Commission Meeting of May 17, 2023

Pending Cases: The Commission entered into consent agreements to suspend 6 licenses, accepted the voluntary surrender of 2 licenses, continued hearings to a later date for a case involving 1 licensee, closed cases without action against 1 licensee, left cases pending involving 6 licenses, revoked 2 licensees, and ordered hearings in cases involving 14 licensees.

License Applications Involving Character Issues: License applicants who have character issues such as prior criminal convictions or disciplinary action by another licensing board are separately considered by the Commission. Decisions are made based upon criminal background checks, information supplied by the applicant, and in-person interviews.

Total candidates considered: 9; total approved: 8.

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

Legislative Report: Staff reviewed the Legislative Report, summarizing bills that are currently pending in the General  Assembly that relate to real estate brokerage, occupational licensing, or other matters of interest to the Commission.

Rule 21 NCAC 58A .0114: The Commission thanked licensees and the public for their interest in the Commission’s rulemaking and their comments on the proposed rules. Staff reviewed the recommendations on Rule 21 NCAC 58A .0114, which if adopted would be effective July 1. The Commission then voted to adopt the changes as presented.

Draft Residential Property and Owners’ Association Disclosure Statement: Staff reviewed a draft revision of the Residential Property and Owners’ Association Disclosure Statement (RPOADS), noting that the form is divided into categories to clarify disclosure topics for the seller and the buyer. After review, the Commission voted to publish the draft RPOADS with the following revisions:

  • Add the statutory and/or rule references to the requirement to discover and disclose material facts;
  • Use consistent language when referring to Owners’ Associations;
  • Give each section its own letter, as well as numbers, so that there aren’t multiple questions with the same number on the form and instead questions can be referred to as A(1) or B(1), for example;
  • Clarify the instructions about when a problem can be “corrected” versus when it must be disclosed;
  •  Define Y (Yes) and N (No) as well as NR (No Representation) on the first page; consider spelling these out on the form instead; and
  • Use the “Oxford comma” after the penultimate item in a list of three or more items before “and” or “or”.

LaRose v. NCREC: 23 REC 00687: The Director of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission reported that the case, LaRose v. NCREC; 23 REC 00687, was dismissed by the Office of Administrative Hearings based upon lack of subject matter jurisdiction as well as other substantive grounds.

Renewals: The Director of Education & Licensing reported that licensees must renew by June 30, 2023 in order to maintain a license. They also reported on the comprehensive planning for renewals, including advance electronic notices and reminders in the Commission’s social media and the Bulletin. On the first day of renewals, License Services renewed 11,929 brokers, and 2,086 firm licenses, while taking 1,116 phone calls. By the second day, 19,202 brokers renewed along with 3,346 firms. A total of 17% of brokers have been renewed and 20% of firms. Commission member Chandler asked that staff revisit the possibility through rulemaking that an Education Provider would not be required to renew when they do not offer classes directly to students but still want to control their course content.

May 3 Education Town Hall: The Director of Education & Licensing reported on the May 3 Education Town Hall noting that 65 educators attended. There were questions about renewals, Prelicensing, Postlicensing, and CE approval. The next Town Hall is on August 7, 2023.

2023-2025 North Carolina Real Estate Manual: Staff presented the Commission members with the newest addition of the North Carolina Real Estate Manual. They thanked the Commission Chair Mel Black for his contribution on chapter five.

Report on License Numbers: As of May 1, 2023, there are 128,798 brokers and firms licensed by the Commission, as follows:

  • Active Brokers 84,693
  • Active Provisional Brokers 5,220
  • Brokers-in-Charge 18,138
  • BIC-Eligible Brokers 5,937
  • Inactive Brokers 26,764
  • Inactive Provisional Brokers 8,557
  • Firms 17,048
  • Limited Nonresident Commercial Brokers 293

Next Commission Meeting: The next Commission meeting will be held at 9:00 a.m., Wednesday, June 14, 2023, in the Commission’s office in Raleigh and is open to the public. It also can be viewed via Zoom online video.