TREC UPDATES
TREC salesperson and Broker license requirements
Texas Real Estate License Courses Online
TREC salesperson and Broker license requirements - Texas Real Estate Commission License update: Changes in the TX real estate licensing act, number of classroom hours needed to become a Realtor agent or broker, or an appraiser.
Welcome to Texas Real Estate License School, your source for online, Texas real estate pre-licensing, mandatory continuing education (MCE) courses and SAE. Take courses on line from the convenience of your home or office at your own pace. Upon each course completion, you will receive your official certification that can be presented to TREC (Texas Real Estate Commission) to satisfy pre-license or MCE requirements. With 24/7 student support, engaging Flash enhanced online courses you can be certain that your learning experience is secure, reliable and accurate, or your money back.
Simple - Inexpensive - Fun.
Renew your broker, salesperson or inspector license online at http://www.trec.state.tx.us/licenses
DONT FORGET: You must still renew your license even if you choose to be inactive.
Questions?
877-250-4435
TREC salesperson and
Broker license requirements -
TREC Hires New Staff Attorney
Ms. Winston is a veteran State of Texas employee who began her career as a public defender in Baton Rouge , Louisiana some 15 years ago. Aside from her experience in criminal court, Mary has maintained a civil practice, representing both individuals and small business entities. She has worked in a variety of capacities in enforcement at other State of Texas agencies and culminated her years of experience to become an attorney representing regulatory agencies in the state of Texas and now, the Texas Real Estate Commission.
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Salesperson Application Requirements
To file a Texas real estate salesperson application on or after January 1, 2006, applicants must have completed 150 classroom hours of core real estate courses and 60 related (or core hours) for a total of 210 classroom hours. This is an increase of 30 core hours over the education requirement prior to January 1, 2006.
SAE Requirements
A salesperson who files an application on or after January 1, 2006 will be required to have a total of *270 classroom hours by the end of their 1st year of licensure. Once the 270 hours are completed they will have satisfied the SAE requirements and will fall under Mandatory Continuing Education (MCE) requirements.
*The 270 classroom hours are composed of the following: 210 hours for pre-licensure requirements - including 60 hours in Principles of Real Estate; 30 hours of Law of Agency; 30 hours in Law of Contracts; 30 additional core hours; and 60 related or core hours. By the end of the 1st year a sales agent must complete an additional 60 hours in core real estate classes for sales annual education.
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Brokers & Salespersons - Reminder Postcards Have Replaced Renewal Forms
Applies to salespersons and brokers with an expiration date of Sept. 30, 2006 or later
As of July 1, 2006 TREC stopped mailing license renewal forms to salespersons and brokers. Instead, TREC will mail you a reminder postcard (see sample below) 90 days in advance of your license expiration date, showing your license number, expiration date and any education hours that must be completed in order to renew. Unlike the existing renewal forms, which were mailed back with checks and money orders, the new postcard should not be sent back to TREC to renew your license. Instead, all licensees must renew online using a credit card or "check card" for payment.
Note: Salespersons under SAE must submit their education hours to TREC at least 10 business days in advance of renewing their license online.
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FOR YOUR OWN GOOD... CHECK THE EXPIRATION DATE OF YOUR LICENSE
It is your responsibility to ensure that your license is renewed in a timely manner. Any education required must be completed before your license expiration date if you want to maintain an active real estate license, unless you pay an additional $200 fee and complete your MCE within 60 days of the expiration date of your license.
(A license subject to SAE cannot renew without education being completed.)
Renewal reminder cards are sent out to all brokers and inactive salespersons, active salespersons' cards are sent to the sponsoring broker. The Texas Real Estate Commission is not responsible for U.S. Postal Service delivery or knowing where to find you if you have moved and have not filed a change of address with our office. Failure to receive a renewal reminder card does not provide a valid excuse for not renewing your license.
The Texas Online initiative was developed to aid Texans when interacting with state agencies by going online instead of standing in line.
TREC has increased the convenience to licensees by offering web-based license renewals, original applications and other time saving services, such as the TRECAdvisor newsletter, online. The resulting decrease in operating costs has allowed TREC to avoid some fee increases, realign resources and increase other services to licensees. To further this effort, TREC is considering adopting an email delivery system for license renewal notices. Instead of sending the current renewal postcard notices, TREC would send an email to licensees 90 days, 60 days and 30 days prior to their upcoming license expiration date. These email notices would be sent to all active license holders, and notices to sponsored licensees (salespersons, apprentice and real estate inspectors, appraiser trainees) would be sent to their sponsors as well. As part of a related initiative, at completion of an online renewal, TREC would also a website link to the licensee which allows the printing of license certificates (with companion wallet-size certificates) by the licensee. Currently almost 85% of license renewals are completed online and an email address is required to do so. To ensure the success of this proposed effort, TREC needs a valid email address for each licensee. TREC welcomes your input on these proposed initiatives. Please send your comments to admin@trec.state.tx.us .
TREC HOUSEKEEPING BILL UPDATE
April 2011
With the 82nd Session of the Texas Legislature more than halfway through, the TREC housekeeping bill continues through the legislative process in both the Senate and the House. Senate Bill 747 and its companion, House Bill 1637, amend The Real Estate License Act (the Act) to provide additional education, experience and accountability standards for TREC licensees, as well as several cleanup provisions.
Education Improvement Measures
- Pre-license education requirements for a salesperson license would change from 210 total to 180 core hours .
- Related education requirements would no longer be required but the education requirements for the first renewal of a salesperson license would increase from 60 to 90 core hours.
- The total number of hours needed for the first renewal of a salesperson license would remain at 270 hours.
- The first time examination pass rate benchmark for pre-license education programs would change from 55% to an average percentage of examinees.
"24 hour MCE Rule" -
As of Sept 1, 2007, a licensee who takes an online MCE (Mandatory Continuing Education) 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 is). If this occurs, the licensee's MCE will be considered late and a $200 Late MCE penalty fee will be assessed.
Fingerprint Requirements (and FAST Print Pass)
A recently enacted law (HB 1530, 80th Legislature, regular session) requires any person applying for or renewing a broker or salesperson license on or after January 1, 2008 to provide their fingerprints, in a specified format, in order to enable an FBI criminal background check to be performed. These new fingerprint requirements apply only to brokers and salespersons. They do not apply to other TREC licensees, such as inspectors. Once fingerprints are on file with DPS, a licensee will not need to be fingerprinted for subsequent renewals.
TREC Doubles Internet Access Capacity with a New T1 Connection
Texas Real Estate Commission has installed a second T1 line and has now doubled internet connectivity capacity to its web-based online services
March 4, 2011 512-465-3402
The Texas Real Estate Commission has successfully installed a new T1
internet connection. This new capability will help the agency to alleviate
many of the recent reliability issues the agency has experienced and
provide greater access to its website and a large suite of online services.
After a key software upgrade was completed in early January, the agency
began experiencing continuous maximum bandwidth use every day and
many license holders were unable to access the agency online.
