TREC Housekeeping Bill Signed into Law

AUSTIN (Texas Real Estate Commission) – Gov. Greg Abbot has signed SB 699, the Texas Real Estate Commission’s (TREC) housekeeping bill, and HB 7, which eliminates the professional fee or occupation tax for brokers.

SB 699 amends Chapter 1101 of the Texas Occupations Code (Texas Real Estate Licensing Act), which regulates the licensing of real estate brokers and agents.

With the passage of the TREC housekeeping bill, commissioners and staff can now make uncompensated presentations to groups of license holders that would qualify for continuing education credit. The bill requires additional education if an applicant fails the licensing examination three times and requires the Legal and Ethics Update course to be taken before the first renewal of a new sales agent license.

It also clarifies TREC’s ability to establish continuing education (CE) requirements, with a minimum requirement of 15 hours per license term, and limits TREC’s ability to increase CE hours by no more than three hours over a license term.

The bill adds a two-year waiting period for reapplication after revocation, surrender or denial of a license with the opportunity for a hearing. The bill also allows an agency’s investigative files to remain confidential until the matter under investigation is concluded.