"What's New" Archive
. . . former "What's New" items from TREC's home page (up to 2 years ago)
Archived on May 31, 2011 . . .
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01/14/2011 - TREC invites applications for appointment to Inspector Committee. . . . read more
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09/1/2010 - Pre-Application Education Evaluation No Longer Required! Real estate and inspector applicants will no longer be required to submit an education evaluation request and receive a notice from the commission that the education requirements have been satisfied prior to submitting an application for a license. The education evaluation request form is eliminated and education course completion documents must be submitted when the application is filed. Application forms have been revised to incorporate this change.
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09/1/2010 - Broker pre-license examination passing scores will increase to 75%. The salesperson pre-license examination passing score will remain at 70%.
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09/1/2010 - Proprietary School Pass Rates: Amendments to 535.62 and 535.64 define how TREC-approved proprietary schools' passage rates are calculated and published by the commission and implement the statutory requirement that schools demonstrate a 55% examination passage rate to renew their accreditation. The amendments will allow the commission to publish passing scores for schools who offer correspondence courses in association with a college or university and to count the examination passage rates of students in those courses toward the school's overall passage rate.
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08/12/2010 - Contract forms approved for Proposal: The Texas Real Estate Commission took action at the August 9, 2010 meeting to propose for notice and comment amendments to six contracts, two addenda and a new Non-Realty Items addendum. The draft contract
forms will be placed on the website by the end of the week with a link for persons who wish to comment on the amendments. The draft forms may not be used by licensees until they have been finally adopted by the Commission. The next Commission meeting at which final action may be taken on the contract forms is November 15, 2010.
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07/22/2010 - New Page: Consumer Alerts! With the continuing advancement of internet and mobile communications capabilities and the sophistication of criminals, real estate related scams are increasing in our state and across the nation. The agency is proud to provide consumers with a new Consumer Alerts page to help educate the public about such activities so that there will be fewer new victims.
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05/28/2010 - First Drafts of New Contract Forms Available for Review. The Broker Lawyer Committee is in the process of reviewing and recommending changes to various TREC contracts, addenda and notices. The Committee and the Commission appreciate your input on the first draft of the contract forms in this preliminary review. Please take a moment to look at the drafts
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05/19/2010 - TREC Honors 50 Year License Holders. . . . read more
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Fraud Alert! - TREC has recently learned about a scam in which a person pretending to be an agency employee may call a licensee with a story about a problem with the licensee's license status. The caller then offers to resolve the problem by asking for the licensee's credit card number to make a payment by phone. . . . read more
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SALESPERSONS & BROKERS: |
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09/1/2010 - Changes in Late Renewal Requirements! New §535.93 permits a salesperson or broker whose license has expired to renew the previous license effective from its expiration date if the application to renew was filed less than one year from the expiration of the previous license. The new rules require the commission to renew the license in an active status except as provided by rule. . . . read more
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Background Check Fee - All licensees who have been fingerprinted for TREC will have to pay another fee for a background check with each subsequent renewal or application. Licensees who were fingerprinted for a 2008 renewal, application or late renewal, and whose current license expiration is March 31, 2009 or thereafter, must pay the renewal or application fee and an additional fee (currently $34.25) for a subsequent background check. Fees will be returned to licensees who submit incorrect fee amounts (and, for renewals: the license will expire if the correct amount is not timely received.)
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LATE MCE Penalties have been revised. Also see the new MCE F.A.Q.
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Archived on February 17, 2010 . . .
Archived on September 3, 2009 . . .
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More on the New "Fast Track" Inspector Licensing Requirements
(item added 9/20/2007)
Update on 10/09/2007 - Commission has adopted on an emergency basis admendments to §535.212 concerning education and experience requirements for an inspector license. This amendment to §535.212 supersedes the emergency rules (for that section) that were adopted at the August 6 Commission meeting.
HB 1530 in part changed "fast track" inspector licensing requirements. In addition to requiring a "fast track" applicant to pass an examination and complete 128 hours of core education, the new law requires relevant experience not to exceed 7 years and additional coursework not to exceed 320 hours in order to get a professional inspector license without going through the three tiers of licensure.
Prior to the change, the law required either additional education or experience, but not both. In order to implement the new laws, TREC passed on an emergency basis a rule requiring the maximum experience and education allowed by the law.
Related Information: See Also the Inspector License Path: "Fast Track" Education/Experience Waivers page and the Inspector Liability Insurance page.
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Archived on July 23, 2009 . . .
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7/03/2008 - TREC has entered into a new contract with Psychological Services, Inc. (PSI) to administer the Texas real estate broker, sales, and inspector exams. Effective September 1, 2008 the exam fee for real estate and inspector licensees will be $61.00.
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2 Important Alerts from the Texas Department of Insurance -
(item added 5/15/2008)
Here are 2 important alerts from the Texas Department of Insurance.
- Check out companies marketing health care coverage -
This TDI link provides useful information - http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/commish/column1.html
Being careful can help you avoid falling victim to someone who may take your money without providing real coverage. Whenever you are considering acquiring insurance coverage of ANY sort, not just health insurance coverage, check with the Texas Department of Insurance to be sure you are dealing with a properly licensed insurance company and not someone who is posing and may be "scamming".
- This second link - http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/health/cpmhrtrust.html - gives important information regarding those who may have signed up for coverage through HR Trust, including important information about things like termination of auto-debit payment plans and seeking recovery.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, PLEASE DON'T CALL TREC . . . CALL THE CONSUMER PROTECTION LINE AT THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE AT: 1-800-252-3439
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New "24 hour MCE Rule" -
(item added 12/6/2007)
As of September 1, 2007, a licensee who takes an online MCE course will not be allowed to complete an online course in less than 24 hours. If a licensee has paid their renewal fee and begins an online MCE course for renewal purposes on the day their license expires, credit will not be awarded for completing the course on that day(regardless of how many hours credit the course awards). If this occurs, the licensee's MCE will be considered late and a $200 Late MCE penalty fee will be assessed.
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