(a)Application for approval.
(1)Unless otherwise exempt under subsection (b) of
this section, a person desiring to be approved by the Commission
to offer real estate or real estate inspection qualifying courses
shall:
(A)file an application on the appropriate form approved
by the Commission, with all required documentation;
(B)submit the required fee under §535.101 or §535.210
of this title (relating to Fees);
(C)submit the statutory bond or other security acceptable
to the Commission under §1101.302 of the Act; and
(D)maintain a fixed office in the state of Texas or
designate a resident of this state as attorney-in-fact to accept service
of process and act as custodian of any records in Texas which the
provider is required to maintain by this Subchapter.
(2) - (3)(No change.)
(b)Exempt Providers.
(1)The following persons may submit real estate qualifying
courses for approval for credit in [under] §535.62(i)
of this subchapter (relating to Approval of Qualifying Courses) without
becoming an approved provider of qualifying courses:
(A)a person approved by a real estate regulatory agency
to offer qualifying real estate courses in another state that has
approval requirements for providers that are substantially equivalent
to the requirements for approval in this state;
(B)an accredited college or university in accordance
with §535.66 of this subchapter (relating to Credit for
Courses Offered by Accredited Colleges or Universities) where courses
are offered in accordance with national or regional accreditation
standards;
(C)a post-secondary educational institution established
in and offering qualifying real estate courses in another state;
(D)a United States armed forces institute; and
(E)a nationally recognized professional designation
institute or council in the real estate industry.
(2)The following persons may submit real estate inspector
qualifying courses for approval for credit under §535.62(i) of
this subchapter without becoming an approved provider of qualifying
courses:
(A)a provider approved by an inspector regulatory
agency of another state that has approval requirements for providers
that are substantially equivalent to the requirements for approval
in this state;
(B)an accredited college or university in accordance
with §535.66 of this subchapter where courses are offered
in accordance with national or regional accreditation standards;
(C)a United States armed forces institute;
(D)a unit of federal, state or local government;
(E)a nationally recognized building, electrical, plumbing,
mechanical or fire code organization;
(F)a professional trade association in the inspection
field or in a related technical field; or
(G)an entity whose courses are approved and regulated
by an agency of this state.
(c)Standards for approval. To be approved as a provider
by the Commission, the applicant must meet the following standards:
(1)the applicant must satisfy the Commission as to
the applicant's ability to administer courses with competency, honesty,
trustworthiness and integrity. If the applicant proposes to employ
another person to manage the operation of the applicant, that person
must meet this standard as if that person were the applicant;
(2)the applicant must demonstrate that the applicant
has sufficient financial resources to conduct its proposed operations
on a continuing basis without risk of loss to students taking courses
[from the approved provider]; and
(3)that any proposed facilities will be adequate and
safe for conducting courses.
(d) - (g)(No change.)
(h)Statutory bond or other security.
An approved provider whose statutory bond or other security has been
cancelled will be placed on inactive status until the bond or security
is reinstated.
(i)[(h)] Payment of an annual
operation fee.
(1)An approved provider shall submit the Commission
approved form and pay an annual operation fee prescribed by §535.101
of this title no later than the last day of the month of each
anniversary [of the] date of the provider's approval.
(2)An approved provider who fails to pay the annual
operation fee as prescribed shall be placed on inactive status and
notified in writing by the Commission.
(3)The approved provider will remain on inactive status
and unable to offer courses until the annual fee is paid.
(4)The Commission will not give credit for courses offered
[given] by a provider on inactive status.
(j)[(i)] Disapproval of application.
(1)If the Commission determines that an applicant
does not meet the standards for approval, the Commission will provide
written notice of disapproval to the applicant.
(2)The disapproval notice, applicant's request for
a hearing on the disapproval, and any hearing are governed by the
Administrative Procedure Act, Texas Government Code, Chapter 2001,
and Chapter 533 of this title (relating to Practice and Procedure).
Venue for any hearing conducted under this section shall be in Travis
County.
(k)[(j)] Subsequent Approval.
(1)A provider may not enroll a student in a course
during the 60-day period immediately before the expiration of the
provider's current approval unless the provider has submitted an application
[Not earlier than 90 days before the expiration of its
current approval, an approved provider may apply] for subsequent
approval for another four year period not later than the 60th
day before the date of expiration of its current approval.
(2)Approval or disapproval of a subsequent application
shall be subject to:
(A)the standards for initial applications for approval
set out in this section; and
(B)whether the approved provider has met or exceeded
the exam passage rate benchmark established by the Commission under
subsection (l) of this section [(k)].
(3)The Commission will not require a financial review
for subsequent approval if the applicant has provided a statutory
bond or other security acceptable to the Commission under §1101.302
of the Act, and there are no unsatisfied final money judgments against
the applicant.
(l)[(k)] Exam passage rates
and benchmark.
(1)The exam passage rate for an approved provider
shall be:
(A)calculated for each license category for which
the provider offers courses; and
(B)displayed on the Commission website by license
category.
(2)A student is affiliated with a
provider under this subsection if the student took the majority of
his or her qualifying education with the provider in the two year
period prior to taking the exam for the first time.
(3)[(2)] The Commission will
calculate the exam passage rate of an approved provider on a monthly
basis, rounded to two decimal places on the final calculated
figure, by:
(A)determining the number of students affiliated with
that approved provider who passed the examination on their first attempt
in the two-year period ending on the last day of the previous month;
and
(B)dividing that number by the total number of students
affiliated with that provider who took the exam for the first time
during that same period.
[(3)A student is affiliated with
a provider under this subsection if the student took the majority
of his or her hours of qualifying education with the provider in the
two year period prior to taking the exam for the first time.]
(4)For purposes of approving a subsequent application
under subsection (j), the established exam passage rate benchmark
for each license category is 80% of the average percentage of the
total examinees for that license category who passed the examination
on the first attempt in the two year period ending on the last day
of the previous month.
(5)If at the time the Commission receives a subsequent
application from the provider requesting approval for another
four year term [for a provider], the provider's exam
passage rate does not meet the established benchmark for a license
category the provider will be:
(A)denied approval to continue offering courses [
disapproved] for that license category if the provider's exam
passage rate is less than 50% of the average percentage of the total
examinees for that license category who passed the examination on
the first attempt in the two year period ending on the last day of
the previous month; or
(B)placed on probation by the Commission if the provider's
exam passage rate is greater than 50% but less than
80% [or greater] of the average percentage of the
total examinees for that license category who passed the examination
on the first attempt in the two year period ending on the last day
of the previous month.
(6)The exam passage rate of a provider on probation
will be reviewed annually at the time the annual operating fee is
due to determine if the provider can be removed from probation, remain
on probation or have its license revoked, based on the criteria set
out in paragraph (5) of this subsection.
The agency certifies that legal counsel has reviewed
the proposal and found it to be within the state agency's legal authority
to adopt.
Filed with the Office
of the Secretary of State on May 8, 2019
TRD-201901371 Chelsea Buchholtz
General Counsel
Texas Real Estate Commission
Earliest possible date of adoption: June 23, 2019
For further information, please call: (512) 936-3177
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