| (a) Provider application. To be approved as an MCE
provider, a person must satisfy the commission as to the person's
ability to administer with honesty, trustworthiness and integrity
a course of continuing education in MCE subjects registered with the
commission. If the person proposes to employ independent contractors
to conduct or to administer the courses, any independent contractor
named in the application must meet this standard as if the independent
contractor were the applicant; however, the applicant is responsible
for responding to communications from the commission relating to the
application.
(b) Additional information related to application.
The commission may request that an applicant provide additional information,
and the commission may terminate an application without further notice
if the applicant fails to provide the additional information within
60 days of the mailing of a request by the commission.
(c) Fees. The commission shall establish fees in accordance
with the provisions of §1101.152 of the Act, at such times as
the commission deems appropriate. Fees are not refundable and must
be submitted in the form of a check or money order, or, in the case
of state agencies, colleges or universities, in a form of payment
acceptable to the commission.
(d) Approval of applicants. The commission may authorize
the manager or director of the education and licensing services division
of the commission, or a designate, to determine whether applications
for MCE providers or instructors should be approved or certified.
The commission may disapprove an application for failure to satisfy
the commission as to the applicant's honesty, trustworthiness or integrity,
or for any reason which would be a ground to suspend or revoke a real
estate license. If an application is disapproved, the commission shall
provide written notice to the applicant detailing the basis of the
decision.
(e) Appeal. An applicant may appeal disapproval by
filing with the commission a written request for a hearing within
10 days after the receipt of the notice of disapproval. Following
the hearing, the commission may sustain or withdraw the disapproval
or establish conditions for the approval of a provider, course or
instructor. Proceedings involving applications shall be conducted
in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, Texas Government
Code, Chapter 2001. Venue for any hearing conducted under this section
shall be in Travis County.
(f) Power of attorney. If a provider does not maintain
a fixed office in this state for the duration of the provider's approval
to offer courses, the provider shall 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 these sections. A power-of-attorney designating the resident
must be filed with the commission in a form acceptable to the commission.
(g) Subsequent application for provider approval or
course registration. Unless withdrawn earlier for cause as provided
by these sections, a provider's authority to offer courses for which
MCE credit is given expires two years from the date the provider is
approved by the commission. Authority to offer any MCE courses ends
with the expiration of the provider's approval, and the provider must
pay current fees and reapply for approval as a provider in order to
offer MCE courses again. An elective credit course registered with
the commission may be offered by the provider for a period of two
years after the course is registered or until the provider's authority
to act as a provider finally expires or is withdrawn for cause, whichever
first occurs. If a course was originally registered by another provider,
the registration period is measured from the date of registration
for the original provider. A provider may apply for approval to be
a provider for another two years no sooner than six months prior to
the expiration of existing provider approval.
(h) Approval of instructor. A person who wishes to
be an instructor of any MCE course shall apply to the commission for
approval using an application form approved by the commission. To
be approved as an instructor of any MCE course, an applicant must
satisfy the commission as to the applicant's honesty, trustworthiness
and integrity. Subsections (b) - (e) of this section apply to an applicant
for approval of an instructor.
(i) Term of instructor approval. If the commission
determines that the applicant meets the standards for instructor approval,
the commission shall approve the application and provide a written
notice of the approval to the applicant. Unless surrendered or revoked
for cause, the approval will be valid for a period of two years.
(j) Subsequent application for instructor approval.
No more than six months prior to the expiration of the current approval,
an instructor may apply for approval for another two year period.
(k) Non-elective courses. The commission shall approve
bi-annually a legal update course and a legal ethics course required
by §1101.455(e) of the Act, and a broker responsibility course
required by §1101.458(a) of the Act which shall be conducted
through providers by instructors certified by the commission under
this subchapter. The subject matter, and course materials, and final
examination for the courses shall be created for and approved by the
commission. The legal update and legal ethics courses expire on December
31 of each odd-numbered year; the broker responsibility course expires
on December 31 of each even-numbered year; and shall be replaced with
new courses approved by the commission. A provider may not offer a
new course until an instructor of the course obtains recertification
by attending a new instructor training program. Providers must acquire
the commission-developed course materials and utilize such materials
to conduct the non-elective courses. The non-elective courses must
be conducted as prescribed by the rules in this subchapter and the
course materials developed for the commission.
(l) Modification of the non-elective courses. Providers
and instructors may modify a non-elective course only to provide additional
information on the same or similar topics covered in the course or
to create distance learning courses that are substantially similar
to the live courses developed for the commission. To the extent that
a non-elective course is modified or integrated into a longer course
for which additional elective credit is requested, the commission
shall grant elective and non-elective credit for the combined course.
(m) Instructor certification. Only instructors certified
by the commission may teach the non-elective courses or develop distance
learning courses for the presentation of non-elective courses. An
instructor must obtain prior commission approval under subsection
(n) of this section prior to attending an instructor training program.
The commission shall issue a written certification to an instructor
to teach the applicable non-elective course(s) upon the instructor's
satisfactory completion of a training program to teach the non-elective
course(s) that is acceptable to the commission. Satisfactory completion
of the training program for each of the non-elective courses may include
passing a final course examination approved by the commission. An
instructor may obtain certification to teach either one or all non-elective
courses. A certified course instructor may teach the non-elective
courses for any approved provider after the instructor has attended
an instructor training program. A certified course instructor may
not independently conduct a non-elective course unless the instructor
has also obtained approval as a provider. An instructor must obtain
written certification from the commission prior to teaching the non-elective
courses and prior to representing to any provider or other party that
he or she is certified or may be a certified course instructor. An
instructor's certification to teach a required legal course expires
on December 31 of every odd-numbered year. An instructor's certification
to teach the broker responsibility course expires on December 31 of
every even-numbered year. An instructor may obtain recertification
by attending a new instructor training program.
(n) Standards for approval of instructors of non-elective
courses. Prior to attending an instructor training course, a person
must obtain commission approval to be an instructor using Instructor
Application - Core, Legal Update, Ethics and Broker Responsibility
Course, approved by the commission.
(1) To be approved as an instructor of a required legal
update or ethics course, a person must possess the following qualifications:
(A) a college degree in the subject area of Real Estate,
or five years of professional experience in the subject areas of Principles
of Real Estate, Law of Agency, and Law of Contracts and
(B) three years experience in teaching or training;
or
Cont'd... |
