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 July 16, 2025
Pending Cases: The Commission entered into consent agreements to suspend 7 licenses, ordered 9 hearings in cases involving licensees, left 8 cases pending, authorized injunctive relief involving 1 licensee, reprimanded 5 licensees, accepted the permanent voluntary surrender of 4 licensees, accepted the voluntary surrender of 1 licensee, revoked 1 license, and closed 4 cases.
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: 12; total approved: 1; approved with conditions: 6; continued: 4; 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.
Renewals: The Director of Education and Licensing provided a report on the 2025 Renewals, noting that following closeout on July 1, 2025, 88% of brokers and 91% of firms renewed their licenses, slightly below the previous year’s renewal percentages. A total of 2,439 licensees were marked inactive due to a CE deficiency, and 13,713 brokers, 1,654 firms, and 85 LNCLs expired due to failure to renew. The Director of Education and Licensing noted that in the last two weeks, License Services has reinstated 1,428 brokers, firms, and LNCLs. The Director of Education and Licensing commended IT and License Services on the refined, expedited renewal process. The Director of Education and Licensing reported that there were a variety of late reporting issues with certain education providers during this renewal season that are being referred to Regulatory Affairs. Only one instructor’s certification to teach Prelicensing was limited due to the “40% rule” (21 NCAC H .0210).
Year-End CE Student Survey: The Assistant Director of Education and Licensing provided a report on the year-end CE student survey noting that 4,847 surveys were returned over the course of the year. Overall, the reviews were extremely positive.
Update Instructor Seminars: The Assistant Director of Education and Licensing reported that there have been three Update Instructor Seminars offered by the Commission this fiscal year. So far, 174 instructors have attended the seminar, enabling them to teach the new Update course. There are five more sessions scheduled through the end of the license year. Feedback indicates that the educators are excited that the course content can be taught in the allotted time. The theme of this year’s Update is “How to be a Broker Superstar.” The Director of Education and Licensing shared with the members a video an instructor created using AI, commending the Commission’s education staff.
License Law & Commission Rules: The Assistant Director of Education and Licensing reported that the License Law and Commission Rules publication is being updated to include statutory and rule changes along with a revised, modernized “Comments” section; publication is planned for September 2025.
Monthly Financial Report, Quarterly Investment, and Education & Recovery Fund Report: The Commission received the monthly Financial Report, Quarterly Investment Report, and Education & Recovery Fund Report presented by the Chief Financial Officer for the period ending June 30, 2025. The Chief Financial Officer reviewed a new investments chart included in the Exhibit, which depicts the time, maturity dates, and rate of return for each of the Commission’s investments. This chart will be included in the Commission’s Consent Agenda going forward.
FY2025-2026 Projected Receipts and Disbursements: The Chief Financial Officer presented the FY2025-2025 Projected Receipts and Disbursements. Mr. Ramseur reported that the Finance Committee (Mr. Alston and Mr. Ramseur), along with Mr. Lindsey, had earlier reviewed the projections in detail. He indicated that it is a conservative budget and is endorsed by the Finance Committee. Upon the motion of Mr. Ramseur on behalf of the Finance Committee, the Commission accepted the Projected Receipts and Disbursements for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2026, as presented.
Legislation: The Director of Regulatory Affairs reviewed the Legislative Report, which summarizes bills currently pending in the General Assembly that relate to real estate brokerage, occupational licensing, or other matters of interest to the Commission.
Potential Fee Increases: The Executive Director presented the Commission with an analysis of the Commission’s permitted fees, and the revenue increases that could be achieved by increasing application fees and course fees along with the renewal fee increase currently under consideration. Mr. Ramseur stated that the Finance Committee reviewed the report and recommends that the Commission pursue rulemaking to increase the additional fees listed, given the deficit that the Commission is facing. Upon a motion from Mr. Ramseur on behalf of the Finance Committee, the Commission approved initiation of rulemaking to consider increasing the application fee by $5.00 for individual brokers (original and refiles), firms, limited nonresident commercial licensees and reinstatements more than six months after license expiration. Upon a motion from Mr. Ramseur on behalf of the Finance Committee, the Commission also approved initiation of rulemaking to consider increasing the fees for the BIC Course from $110 to $150, the Trust Account Course from $45 to $50, and the Issues & Answers Course from $85 to $250. Upon a motion from Mr. Ramseur on behalf of the Finance Committee, the Commission also voted to increase the course fees for the Instructor Development Workshop (IDW) from $25 to 40, New Instructor Seminar from $85 to $200, Update Instructor Seminar from $0 to $100, and the Educators’ Conference from $50 to $100; Mr. Black and Ms. O’Connor were recused from the vote.
Various Real Estate and Business Law Changes: The Assistant Director of Regulatory Affairs reported that Senate Bill 690 (SL2025-52), Various Real Estate and Business Law Changes, was signed into law by Governor Stein on July 2, 2025, including a directive to the Commission to change its Rule A .0112 concerning commission provisions in standard form offers to purchase and contract. The Assistant Director of Regulatory Affairs noted that rulemaking is ongoing to make changes to the Commission’s current rule, but these changes do not fully meet the requirements of the new law. Consequently, the Assistant Director of Regulatory Affairs recommended that the Commission withdraw this rulemaking and ask staff to revise the language to be consistent with SL2025-52. Upon a motion from Mr. Aceto, the Commission withdrew its directive for the existing rulemaking concerning commission provisions in contracts and voted to commence rulemaking to align with the provisions outlined in SL2025-52. The Assistant Director of Regulatory Affairs stated that staff created a statement to inform brokers that the Commission will not enforce provisions of the current rule that are subject to change, providing that a broker acting as an agent in a real estate transaction may use a preprinted offer or sales contract form containing provisions concerning the payment of a commission or compensation, including the forfeiture of earnest money, to a broker or firm. Upon a motion from Mr. Alston, the Commission adopted the text to push out to brokers. Mr. Ramseur was recused from the discussion and both motions in this matter.
Possible Future Projects: The Executive Director presented a list of future projects to the Commission, noting that some of the projects are carry-over items from last year, as well as new projects for the current fiscal year and beyond. Mr. Black would like to include modernizing the illustrations in the Square Footage Guidelines for Project 10; the Executive Director concurred. The Executive Director noted that project 19, the modular licensing framework, requires a statutory change. Upon a motion from Mr. Ramseur, the Commission voted to adopt the project list as presented, with the postponement of project 19’s statutory changes regarding wholesaling, HOAs, and the modular licensing framework. Mr. Bell voted against the motion as to postponement of the statutory changes.
Appearances and Speeches: The Executive Director provided a report on recent speeches and reviewed the upcoming speeches and appearances by Commission members and staff. Mr. Lindsey commended the staff on engaging with licensees and being broad in their outreach.
Report on License Numbers: As of July 1, 2025, there are 113,077 brokers and firms licensed by the Commission, as follows:
Active Full Brokers – 77,990
Active Provisional Brokers – 3,781
Brokers-in-Charge – 16,684
BIC Eligible Brokers – 6,789
Inactive Full Brokers – 14,415
Inactive Provisional Brokers – 4,351
Firms – 16,119
Limited Nonresident Commercial Brokers – 202
Next Commission Meeting: The next Commission meeting will be held at 9:00am, August 13, 2025, at the North Carolina Real Estate Commission in Raleigh, NC and is open to the public. It can be viewed via Zoom online video.
NCREC welcomes four summer interns and congratulates award winners
This summer NCREC welcomed our Education and Licensing intern Winter Alexander (Winston-Salem State University), our Accounting intern Ty’Asiah Ruffin (Elizabeth City State University), and our two Allan Dameron Legal Internship Award recipients, Elliott Madden (Campbell University School of Law) and Elizabeth Allred (Elon University School of Law).
NCREC welcomes high school students on-site
Last month NCREC in collaboration with Jones Lang LaSelle, Inc. ( JLL), hosted 15 high school students participating in the Career Accelerator High School Immersion program. Students were introduced to real estate career opportunities, regulation activities, and commercial real estate interests.
You are invited!
The monthly Real Estate Commission meetings are always open to the public, and you are invited to attend in person or online via Zoom. The meeting today will be held in Charlotte at Johnson C. Smith University, Innovation Center Room 322, STEM Hall, 100 Beatties Ford Road, Charlotte, NC 28216. A Zoom link will be available at ncrec.gov on the day of the meeting.