Commission Meeting of December 15, 2021

Pending Cases: The Commission entered into consent agreements to suspend 12 licenses, closed its case without action against 4 licensees, reprimanded 1 licensee, accepted the voluntary surrender of 1 license, permanently revoked 1 license, authorized the Regulatory Affairs Division to seek injunctive relief against 1 licensee, ordered hearings in cases involving 12 licensees, and approved 4 applications for payments from the Real Estate Education and Recovery Fund.

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: 10; total approved: 5.

License Examination Results: A summary of key data relating to persons taking the exam for the first time is provided below:

Legislative Report: The Commission reviewed the Legislative Report, noting 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. Staff noted that the General Assembly has adjourned until December 30, 2021. Staff reported that in the meantime, the General Assembly extended the effective date of the timeshare bill to July 1, 2022, as it pertains to exit companies and that the exit companies may seek further modifications of the law when the General Assembly returns. Staff also provided an overview of S.L. 2021-78 [Changes to the Laws Concerning Agriculture and Forestry]; Staff noted that information relevant to licensees about it will be included in the next Update courses. Staff will track H776 addressing continuing authority for electronic
notarizations and will include an article in the January e-Bulletin about notarization requirements if the bill does not pass.

Draft Rule Text: The Commission reviewed proposed amendments to Commission rules requested by the Commission at the November 2021 meeting. Staff indicated that rule text would need to be adopted by the Commission by January 19 in order to publish any proposed rule changes for public comment in time for a July 1, 2022 effective date. Following a discussion about existing and future opportunities for helping education providers and instructors improve performance, the Commission directed staff to revise the draft text of 21 NCAC 58H .0210 and 21 NCAC 58H .0303 with the following:

• Include the word, “limit” in the lead-in language of 58H .0210(a) and 58H.0303(a) so that it provides that the Commission may deny, limit, or withdraw certification of an education provider and instructor if they do not meet the requirements of the rule;
• Add a cutoff date by which instructors and providers will be notified that they can no longer teach prelicensing and postlicensing; and
• Include a prerequisite for an education provider or instructor to resume teaching prelicensing and postlicensing after limitations have been placed on their the ability to do so, specifically, that they must complete a Performance Improvement Plan and that an instructor must also take the New Instructor Seminar.

Report on Best Practices/Standards of Conduct for Responding to Brokers’ Noncriminal Misbehavior Outside of a Real Estate Transaction: Staff provided to the Commission a report on research concerning the best practices/standards of conduct for responding to brokers’ noncriminal misbehavior outside of a real estate transaction. Staff reviewed the Commission’s current law and rules including GS 93A-6(a)(8) and (10) and Rule A. 0120, and the manner in which other North Carolina occupational licensing boards and other real estate licensing boards around the country handle the issue. Staff reported that the current statutory authority and rules are broad and allow the Commission to investigate, discipline, and regulate licensees fairly.

General Update and BICUP Course Topics: Staff reviewed the results of the 2021-2022 NCREC Update Course Topic Survey. Material Facts, BIC Supervisory Responsibilities and Dual Agency were the top three topic categories in the survey, followed closely by Agency and Permits. Upon a motion from Ms. Chandler, the Commission voted to address material facts and dual agency in the GenUp and BICUP courses, to also include in the BICUP course a section on BIC Supervisory Responsibilities, and to integrate as many other topics as possible that relate to the selected topics, including a scenario about measuring and reporting square footage without reliance on tax records.

Report on License Numbers: As of December 1, 2021, there are 122,110 brokers and firms licensed by the Commission, as follows:

• Active Brokers 81,745
• Active Provisional Brokers 6,416
• Brokers-in-Charge 17,533
• BIC-Eligible Brokers 5,113
• Inactive Brokers 24,710
• Inactive Provisional Brokers 6,774
• Firms 15,378
• Limited Nonresident Commercial Brokers 277

Next Commission Meeting: The next Commission meeting will be held at 9:00 a.m., Wednesday January 19, 2022, and can be viewed via Zoom online video.