum for Authorizing Hydrostatic Testing. It was amended to include a reference to the scope of hydrostatic testing in the top sentence. See the redline.

These forms were adopted for voluntary use until March 1, 2020, when they become mandatory. Texas REALTORS® will work with form vendors to post the updated forms as quickly as possible.

Proposed Form Changes Withdrawn

The commission withdrew proposed changes to its contract forms. The changes would have affected the following forms.

  • Unimproved Property Contract
  • One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale)
  • New Home Contract (Incomplete Construction)
  • New Home Contract (Completed Construction)
  • Farm and Ranch Contract
  • Residential Condominium Contract (Resale).

Proposed changes to the Addendum for Property Subject to Mandatory Membership in a Property Owners Association were also withdrawn.

The commission withdrew these proposed changes at the recommendation of TREC’s Broker-Lawyer Committee, which would like to further consider the proposed changes.

Adopted Rule Changes

The commission approved a number of rule changes proposed at its August 12 meeting, many of which were necessitated by action during the 2019 legislative session.

Eliminated branch office license: As a result of Senate Bill 624, a branch office license is no longer required. Therefore, the commission adopted changes to TREC rules to remove references to a branch office license. For more information about this change, you can visit TREC’s website.

Eliminated certain fees: The adopted amendments eliminate fees for a branch office license, establishing or changing a relationship with a sponsoring broker, change of address or name, an active license certificate, instructor approval, submitting paper application or forms, and certified copies. The fee for dishonored checks is also removed; however, the rule creates a process for requesting payment and allowing the commission to place a license on inactive status if payment isn’t received.

Removed residency requirement: The Texas Legislature removed the residency requirement for real estate license eligibility. The adopted amendment removes that requirement from the rule and removes references to service members to incorporate them in a new section, §535.58, License for Military Service Members, Veterans, or Military Spouses.

Additional rule changes adopted by the commission are available in the meeting materials.

Proposed Rule Changes

Changes were proposed to §531.18, Consumer Information, adding an additional statement to the Consumer Protection Notice that inspectors are required to maintain errors and omissions insurance to cover losses.

Details about additional proposed rule changes are available in the meeting materials. All proposed rule changes will be posted in an upcoming Texas Register, after which the public will have 30 days to comment. Once published in the register, you can send comments to general.counsel@trec.texas.gov.

New Executive Director Announced

Chelsea Buchholtz was announced as the next executive director of the Texas Real Estate Commission effective January 1, 2020. She replaces Douglas Oldmixon, who will remain with the agency during a transition period through March 2020. Buchholtz currently serves as TREC’s general counsel.

Texas REALTORS® Members Appointed to TREC Committee

Texas REALTOR® Candy Cooke was appointed to the Education Standards Advisory Committee. Rob Cook and Sarah Norman were reappointed to the committee. Rick Albers also was appointed as a member of the public.