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 January 15, 2025
Pending Cases: The Commission entered into consent agreements to suspend 5 licenses, accepted the permanent voluntary surrender of 1 license, accepted the voluntary surrender of 1 license, ordered hearings in cases involving 17 licensees, authorized injunctive relief involving 1 licensee, extended the time to satisfy conditions for 1 licensee, and closed 3 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: 13; total approved: 5; total approved with conditions: 3; continued: 4; postponed 1; total deferred 0.
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.
Spring Educators Conference: The Director of Education and Licensing reported that the Spring Educators Conference will be held on March 27, 2025, at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh. The theme is “Raleighwood – How to be an Education Star.” The Director of Education and Licensing reviewed the conference schedule and noted that most of the presentations are limited to thirty minutes. Registration for the conference opened last week, and 100 seats have already been sold. The Director of Education and Licensing invited all Commission members to the conference. Mr. Lindsey, Mr. Aceto, Mr. Alston, Mr. Bell, Mr. Black, and Ms. O’Connor indicated that they would attend the conference. The Assistant Director of Education and Licensing stated that black tie and business attire are requested for the event.
2025 Education Town Halls: The Assistant Director of Education and Licensing reported that the quarterly 2025 Education Town Halls are scheduled for February 25, 2025, May 13, 2025, August 19, 2025, and November 6, 2025, from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. She invited the Commission members to attend any and/or all the meetings.
DREI Summit: The Director of Education and Licensing noted that last week was the DREI Summit in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The Director of Education and Licensing commended the Education and Examination Officer for her work in planning the Summit. He also commended the Education and Examination Officer and the Assistant Director of Education and Licensing for their high-quality presentations at the conference. In addition, he noted that he was elected to a three-year term on the DREI Leadership Council.
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 December 31, 2024.
FY2024-25 Income and Expense Projections: The Executive Director reported that the Finance Committee is meeting Wednesday, January 22, 2025, to review the FY2024-25 Income and Expense Projections. The projections will be presented to the full Commission at the February meeting.
Appeals: The Assistant Director of Regulatory Affairs reported that a motion for dismissal of the Shipman appeal has been filed by the NC Office of the Attorney General and that a hearing is yet to be scheduled on the motion.
BIC Span of Control: The Executive Director reviewed the BIC Span of Control report outlining the recommendations of the Workgroup and reminded the Commission that it had previously made decisions on Recommendations 1, 5, 9, & 10 in the Report. Following a discussion and consideration, the Commission made decisions on the following recommendations in the Report and deferred the discussion of Recommendations 6, 7, and 8 to a future meeting.
| Number of Offices & Requirement of Physical Space [Task Force Recommendation #2] | Upon a motion from Mr. Aceto, the Commission directed staff to draft a rule that allows one BIC the ability to manage multiple offices in the same geographic area and to craft language to define an office. Mr. Bell voted against the motion. Upon a motion from Mr. Black, the Commission agreed to explore allowing flexibility to have multiple BICs at the same physical location. Mr. Alston and Ms. O’Connor voted against the motion. Mr. Ramseur was not present for the vote. |
| Limitations on the Number of Brokers Supervised [Task Force Recommendation #3] | The Commission determined not to impose a limit at this time on the number of brokers one BIC can supervise. |
| Lenth of Time Requirement to be a BIC [Task Force Recommendation #4] | Upon a motion by Mr. Alston, the Commission determined to keep the experience requirement for brokers in charge, and directed staff to explore a statutory change of the time frame to become a BIC from two years to three years in NCGS § 93A-4.2, and propose a tracking process to quantify experience and eliminate the 40-hour-a-week requirement. |
Rule A .0112(b) Request: The Executive Director reminded the Commission that the NC REALTORS® made a request that the Commission eliminate the prohibition against including commission provisions in the offer to purchase from Rule a .0112(b). Mr. Ramseur cautioned the other members from acting on this request without getting input from the US Department of Justice. Upon a motion from Mr. Aceto, the Commission directed the Regulatory Affairs Committee to further investigate this matter and make a recommendation. Mr. Lindsey asked members to share any input on the subject with the members of the Regulatory Affairs committee (Mr. Black, Mr. Ramseur, and Ms. Sebti).
Interim Annual Report: At the request of Mr. Lindsey, the Executive Director reviewed with the Commission an interim update of the data included in the annual report to the State.
Project Summaries: The Executive Director reviewed the 2024-2025 Project Summaries noting projects that have been completed or extended since the December Commission meeting. She noted that the report now includes an additional column outlining the progress made on each project. Mr. Lindsey commended the Executive Director and the IT, RA, and E&L staff on all the work done in completing the projects and directed Commission members to reach out to the Executive Director with any questions they have about the projects.
Appearances and Speeches: The Executive Director provided a report on recent speeches and reviewed the upcoming speeches and appearances. Ms. O’Connor noted that she and Deputy Legal Counsel will present at Greensboro Allen Tate office on February 4. The Executive Director noted that Mr. Lindsey, Mr. Aceto, and herself will appear at the NC REALTORS® Leadership Meetings for a listening session on January 30 at 1:30 p.m.
Report on License Numbers: As of January 1, 2025, there are 125,311 brokers and firms licensed by the Commission, as follows:
Active Full Brokers – 78,506
Active Provisional Brokers – 4,719
Brokers-in-Charge – 17,615
BIC Eligible Brokers –6,600
Inactive Full Brokers – 17,573
Inactive Provisional Brokers – 6,840
Firms– 17,400
Limited Nonresident Commercial Brokers – 273
Next Commission Meeting: The next Commission meeting will be held at 9:00am, February 19, 2025, at High Point University, Congdon School of Health Sciences Building, Anne Kerr Ballroom, One N University Parkway, High Point, NC 27260, and is open to the public. It can be attended in-person or viewed via Zoom online video.