Pending Cases: The Commission entered into consent agreements to suspend 16 licenses, closed its case without action against 8 licensees, reprimanded 6 licensees, accepted the voluntary surrender of 1 license, accepted the permanent voluntary surrender of 3 licenses, revoked 1 licensee, left 9 cases pending, voted to amend the conditions of 2 applicants’ licensure, and ordered hearings in cases involving 16 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: 17; total approved: 12.
License Examination Results: A summary of key data relating to persons taking the exam for the first time is provided below:
Individuals Tested for the First Time | ||||
Took prelicense course | Hold license from another state | |||
September 2021 | October 2020 through September 2021 | September 2021 | October 2020 through September 2021 | |
# Tested | 516 | 10617 | 22 | 269 |
% Pass both sections | 34% | 36% | N/A | N/A |
% Pass National section | 72% | 66% | N/A | N/A |
% Pass State section | 36% | 38% | 25% | 28% |
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.
Annual Rulemaking Proposals: The Commission reviewed proposed rule topics for consideration in connection with its annual rulemaking. Staff indicated that rule text would need to be adopted by the Commission by December 15 in order to publish any proposed rule changes for public comment in time for a July 1 effective date.
The Commission made the following decisions regarding the presented rule changes:
Affected Rule(s) / Topics | Motion |
21 NCAC 58A .0104 | Following discussion, the Commission agreed that no rule change was necessary and asked that staff instead update the language in the Working with Real Estate Agents brochure to match the provision in the rule that requires agreements for brokerage services between brokers and buyers to be in writing and signed by the parties not later than the time one of the parties makes an offer. |
21 NCAC 58A .1712 | Upon the motion of Ms. O’Connor, the Commission approved drafting rule text that would reflect that the 12-hour BIC Course is a distance course comprised of three modules. |
21 NCAC 58H .0210 and .0303 | Upon the motion of Mr. Black, the Commission asked staff to further research the various recommendations of education providers as described in Exhibit 11, items 3 – 8, including but not limited to considering changes to the 40% threshold for loss of EP certification and instructor approval, limiting the loss of certification/approval to just prelicensing or just pre and postlicensing but not the Update courses, extending the time period for calculating the loss of certification/approval, making adjustments as a result of the COVID pandemic, allowing or requiring instructors to take the license exam, providing data concerning the State versus national sections of the license exam, and considering the requirements to be an instructor including whether 60 hours of college credit is necessary, requiring Education Providers and instructors have affiliation agreements and to bring back recommendations as to these matters with any related available data to the November meeting. |
Driver licenses in connection with rental applications | Upon the motion of Ms. Chandler, the Commission voted against rulemaking that would prohibit the review of driver licenses in connection with rental applications. Miss Bode dissented. |
Love letters | Ms. Chandler moved that the Commission draft a rule addressing “love letters” in residential sales transactions. The motion failed with Mr. Black, Mr. Bullard, Ms. Chandler, and Ms. O’Connor voting in favor. Miss Bode then moved to approve the recommendation. The motion failed with Miss Bode and Mr. Bullard voting in favor. |
“Free look” prior to due diligence fee | Upon the motion of Mr. Lawing, the Commission voted against rulemaking to require that buyers get a “free look” before paying due diligence fees. |
Timeshare rule revisions | Upon the motion of Mr. Malarney, the Commission voted to draft rules supporting the recently-enacted changes to the North Carolina Timeshare Act. |
Mandatory Update Courses for BICs | Upon a motion from Mr. Lawing, the Commission voted not to pursue rulemaking at this time that would require brokers-in-charge |
General Update and BICUP Course Topics: The Commission reviewed a list of possible 2022-2023 Update course topics based upon suggestions provided by Commission members, staff, licensees, educators and the Update Course Task Force to date. Staff reported that after two meetings, the Update Topics Task Force recommends a “prescription” for annual content, specifically 75% dedicated to new topics and 25% dedicated to review. Staff asked the Commission members to communicate any other ideas for topics to her so that they can be added to the list for consideration. The Commission will review all proposed topics and prioritize those deemed most important in the coming months, before making a final selection at the December 2021 meeting.
Report on License Numbers: As of October 1, 2021, there are 120,509 brokers and firms licensed by the Commission, as follows:
Next Commission Meeting: The next Commission meeting will be held at 9:00 a.m., Wednesday November 17, and can be viewed via Zoom online video.