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 15, 2026
Pending Cases: The Commission entered into consent agreements to suspend 2 licenses, ordered hearings in cases involving a total of 17 licensees, accepted the permanent voluntary surrender of 2 licenses, left 7 cases pending, and closed 5 cases without action.
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: 9; total approved: 6; continued: 1; deferred: 2.
License Examination Results: If you are interested in reviewing the most recent statistics and pass rates regarding the North Carolina broker license examination. License Examination Results.
2026 Renewals: The Director of Education and Licensing provided a report on the 2026 Renewals, noting that following closeout on July 1, 2026, 92% of brokers and firms renewed their licenses, slightly above the previous year’s renewal percentages. A total of 2,032 licensees were marked inactive due to a CE deficiency, and 9,289 brokers, 1,497 firms, and 58 limited nonresident commercial licenses expired due to failure to renew. The Director of Education and Licensing indicated this license renewal period had the highest renewal percentages.
Year-End CE Survey: The Assistant Director of Education and Licensing provided a report on the year-end CE student survey and indicated 10,803 surveys were completed over the course of the year. Overall, the reviews were extremely positive.
Update Instructor Seminars: The Assistant Director of Education and Licensing reported that of the 401 approved instructors, 196 have an active update instructor status.
Monthly Financial Report, Quarterly Investment Report, 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, 2026. Upon the motion of Mr. Alston, the Commission approved the Financial Report for the period ending June 30, 2026.
FY2026-27 Projected Receipts and Disbursements: The Chief Financial Officer presented the FY2026-27 Projected Receipts and Disbursements. Upon the motion of Mr. Alston, the Commission approved the Projected Receipts and Disbursements for FY2026-27.
Real Estate Manual Increase: The Chief Financial Officer reported that at the Finance Committee meeting on June 19, the Committee voted in favor of having a $10.00 increase for the printed North Carolina Real Estate Manual. The price increased from $39.00 to $49.00. Upon a motion from Ms. O’Connor, the Commission adopted the price increase.
Square Footage Guidelines: The Executive Director presented the revised Square Footage Guidelines. Upon the motion of Mr. Alston, the Commission approved the revisions to the text of the Square Footage Guidelines.
Rule A .0110 Brokers in Charge: The Compliance Manager presented revisions to Rule 58A .0110 Brokers in Charge. The rule currently prohibits a broker from being granted BIC eligibility status or designated as BIC of a firm if there is a pending investigation against the broker. Since this rule text was presented to the Commission in March, it was revised such that the limitation only applies in cases where probable cause has been found against the broker so that it is consistent with Rule A.0502. Upon the motion of Mr. Alston, the Commission approved staff recommendations to revise the rule text with a proposed effective date of July 1, 2027.
Agency Public Rule Comments:
The Compliance Manager reviewed the public comments received on the agency rule changes. She reported that comments were received from associations, brokers, attorneys, and members of the public. Of the comments received, 34 were in support, 291 were opposed, and 2 were categorized as ‘suggestion.’ At the request of Mr. Aceto, the Executive Director provided the Commission with a possible alternative that would prevent provisional brokers from being a single dual agent as opposed to eliminating dual agency for all brokers. She explained that if the alternate text were to be approved, the rule text would require another comment period due to the text’s substantive change. Upon the motion of Mr. Ramseur, the Commission agreed to withdraw the rule text concerning the elimination of dual agency for all brokers from rulemaking with Mr. Black and Ms. Sebti voting against the motion. Upon the motion of Mr. Barfield, the Commission agreed that the alternate rule text provided by staff would be included as an exhibit at the August Commission meeting for further discussion with Mr. Beaty, Mr. Black, and Mr. Aceto voting against the motion.
Report on License Numbers: As of July 1, 2026, there are 116,028 brokers and firms licensed by the Commission, as follows:
Active Full Brokers – 76,104
Active Provisional Brokers – 3,642
Brokers-in-Charge – 16,803
BIC Eligible Brokers – 7,057
Inactive Full Brokers – 14,855
Inactive Provisional Brokers – 4,612
Firms – 16,584
Limited Nonresident Commercial Brokers – 231
Next Commission Meeting: The next Commission meeting will be held on August 19, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. at the North Carolina Real Estate Commission in Raleigh, NC, and is open to the public. It can also be viewed via Zoom online video.