The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) adopts amendments to 22 TAC §535.191, Schedule of Administrative Penalties, in Chapter 535, General Provisions, without changes, as published in the August 25, 2017, issue of the Texas Register (42 TexReg 4238).

The amendments to §535.191 inserts administrative penalties for failure to comply with Commission rules §531.18 and §531.20. These rules were adopted 18 months ago and, following a long education campaign, the Commission now needs to clarify and modify the sanctions in place for license holders who still do not properly provide these important statutorily required consumer notices. The amendments also adds §535.155 to align with the new rule to replace current §535.154 and adds §535.65 related to responsibilities and operations of education providers.

Three comments were received on the amendments as published. All were against the proposal stating that the amount of penalties were excessive for violations of rules 531.18 & 531.20. The Commission disagrees for two reasons. First, posting the notices on the license holder's business website is important for consumer education and protection, especially in light of the recent statutory change for prohibiting the Commission from requiring any reference to the Commission or a license holder's status as an agent or a broker in advertisements. Secondly, the violation of the rules, when not listed on the schedule of penalties would default to the statutory provision that contains the general requirement. This statute is Section 1101.558. Violation of that statute falls under the highest penalty range on the schedule. The Commission considers violation of the posting requirements for the links to the notices to be a lesser violation than not providing them at all, and placed the rules in the second tier of penalties. Therefore, the amendments actually lessens the amount of penalties that can be assessed for violation of these rules.

The reasoned justification for the amendments is to reflect recent rule revisions in the appropriate levels in the schedule.

The amendments are adopted under Texas Occupations Code, §1101.151, which authorizes the Texas Real Estate Commission to adopt and enforce rules necessary to administer Chapters 1101 and 1102; and to establish standards of conduct and ethics for its license holders to fulfill the purposes of Chapters 1101 and 1102 and ensure compliance with Chapters 1101 and 1102.

The statutes affected by this amendment are Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 1101. No other statute, code or article is affected by the amendments.