Key reports, issues, and decisions of interest to licensees and/or the public are reported here from the most recent Commission meeting:
Commission Meeting of October 16, 2024
Pending Cases: The Commission entered into consent agreements to suspend 11 licenses, accepted the permanent voluntary surrender of 1 licensee, accepted the voluntary surrender of 1 licensee, authorized injunctive relief involving 1 licensee, ordered hearings in cases involving 11 licensees, closed cases without action against 3 licensees, approved the issuance of 1 real estate broker license, and left 4 cases pending.
License Applications Involving Character Issues: License applicants who have character issues such as prior criminal convictions or disciplinary actions by another licensing board are separately considered by the Commission. Decisions are based upon criminal background checks, information supplied by the applicant, and in-person interviews.
Total candidates considered: 16; total approved: 6; total approved with conditions: 7; continued: 2; deferred: 1.
License Examination Results: If you are interested in reviewing the most recent statistics and pass rates regarding the North Carolina broker license examination, click here License Examination Results.
Preliminary Discussion of 2025-2026 General and BIC Update Course Topics: The Director of Education and Licensing and the Assistant Director of Education and Licensing presented possible topics for the 2025-2026 General and BIC Update Courses and suggested that topics be selected at the November or December meeting so that drafting can begin early in 2025 for rollout of a final course on July 1, 2025. The Director of Education and Licensing and the Assistant Director of Education and Licensing reviewed previous topics and sections that the Commission has previously directed be included in every course. Mr. Ramseur asked that the amount of content not exceed the time reasonably necessary to teach it well. Ms. O’Connor concurred with the staff recommendation that basic agency law principles be addressed; Mr. Black noted that it would be helpful also to reiterate the common law of agency and the importance of protecting the consumer. Mr. Lindsey stressed the importance of Fair Housing, particularly in residential sales. The Director of Education and Licensing and the Assistant Director of Education and Licensing asked that the members suggest any other topics they might want to consider.
Update on NCREEA Fall Conference: The Director of Education and Licensing reported that the NCREEA Fall Conference was cancelled due to Hurricane Helene. It has been rescheduled for November 12 in a virtual format. The Director of Education and Licensing noted that registration will be free.
Report on October 8 Educators Townhall: The Assistant Director of Education and Licensing reported on the Educators Townhall that took place on October 8. The Assistant Director of Education and Licensing noted that topics included rulemaking, assisting Hurricane Helene victims, and tips for how instructors can get hired (upon completion of training). The Assistant Director of Education and Licensing stated that the Townhall was very productive and about 68 instructors attended including Commission members O’Connor and Black.
ARELLO Education Video: The Director of Education and Licensing shared the ARELLO Education Award Video recognizing the Commission’s groundbreaking Item Writing Workshops, where Commission staff and approved real estate instructors participated in creating test items for the licensing exam.
Report on NCREC Item Writing Workshop: The Director of Education and Licensing reported that planning for another Item Writing Workshop is underway.
SCREC Request for Revisions to Reciprocal Licensing Agreement: The Commission reviewed the South Carolina Real Estate Commission’s request for revisions to the Reciprocal Licensing Agreement currently in place between the two states. Upon the motion of Ms. O’Connor, the Commission approved the request for revisions, with the condition of removing the word “Reciprocal” from the title of the Licensing Agreement and any mentions of the word “reciprocity” throughout the Agreement. Mr. Lindsey will sign the Agreement with these changes reflected and return to the SCREC for signature and execution.
Financial Report: The Commission received and reviewed the monthly Financial Report presented by the Chief Financial Officer for the period ending September 30, 2024.
Independent Auditor’s Report: The Commission received and reviewed the FY2023-2024 Independent Auditor’s Report presented by Ms. Newell. Ms. Newell noted that the audit was clean and BRC has issued the highest opinion an auditor can give. Upon the motion of Mr. Lindsey, the Commission approved the audit. The Commission discussed the process of selecting the auditors, including the desirability of having different auditors within or across firms reviewing the Commission’s financial statements.
Appeals: The Director of Regulatory Affairs reported that MV Realty withdrew its appeal and that case has been dismissed with prejudice. The Shipman appeal remains pending; the Attorney General’s office is seeking a dismissal.
BIC Span of Control Workgroup Recommendations: The Executive Director reviewed the BIC Span of Control spreadsheet outlining the recommendations of the Workgroup. She indicated that she would include a full report with the spreadsheet at the November meeting for further discussion and possible decision-making.
Annual Report to the State: The Executive Director provided the Commission the Annual Report to the State, a report required by law that contains NCREC data and is supplied to various agencies in State government. It is available on the Commission’s website.
FY2024-2025 Project Summaries: The Executive Director gave a brief overview of the NCREC Project Summaries. The Executive Director noted that the deliverables marked with a green check have been completed.
DEI Update: The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer reviewed the DEI work that has been done this calendar year thus far. She noted that three additional schools were added to the HBCU outreach project, resulting in ten schools in total. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer noted DEI highlights, including on-campus presence, hosted programming, participation in career fairs, and exposure to students. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer discussed additional successes for students in Lunch & Learns and networking events. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer concluded her presentation with coverage on how outreach, networking, training, and the DEI website will be expanded in the future. She reported that she is working with Education and Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Divisions to put together a Fair Housing Symposium.
Evaluation of Statements of Economic Interest for Commission Members Alston and Bell: The Executive Director gave a brief overview of the Statement of Economic Interest for Commission Members. The Executive Director then read into the record of the Commission’s meeting the results of the Evaluations of the Statements of Economic Interest of Commission members Alston and Bell by the North Carolina State Ethics Commission; namely, that the Ethics Commission did not find an actual conflict of interest but did find the potential for a conflict of interest, and that the potential conflict does not prohibit their service on the Commission. The Executive Director concluded that these Statements will be kept on file as required by law.
Report on License Numbers: As of October 1, 2024, there are 122,643 brokers and firms licensed by the Commission, as follows:
Active Full Brokers – 77,186
Active Provisional Brokers – 4,884
Brokers-in-Charge – 17,350
BIC Eligible Brokers –6,589
Inactive Full Brokers – 17,129
Inactive Provisional Brokers – 6,126
Firms – 17,062
Limited Nonresident Commercial Brokers -256
Next Commission Meeting: The next Commission meeting will be held at 9:00am, November 13, 2024, at the North Carolina Real Estate Commission in Raleigh, NC and is open to the public. It can be viewed via Zoom online video.
Director of Regulatory Affairs Sworn in as ARELLO® President
We congratulate Janet Thoren, the Director of Regulatory Affairs, for being sworn in as President of ARELLO® during their national conference last month in Chicago.
NCREC ARELLO® award
ARELLO® awards are national honors given to states across the country for cutting edge initiatives in the real estate regulatory industry. This year we received the ARELLO® EDUCATION AWARD – Prelicensing Education, for our groundbreaking Item Writing Workshops, where Commission staff and approved real estate instructors participated in creating test items for the licensing exam.
You are invited!
The monthly Real Estate Commission meetings are always open to the public. You are invited to attend in person or online via Zoom. The meeting tomorrow, October 16th is in Duck at The Sanderling, Partridge Room, 1461 Duck Road, Duck, NC 27949. A Zoom link will be available at ncrec.gov on the day of the meeting.