Invitation for Public Comment/Hearing Notices

INVITATION FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS

CITATION AND FINE IMPLEMENTATION

2012 Annual Fee Review Hearing

  • The Department is required to hold a hearing to review its fee structure annually. The hearing for calendar year 2012 will be on Wednesday, December 12, 2012, at the Department's Sacramento offices. The Department anticipates no changes to the current fee structure. Please see the Notice for details.

RECENTLY APPROVED RULES

The Bar Order (Business and Professions Code Section 10087)

  • The Department of Real Estate adopted five regulations sections and amended one other section in order to implement Business and Professions Code Section 10087. This included adoption of Regulations Section 2725.5, expanding the enforceable duties and responsibilities of brokers. The regulation goes into effect on October 26, 2011.

Trust Fund Placement with Financial Institutions

  • Under common law, and reflected throughout the Real Estate Law (Section 10000 et.seq. of the Business and Professions Code ("Code")), the relationship between a real estate broker and that broker's client is an agency relationship. Where the broker holds the client's funds in trust, as codified under Section 10145 of the Code, existing principles of agency establish that the broker "stands in the shoes of the client" and may not take benefit from the action unless that benefit is granted by the client. The adopted Section 2830 of the Regulations highlights this issue for licensees. The regulation goes into effect on October 26, 2011.

Inappropriate Influence of Real Estate Appraisers

  • Civil Code Section 1090.5 was adopted in 2007, barring a person with an interest in a real estate transaction from engaging in a variety of actions that would improperly influence or attempt to improperly influence the appraisal of the real estate. Section 2785 was adopted to highlight the applicability of Civil Code section 1090.5 to real estate licensees regulated by the Department. The proposed section also includes a more extensive, but still not exhaustive, list of specific actions that are deemed, "improper influence" of an appraisal. The Department asserts that each of the behaviors listed would already subject a licensee to license discipline under Civil Code section 1090.5. The revised regulation goes into effect on October 26, 2011.

    The Department is aware that legislation signed after adoption of this regulation impacts this area of practice, and is considering revision of the section.

Use of Nicknames in Licensed Real Estate Practice

  • Previously, a licensee was required to use only his or her legal name (as it appears on his or her license) in all licensed real estate practice. The Department of Real Estate amended Section 2731 to allow specified use of nicknames by licensees who are natural persons in the course of their licensed practice. The revised regulation went into effect on September 10, 2011.

"Good Standing" and the Continuing Education Exemption for Senior Licensees

  • Under current laws, a licensee who is age 70 or older, and with 30 years continuous "good standing" as a licensee, is exempt from the Real Estate Law's continuing education requirements. Prior regulation defined "good standing" to exclude periods where the licensee's renewal had temporarily lapsed, despite renewal within the two-year grace period for renewal. The Department's amended regulation redefines "good standing" to include such temporary lapses in licensure within the two-year grace period, allowing more senior licensees to claim the exemption. The revised regulation went into effect on August 31, 2011.

Statutory Citation Clean-up Regarding the License ID Requirement

  • Two long-standing statutory citations within the Commissioner's Regulations were subject to potential misinterpretation, based upon a July 1, 2009 amendment to the statute cited (Business and Professions Code section 10140.6). The Department amended Sections 2770.1 and 2847.3 to clarify these citations by reasserting the original meaning. The revised regulations went into effect on August 26, 2011.

Continuing Education

  • The following regulations relating to Continuing Education were approved by the Office of Administrative Law and filed with the Secretary of State on September 16, 2010. These amendments will go into effect on January 1, 2011. For more information on these changes, please contact the Education Section of the Department.

SAFE Act / SB 36 of 2009: Implementation Regulations

  • These regulations were adopted by the Department of Real Estate in February, 2009, on an emergency basis, and have now been certified as permanent. (The differences between the emergency regulation adoption and permanent regulations appear in the attached text through underlining (for insertions) and strikethrough (for deletions).)

The California Regulatory Notice Register ("Notice Register") contains notices of proposed regulatory actions by state regulatory agencies to adopt, amend, or repeal regulations contained in the California Code of Regulations. The Notice Register is published weekly (on Friday) by the Office of Administrative Law ("OAL").

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